Brewery is not only making great beer but helping make city great

Martin Hesp returns to Bristol after many years away to find how it has moved on

- Sam Ingles

Head brewer Tristan Hembrow

(Sam Ingles)

Sipping a pint of beer the other day, the thought struck me that we humans are an odd lot.

Many of us will have often made the same observation, but on this occasion it was inspired by both the beer and the lively and interesting view out of the bar’s window. Here I was in the heart of Bristol - a city I know well, but haven't visited for years - and I was struck by how odd it is that we humans often tend to ignore the good things around us. For example, various London friends tell me that they rarely go to the West End, despite the fact it was one of the reasons they moved to the capital city in the first place.

I am like that when it comes to this region’s handful of cities. I used to be a regular visitor to Bristol back in the days when arts venues like the Arnolfini and the Watershed were first opening, but haven't been back in yonks.

So, sipping this pint of excellent beer while looking out of the large windows of a very pleasant and trendy waterside bar, I was overcome by feelings of regret. It was a beautiful sunny day last week and Bristol's old harbour area was looking attractive, glitzy and fascinating.

Even the pub itself was intriguing, as was the pint of ale I keep mentioning. The dockside watering hole happened to be run by the same brewery that had made the beer - a brewery that, in my ignorance, I had not really come across before... A brewery which now happens to be one of the largest and most dynamic in all of South West England.

I really do need to get out more - is what I ended up thinking... And without more ado I did just that. I left the excellent Junction bar, down on busy Wapping Wharf, and walked a mile or so west to meet the team at the Bristol Beer Factory - a business which, in its own way, has been witness to the city’s more recent development and evolution.