Pubs and Bars / A-Z Bristol pub crawl
A-Z Bristol Pub Crawl: Basement Beer, St Paul’s
It’s a hot summer evening and friends and colleagues are catching up outside Basement Beer on Upper York Street, clinking pints and basking in the last few drops of sun.
Inside, the owners have done their best to make this pub look like a basement flat. Leafy green plants reach out through the walls and dim bulbs hang from the ceiling as jazz and R&B percolate.
Common Saints seems to be a favourite, as a few of their classics, including Starchild and Summer Sun, hit the playlist multiple times.
Founded in 2019, Basement Beer is a microbrewery in St Paul’s whose drinks offering is as jazzy as their decor. Fancy a Cherry Tart sour, a Lost Horizon coffee stout or a Destination Unknown pale ale?
Deciding on a Lime Radler, one punter sits in a closed off corner decorated with a jazz-inspired mural by Martyna Grądziel.
Martyna Grądziel is a Polish illustrator, now based in Bristol
In one corner, two women are complimenting each other in a way not too dissimilar from the sort of conversations that often turn strangers into friends in nightclub toilets.
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Another mural, featuring local artist Sam Brentnall’s trademark big pink dogs, was painted in February with prints of his work available for sale at the bar.
Meanwhile a real dog, a golden retriever, eats from a bowl on the floor in the middle of the pub while his humans unpack the day.
Basement Beer, 32 Upper York St, St Paul’s, Bristol, BS2 8QR
All photos: Seun Matiluko
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