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Space Factory, 5 Rue Beaubadat, Bordeaux, France
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Two months ago, when I spent a few days in the city of Bordeaux, I was naturally expecting to enjoy some fine wine and food, as it's not only the capital of France's Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, but it also has the distinction of being the wine capital of the world. Lying on the Garonne River, this port is the sixth most populated city in France and offers more than 362 historic monuments. It's a wonderful city for just walking around and exploring, and of course I did visit a handful of wine bars, and I also went on a half-day wine-tasting excursion to St-Emilion.
But I'm not here to talk about the wine. For many years Bordeaux has been famous as a centre of red wine production, and currently there are over 8,000 wine-producing chateaux in the region. But at the same time there has been a rapidly growing interest in beer. In 2009 there were only 322 breweries in the region; but as of the end of 2021 the number had skyrocketed to 2,500, with 2,000 of those being microbreweries. In comparison, as of January of this year the UK was home to only 1,815 active breweries. So there's some serious appréciation de la bière going on here.
In preparation for my visit I had jotted down in my trip notes the addresses of a couple of microbreweries that I thought I might visit. In my complete ignorance I figured they would be rare finds in a city filled with wine bars and bistros. But on my first afternoon, after I went on a 90-minute scenic cruise up the Garonne, I quickly changed my mind.
After the cruise our boat docked at Quai Richelieu, and I decided to head back to my hotel for a quick breather before heading out for the evening to one of the breweries on my list. So I walked from the river past the 15th-century Porte Cailhau, the former main gate to the city, and along the Place de Palais. And suddenly I spotted Le Sur Mesure, which appeared to be full of beer taps. I knew I would regret it if I didn't stop in for a quick half.
When I walked through the door, the place was empty except for the barman who was standing at one end of the bar. This didn't seem too unusual, as it was a late Thursday afternoon and the place had obviously just opened for the day. The barman seemed pleased to serve me, and when I asked about the beers and the hops he was very knowledgeable, which is always a good sign. I decided to have a half pint of Effet Papillon IPA (6.5% ABV, Effet Papillon, Merignac, France), described as a New England IPA and with a very nice combination of Mosaic, Ekuanot, and Idaho 7 hops. I took a seat at a rough scratched-up wooden table over on one side. Music was blasting from the sound system, and that was fine with me. When I spotted the hops hanging from the ceiling it reminded me of some of the pubs in Kent that I used to frequent when I lived there. Behind the bar there is a rotating video beer list with 32 choices, and one wall is made out of craft beer cans. And right next to where I was sitting, a rather odd wall mural features a wizard pointing to barley wine casks.
After the excellent glass of wine I'd had on the river cruise, my half pint was very sparkly and satisfying, offering a somewhat bubbly hops character. Was that the butterfly effect? And was my glass a strange attractor? It was possible. After all, I seem to have found myself in a parallel universe.
While I was there, a few other customers came in, but I did think it was a bit odd that I was the only female there. And I would have gone for another half pint of Effet Papillon IPA, but my phone battery was about to go, and I needed to find my way back to my hotel before Google Maps went dead on me.
Le Sur Mesure also sells a wide choice of bottles, and there is an outdoor terrace and live music nights. In a few days they were having a Tap Takeover with Basqueland Brewing, which sounded interesting. But alas, I was only in Bordeaux for four days, so I would have to miss out on that.
After I fully charged my nearly-dead phone in my hotel room, I headed out to find a brewpub I had researched. The Space Factory was not far from my hotel, but it was in the one direction I hadn't yet explored. When I entered, I found the place quiet, which seemed a bit odd for 6:00pm on a Thursday. The room imparted a really good feeling, though, and I especially liked the brick wall on one side, where a poster advertised the Festival de Bières Artisaneales, which was coming up in April. I also liked the mix of tall and low tables, and the fact that good music was playing. Again, a man and two of his male friends entered, and I began to wonder if perhaps the women of Bordeaux have yet to discover good beer.
I first had a taste of Pamplemousse Party Pale Ale (5.0% ABV, Space Musette, Bordeaux), but it didn't quite do it for me. So I ended up going for a pint of Nuage Celeste 2 (5.4% ABV, Space Musette), which is an oatmeal IPA. And it was good, just like I've recently discovered oat IPAs can be. After I sat and sipped it for a while, I realised I quite liked it. It was a slightly hazy golden colour with an interestingly balanced hoppy taste and just the right subtle background of malt and yeast. The pub's nanobrewery, Space Musette, brews a different beer each season, and they're partnered with the Terko Brewery in Cadaujac, just down the River Garonne. And all of the beers are limited editions.
As well as the selection of beers, there are lots of board games piled up on the end of the counter, and they also offer a menu of beer snacks. My Grilled Cheese sandwich was very satisfying, each triangle decorated with some sort of yummy dark drizzle. The tap also features festival events twice a week including karaoke and quizzes.
As I sat eating and drinking, three women finally walked in, and one immediately ordered a proper full pint. So could Space Factory be Bordeaux's centre of multigender Beer Civilization? If so, bring it on!
The next afternoon I visited CAPC, or the Musée D'art Contemporain, where I especially enjoyed the rotating display engine by Thierry Mouillé and the four-dimensional art of Jean Sabrier. Finally feeling sated with art satisfaction after a long drought from living in Sheffield, I decided I should celebrate with a pint. So on my way back to my hotel I stopped into the Backyard Brique House.
As opposed to the image the name suggests, Backyard is a spacious, light and vibrant pub, with lots of different choices in both seating and beers. They serve food as well, and they appear to be open all the time, which is a handy thing to know. I thirstily studied the large video menu behind the bar and finally asked for a taste of Shiny Hoppy (6.0% ABV, Wall of Brique, Bordeaux, France), which was a fruity hoppy American IPA described as having a slight bitterness. It was good but quite strong; so I went instead for a more reasonable pint of New Queen In Town (4.8% ABV, Wall of Brique), described as a hoppy pale ale with citrus flavours. This was quite good and very pleasant to drink, so it filled the ticket, as I had further plans for the day. As I found with the other two beer venues, this place was full of very young people, and of course some of them were probably wondering why an older person like myself was there. Well, my young friends, I was simply trying to ignore my current level of exhaustion by thoroughly relishing the complete relaxation of the level of stress I had started out with before I got to Bordeaux. So there I was, sitting at the bar and feeling pretty wonderful, and also drinking a nice pint. What more could one want?
The decor of Backyard is quite vibrant, with lots of colour graphics all around, and there is a fridge by the front door stocked with takeaway bottles of their various brews. Over the bar is a large colour-coded video menu, and out the window on the front wall I could see the blue-lit Big Wheel from the Fun Fair over beyond the tram tracks. There were bright colours everywhere I looked, including the orange-tinged beer in my glass.
Besides this Bordeaux venue, there are two Backyard taprooms in Paris, one in Lille, one in Villeneuve D'Ascq, and one in Saint-Andre Lez-Lille. And on their website they invite all customers to become shareholders. So what a cool brewery this is.
I have the feeling that I probably only scratched the surface of good beer venues in the city of Bordeaux alone, and there are obviously so many more places to discover all over France. Who would ever have expected this? All the more reason to keep exploring...
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PUB UPDATES:
- THE HALLAMSHIRE, SHEFFIELD: One recent Monday I stopped in here and had a pint of Single Batch Cask Special Mosaic & Citra NEIPA (5.2% ABV, Little Critters Brewing Company, Sheffield, South Yorkshire). This was actually very good, which I'm happy about, because in the early days of the brewery I wasn't that impressed by their offerings. But like Grizzly Grains, Little Critters has blossomed into another fine Sheffield brewery. This beer was a bit stronger than I wanted, but I decided to go for it anyway. In my honest opinion, it has too much Citra and not enough Mosaic. I mentioned this to Ash, who works at the Hallamshire and also at the brewery, and he totally agreed with me, so hopefully he can convince head brewery Patrick, whom I also know. It's just a bit of constructive criticism -- but then I'm totally in love with Mosaic.
I also had a quick taste of Blackcurrant Sour (4.5% ABV, Vault City Brewing, Edinburgh, Scotland), which was pretty damn good and quite drinkable for a dark fruit sour. I thought I might go for a pint of it on my next visit, but sadly it ran out.
On the following Monday I stopped in again, excited to see some new interesting options. Bubble-Gum Sour (4.0% ABV, Twice Brewed Brewery, Hexham, Northumberland) was actually turquoise in colour, and it tasted like a pretty decent sour; but it started with a sweet edge I didn't like. Doug told me the students had been drinking pints of it, and it was turning their tongues blue. I've had green IPAs before (brewed especially for St Pat's), and I like black IPAs, so I'm not bothered by unusual colours. It's the taste that matters.
My next taste was of Crux Hazy Pale (5.4% ABV, Thornbridge Brewing Company, Bakewell, Derbyshire). Described as a Southern Hemisphere Pale, it was nicely hoppy, quite hazy, and refreshing, but you could really taste that alcohol. Doug, who's not concerned about such issues as strength, loves this one.
I finally went for a pint of Phaser DDH Pale Ale (4.2% ABV, Distortion Brewery, Battersea, Greater London). Brewed with Citra and Simcoe, this was actually my favourite of the three tastes, regardless of strength, and it was very, very drinkable. As I happily sipped, I chatted with a friend who used to be a lawyer, and he was telling me how he met former PM David Cameron completely by accident. Hey, it was a good enough reason to have a second pint, so that's what I did.
- TWO SHEDS, SHEFFIELD: I stopped in here one day and had a pint of Dr Morton's Snake Oil (4.3% ABV, Abbeydale Brewing Company, Sheffield, South Yorkshire). It's been quite some time since I've had a Dr Morton beer, so this one was pretty much like the others in the series, which is sessionable and pleasantly hoppy. And the hops are Chinook and Mosaic, so how can one complain? The description on the clip says that Dr Morton's Snake Oil is "guaranteed to remove or produce even the most stubborn stains". It's also useful, obviously, for pouring down one's throat.
On a later busy Saturday, the unseasonably warm weather brought out hordes of people in Crookes, even though the wind was blowing like a gale. So I managed to soar on the wind into this pub, using my shopping bag as ballast. This time, after Ken recommended it, I went immediately for a pint of Through The Hopback Belma (4.0% ABV, Abbeydale), another of their single-hopped series. It was a perfect, very drinkable pint. Sadly I couldn't have a second pint, as I would have liked, as I had a birthday party to attend.
- OLD SHOE, SHEFFIELD: I stopped in here recently and had a half pint of Unchained Session NEIPA (4.4% ABV, Mobberly Brewhouse, Knutsford, Cheshire). Described as juicy, piney, and citrussy, that just about fits the ticket with me, and it was great, especially after Mel and I had just endured pizzas at the place next door that were thoroughly undercooked. So this perked me right up. Then I went for a slightly riskier half of All Eyes On Yew Pale Ale (4.8% ABV, Woodland Brewing, Sheffield, South Yorkshire). Also described as citrus and piney, this had a lovely dry hops to it.
- VOCATION, SHEFFIELD: Before our pizza meal, Mel and I stopped in here and I had a half pint of Magazine Cover (4.2% ABV, Deya Brewing Company, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire). This is an easy drinking quaff, so it was a perfect start to our evening.
BOTTLED/CANNED BEER UPDATE:
- The Fun Loft Pale Ale (5.6% ABV, Howling Hops, Hackney Wick, Greater London). Brewed with El Dorado, Azacca, and Citra hops, this is a pleasing sparkly hazy pale, very light in colour, with that sensuous sweatiness of El Dorado spiked with Azacca and sizzled with a slice-of-lemon touch of Citra. It was very pleasing on the equinox sort of day that I drank it. It was finally spring, the temperature was not quite so bitter cold, and it seemed like Life was good. What a lovely celebration of a beer. The simple graphic design on the can looks almost like op art.
- Now Streaming Nectaron IPA (6.2% ABV, Shiny Brewery, Derby, Derbyshire). Brewed with Citra and Nectaron hops and described on the can as imparting "intense tropical pineapple, passion fruit, and stone fruit", there was definitely a smooth, fruity hoppiness to this -- like drinking a beer instead of, say, a daiquiri. It was pleasant enough, though.
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