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As of April of this year, I’d only ever been to Liverpool briefly. That was years ago, when my Beatlemaniac friend Barb was visiting us in Sheffield and we spent a day searching (sometimes in vain) for Fab Four memorabilia, the highlight of which was the statue of John Lennon at the airport. There were a couple of times when Andrew and I took the ferry from Berkenhead to Northern Ireland, but those trips only offered me a view of Liverpool from across the Mersey. So I hadn’t actually experienced Liverpool itself. Earlier this year in April I learned that a second cousin of mine was over from the States doing an exchange term at Liverpool University. So I jumped at the chance of coming to the city to see him.

Located next to the Irish Sea, Liverpool is the fifth largest city in the United Kingdom. The name supposedly derives from lifer pol, which is Old English for “muddy pool”, although some Welsh people will debate that. At the very beginning of the 18th century the port was heavily involved in the Atlantic slave trade, and as a result it was home to the earliest black community in the UK, as well as the earliest Chinese community in Europe and the first mosque in England. It was also a major importer of cotton for the Lancashire textile mills, as well as being a major departure point for English and Irish people who were emigrating to America. In more recent times, it was the home of Merseybeat in the 1960s, which introduced the Beatles and other bands to the world, and it was elected European Capital of Culture for 2008. It hosts two Premier League football teams, Liverpool and Everton.

Needless to say, Liverpool has a long history, including many firsts: the first intercity railway; the world's first integrated sewer system, the UK's first Underwriters' Association, the first Institute of Accountants, the world's first financial derivatives to be traded; the world's first iron-framed, curtain-walled office building which was a prototype of the skyscraper; the UK’s first purpose-built department store, the first lending library, the first athenaeum society, the first arts centre, the UK's oldest surviving symphony orchestra, and the UK’s oldest repertory theatre. And there’s one more world first: it’s home to the oldest still operating mainline train station, Liverpool Lime Street, which is where I arrived to meet up with Jack.

I had met Jack and his twin brother Mitch the year before lockdown, back when they were 14 years old and were travelling around Europe with my cousin Jennifer and her husband Nick. I had taken the train down to London to spend the afternoon with them all, and I remember Jack being really friendly, which he still was when he met me at the station. As he was now 19 and old enough to go to pubs, we naturally decided to check out a couple of interesting ones, starting with the Bridewell.

The Bridewell is a Grade ll listed prison that has been converted into a pub, with all In 2019 it was taken over by licencees Fiona and Dominic, and the drink range includes cask, craft, and continental beers. the original heavy prison doors and hatches, and the cells now feature seating. The name “bridewell” refers to a prison or reform school for petty offenders, so I suppose it’s an appropriate place for those of us who are shirking work or school in the middle of the day in order to have a pint or two of demon beer.

Located close to the Albert Dock and the riverfront, the Bridewell, which was built in the 1840s at a cost of £2675, features an outdoor beer garden out front. It was named for the term for a police lock-up and it still has the seven cells that housed over 100 “guests” each month, sleeping on the floor and eating bread. If these guests wanted a bed or better food, they would have to pay for it. The writer Charles Dickens spent a night here in 1860 as a special constable while he was researching his novel The Uncommercial Traveller. A nightly bucket of Guinness Stout was supplied to the patrol from the brewery’s boats that were tied up at the nearby Salthouse Docks. The building eventually became derelict until the 1980s, when it started to be used as a rehearsal space for many local Liverpool bands. It was purchased in early 2000 by a TV producer and turned into a bar and restaurant, and now it’s a pub offering a range of cask ales and craft beers.

Jack and I both ordered pints of one of the cask ales, Tweed Dry Hopped Pale Ale (4.0% ABV, Salt Beer Factory, Shipton, West Yorkshire), which was quite nice and perfectly acceptable as a lunchtime pint. We took our pints with us to sit in one of the former cells, which all looked oddly inviting. As we sat enjoying our incarceration, I caught up with my second cousin, who is currently studying criminology but thinking about switching majors to film production. So what a perfect place to take him.

After our pint we had lunch at a nearby ramen bar, Maggie Fu. And then we took a walk out onto the Albert Dock, where Jack showed me the giant statue of the four Beatles. Always on the lookout for interesting photos, I handed my phone to Jack and insisted on him taking a few photos of me. I think I embarrassed him a bit; but I told him I’m a good photographer and it was in the interest of art, not tourism.

I was hoping to see a bit of Tate Liverpool, but sadly it was closed for the installation of a new show. So we headed back to find a micropub I’d been looking forward to visiting, the Dead Crafty. As soon as we walked into the micropub, the barman handed us a printed menu of the beers and apologised for their card machine having just gone down, so they could only take cash at the minute. I had only a £5 note on me, and I didn’t want Jack, a young student who was already diving into debt, to pay for anything this afternoon. So we took a quick walk down to the nearby Tesco ATM to get cash and then returned.

As we were pacing ourselves, I decided to have a half of Lemon Yellow Sun (5.0% ABV, Pomona Island Brewing Company, Salford, West Yorkshire), and this pale hazy ale, brewed in collaboration with Dead Crafty, was really quite excellent. Jack went for a completely different kind of half: Alchemik Cake Factor Strawberry and Banana Cheesecake Sour Smoothie (Alchemik, Sofia, Bulgaria). Described as starting with a thick, biscuity graham crust base topped with tangy vanilla cream cheese, this is surprisingly really good, not too sweet at all, and pleasantly sour. Wow. The Dead Crafty glasses were graphic art pieces as well, and our two differently coloured beers both looked great in them.

We were very tempted to have another half here, potentially two more completely different choices. But we decided to move on to find another brewpub I’d read about. Sadly it appeared to not exist anymore; so we wandered aimlessly through the Cavern Quarter and past lots of loud Irish-themed bars, stopping to admire the statue of Cilla Black outside the legendary Cavern Club. We finally decided to check out the Crown Hotel, simply because it looked very historic and ornate on the outside.

The Crown is another Grade II listed building that was built in 1905 in the Art Nouveau style and consists of three floors. The place was lightly sprinkled with older customers, but I felt as out of place there as Jack did. The beer choice wasn’t that interesting, either. After I had a taste of one that had obviously gone off, I went for a half of the only other choice for me, Jarl (3.8% ABV, Fyne Ales Farm Brewery, Cairndow, Argylle, Scotland), which was a Citra session blonde. Depleted of any sort of expectations, Jack went for the same thing. We took our pints and sat at a tall table in the middle of the main room and proceeded to talk about Monterey and Pacific Grove, where Jack lives when he’s at home with his parents. I felt as if we were both dreaming of perhaps being somewhere else right at that moment, at least in a more exciting pub and drinking a more exciting beer.

These days the Crown is basically a sports pub with cheap meals, so the emphasis doesn’t really seem to be on the beer. As we were halfway through our halfs, a drunk Scouser came up to us and proceeded to have the nerve to talk to us, telling us all sorts of supposedly amusing stories and witticisms--but I couldn’t understand half of what he said, and poor newbie Jack couldn’t understand anything at all. I made a little comment to Jack that I needed to get to the station or I’d miss my train (I still had well over an hour), and Jack nodded, downed his half, and we both headed for the door. Not quite our environment. Oh well, it was a Monday, when many of the interesting pubs are closed, so I’ll keep that in mind for my next visit.

Related Links

guinness eileen

The Bridewell, 1 Campbell Square, Liverpool, Merseyside

guinness eileen

Dead Crafty Beer Company, 92 Dale Street, Liverpool, Merseyside

guinness eileen

The Crown Hotel, 43 Lime Street, Liverpool, Merseyside

PUB UPDATES:

  • HALLAMSHIRE HOUSE, SHEFFIELD: On one recent visit Doug gave me a sneaky taste of Greenock Cut (8.4% ABV, Thornbridge Brewing Company, Bakewell, Derbyshire). This Export Scotch Ale tasted like it had been aged in a peaty scotch barrel. Doug thought it tasted like barley wine, and it was a bit sweet--but in a kind of swirly, tawny sort of way. But it was, as one can expect, pretty knockout amazing. I ended up having a recommendation of Doug’s: a slightly safer pint of Scenic Route Red Rye Pale (5.0% ABV, Thornbridge, collaborating with Castle Rock of Nottingham). This beer reminded Doug of Thornbridge’s excellent Sequoia, because it was the same colour and category of character. But it suggested more upfront malt with no particular hops strain that screamed out at us. This was interesting, but I wasn’t really sure what was going on there. And I actually wasn’t sure if I liked it or not. I mean, I do like red ryes, as well as hoppy pale ales. But how can something be both red and pale? Wouldn’t that technically be pink?

    Another time I had a quick, cheeky taste of Hedonistic Experience (4.5% ABV, Wilde Child Brewery, Leeds, West Yorkshire), because the days are getting darker and it’s described as a Milk Chocolate Stout. I’m not a milk chocolate fan, and as it was a bit sweet I didn’t go for a pint of it, but the taste was amazingly chocolate, and many people who like that kind of thing would very much like it. I also had a quick taste of Rookie (4.0% ABV, Twisted Barrel Ale Brewery and Taphouse, Coventry, West Midlands). Single hopped with Ekuanot, this was pleasant and gently drinkable. But I felt like something with a bit more, hmm, weirdness. So I ended up going for a pint of Tropical Pop (5% ABV, Sommar Brewing Company, Birmingham, West Midlands), which is a passionfruit, mango, and guava sour. Even though the day outside was dark and dismal, this made me feel a bit warmer with a possible suggestion of a glimmer of sunshine. But at this particular juncture of human history, I didn't feel like getting too exuberant about much of anything. So this was just a bit of a pleasantly sour tonic.

    The Friday after the US election--and I'm sure everyone knows what election I'm talking about--I decided I needed to have a pint in a warm, friendly place with no rightwing pool players to spoil the atmosphere. So this pub was definitely my safe place. And I went for a safe pint of Pacific Ale (4.4% ABV, Stone & Wood Brewing, Byron Bay, Australia). The badge said that this is the original beer from the Australian brewery, and Doug knows it well. It was a quiet little zipper of a somewhat hazy pale, and it made me feel confident that I would have a safe walk home without any risk of being marched off to a prison camp or anything. I first had a taste of the loudly-intriguing-sounding Decibel Coffee Porter (4.8% ABV, Distortion Brewing, Battersea, Greater London), because it’s getting that time of year where I need to branch out and try some porters and stouts. This was quite nice, but I felt as if it could become a little cloying throughout an entire pint. So I determined to keep searching for that JC-style porter that I so desire.

    Very recently, on a very cold Friday after work, I had a quick taste of Puns of Anarchy Chocolate Stout (4.5% ABV, Kelham Island Brewing Company, Sheffield, South Yorkshire). A collaboration with Brew York of York and the Bullion Chocolate Company, this was almost drinkable to me. Again it was quite chocolatey but not sweet, which is what always puts me off. But Lotte and I both agreed it just didn’t quite have enough of that rich bitter chocolate stout taste. Otherwise I would have had a pint.

    On an afternoon before going to what turned out to be a great gig across town, I stopped in and had a nice quiet pint of Dawberry Fields (4.6% ABV, Thornbridge collaborating with Attic Brew Co of Birmingham, West Midlands). Named after an actual park in Kings Heath, a suburb of Birmingham, this New England hazy was brewed with Simcoe, Mosaic, and Centennial hops and was quite easy to drink, pleasantly fruity, down to earth, and not psychedelic at all, even though the pump clip suggested a bit of hippie-era paisley. I ended up having another pint of it at the Greystones across town, where I went to see the excellent Rob Heron and the Tea Pad Orchestra. So why not have a paisley pint with some cracking rockabilly?

    I also had a very cheeky taste of Society for the Encouragement of Virtue (12.0 % ABV, Round Corner Brewing, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire). Surprisingly this rum barrel-aged Imperial stout was a disappointment to both Doug and me, as we were hoping for more of that amazing WHOOFF! that comes from a proper whisky barrel-aged Imperial stout. The rum just made it too sweet and mellow. Definitely not worth it for that high alcohol content.

    The day after the gig I made a return visit to the Hallamshire and decided to have two slightly bizarre dark half pints in honour of the dark winter that was closing in on all of us. Abnoba BlackForest Porter (5.2% ABV, Beanwood Brewery, Leeds, West Yorkshire). The name comes from the fact that Abnoba is the Goddess of the Black Forest. This beer had a powerful chocolate punch tempered with sour cherries, with a hint of bourbon vanilla,so it was quite interesting. But even though it wasn’t terribly sweet, it did become a bit cloying to me before I hit the end of my glass. My other half wasn’t as sweet, even though it was called Sugar & Spice (6.0% ABV, Thornbridge). This Chai Latte Stout had a good hit of coffee flavour with touches of ginger and cinnamon. Ultimately, however, I ended up leaving a bit of both halves, resolving to make sure I had a hoppier and drier brew for my next pint.

    On a dark Sunday afternoon I stopped in after a live music evening. I'd planned to have something light and manageable, mostly as a soothing tonic for my body, aching a bit after having slipped on an invisible slab of black ice two nights before and slamming back first into the pavement. No injuries, just a bit of that feeling of having been hit by a truck. But when I saw something I'd really wanted to try was still on, I had to risk a stronger pint. To be fair, Burton Ale on the Union Dark Ruby Red (5.5% ABV, Thornbridge, in collaboration with The Kernel Brewery, London) isn't any stronger than Thornbridge’s superb Quiet Storm single-hopped series, so I should be fine for walking home, joining the Cousins Zoom, and staying awake past 9pm. And it won't be on for long. As was the other dark beer I had recently from The Kernel, this is quite a classy dark beer, most suitable for the dark days of deepest Peru - sorry, Sheffield. And its colour prompts me to sip it at a slower rate than usual, especially as it's a cask beer. Take my time: the Slow Beer Movement. There is no need to rush a classic.
  • TWO SHEDS, SHEFFIELD: Oops, I did it again...mixed up the time on this dark, monotonous grey day and arrived an hour early. So fortunately I could have a low-ABV cask pint of the extremely wordy Fresh From Single Hops Series Pale Ale with Harewood Green Hops (3.8% ABV, Northern Monk Brewing, Leeds, West Yorkshire), brewed as part of the Harewood Food and Drink Project. These hops were new to me, but the taste was actually really nice, somewhat redolent of a heap of just-mown grass, and fortunately there were no words floating around in my glass. The taste was nice and nature-like to calm my rattled nerves, while I waited an extra hour for two friends I was supposed to be meeting.

    On another visit I had a pint of Forest Explorer West Coast IPA (4.5% ABV, NoFo Brew Company, Cumming, Georgia). Brewed with Centennial, Cascade, and Columbus hops, this was surprisingly good, with that sort of pine-needle character one would expect from those Pacific Northwest hops. I was surprised to see a beer here from an American brewery, but NoFo are big Walsall United football fans, so they brew and distribute their beer in the UK as well. That’s as good a reason as any for me to try my first craft beer from Georgia.

    On a very cold and dark Saturday afternoon (or was it nighttime?) this pub was ridiculously crowded, more than I'd ever seen it before. I had trouble at first finding a place to just exist, much less sit, but suddenly a stool at the bar was vacated. So this seemed a perfect day to go for a pint of Lightbulb (4.5% ABV, Verdant Brewery, Penryn, Cornwall). This extra pale but very zippily citrus-dank hoppy beer was described as being bright as a 100w lightbulb. My favourite Two Sheds dog visitor, Jake, was standing near me; and there I was, sitting at the bar with my mouth lit up brightly, so I figured my teeth were probably glowing. But that’s not a bad look for a dark day, especially while everybody was anticipating the post-election dark future of the planet.

    In the middle of November I had a pint of Inception (4.4% ABV, Beartown Brewery, Congleton, Cheshire). Described by the brewery as a crushable session IPA, it was pleasantly fruity and good for cheering up the otherwise dismal day.

    On my next visit I had a pint of Simtraza Triple Hopped Pale Ale (4.4% ABV, Triple Point Brewing Company, Sheffield, South Yorkshire). Hopped with Simcoe, Citra, and Azacca, this was a perfect comforter with well-known hops for the bitter cold evening.
  • WALKLEY BEER COMPANY, SHEFFIELD: Sitting in here on a quiet Sunday afternoon, I thoroughly enjoyed a pint of Living Landscape (4.6% ABV, Burnt Mill Brewing Company, Ipswich, Suffolk). This amazingly gorgeous pint is described as a Fog Pale Ale, which I suppose is a new term for hazies. I prefer the term “fog” myself, as fog is more atmospheric than purely bleary. The hops used are Citra, Idaho 7, and Strata, and it had a wonderful suggestion of dank with the vaguest hint of catpiss, finished with a soupçon of tobacco. That description might sound off-putting to non-beer drinkers, but it's a form of heaven for us hops connoisseurs.

    I first had a taste of a cask ale, Kaleidoscope Pale Ale (4.2% ABV, Wiper and True Brewery, Bristol). Brewed with Citra, Simcoe, and Mosaic hops, it was perfectly enjoyable, and I would have had a pint if my tastebuds hadn't then been hijacked and replanted by the Living Landscape.

    Most recently, on a cold day after work, I stopped in and had a cask pint of Good Manners Cost Nowt (4.2% ABV, Farm Yard Brew Company, Cockermouth, Lancashire). Single hopped with Ekuanot, this was a very sensible New England hazy pale ale, uniquely Ekuanotty in character. The pump label was very gentle and pretty, featuring a bouquet of nice pink flowers.

    On my most recent visit, I tasted two excellent cask beers and again couldn’t decide, so I went for a half of both. Naturally, being a chaos theory enthusiast and having even written my first e-novel based on chaotic systems, I was instantly attracted to Fractal Patterns (4.5% ABV, Shiny Brewery, Derby, Derbyshire). A Hazy Pale hopped with a wonderful combination of Ekuanot, Sabro, and Citra, this beer most definitely lived up to its promise and was quite hoppily delectable. The three hops weaved around my palate like Sikorsky gaskets, creating strange-attractor four-dimensional butterfly patterns all the way through my sensibilities. My other half was what I have been seeking since the dark days started to descend on us: A London Porter (6.0% ABV, The Kernel Brewery, London). This was a perfect dry porter, perfection in a dark beer for me. No frills, just excellent first-class service. Yep, gorgeous.
  • OLD SHOE, SHEFFIELD: Recently I met my friend Mel in here on my way home from work. I first had a taste of Trailhead Mountain Pale (5.6% ABV, Weekend Project Brewing Company, Knutsford, Cheshire), which was quite hoppily good but perhaps a little higher in ABV than I was hoping for. So I went for a safer pint of Pathfinder NEIPA (4.5% ABV, Abbeydale Brewing Company, Sheffield, South Yorkshire), which was a perfectly drinkable fruity IPA. Mel, naturally, went for the powerful Tree Octopus DIPA (8.0% ABV, Weekend Project). This did have a very appealing citrus dank character, but I could really taste that alcohol. I suppose if one were to have a few pints of this, they probably would start to see octopuses in the trees.

BOTTLED/CANNED BEER UPDATE:

  • Doppelganger DDH IPA (6.7% ABV, Vocation Brewing Company, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire). The description on the can of this special-edition beer was “Tropical, Pine, Citrus”. So it was like it had my name stamped on it. A hazy beer brewed with Simcoe and Mosaic hops and a citrus zing, yes indeed, it was right up my street. It was a perfect tonic for the day after the new Fuhrer had been declared the Leader of the Former USA.
  • They Went On Forever (6.0% ABV, Verdant Brewery, Penryn, Cornwall). This IPA is hopped with Galaxy, Mosaic, and Nelson Sauvin, and the malts are Extra Pale, Golden Promise, and oats. The beer was named after the brewery's commitment to making beers they love, now and forever. I don’t know what that all meant, but it was a really pretty can. And the beer inside? PUNCH! KAPOW! ZAP! My god, yep, this was really quite something!