Back at the Little Bears; it’s a little busier than earlier in the week, but still room to sit in the brewery bar. The couple next to us are tackling a pork knuckle – a huge great thing. It’s a joint, it becomes clear, best shared. The fella takes the lead, and does a fine job carving. Looks delicious… I’m never going to try it while I’m with veggies… anyway, we’re here for the beer.
Where’s the old boy who used to do all the brewing this year? We’ve not been in here when they’ve had a brew on. That’s undoubtedly the incorrect term, but we’ve been in here before when it’s more like a sauna – the whole place infused with the smells of brewing the beer we’re drinking. It’s lovely. We’ve rather missed that.
Instead, hidden away in the brewery section (separated from the dining area by glass partition) a couple of ladies are filling bottles individually by hand. It is, presumably, the famous strong/seasonal X33 lager. It seems a charmingly archaic labour intensive operation… and we eventually buy a couple of bottles for Christmas presents. They’re .33ltr bottles, and cost about a tenner a pop. For all its (variable) charm, this is still a pretty cynical tourist trap.Good beer mind… the Old Gott. Goodness knows what’s in the bottles.
