I don't really plan for The Beer Revolution to become a bar review blog or even a beer review blog but a new bar has opened in Cork and their clear disregard for quality beer is possibly an indication of the disappointing position we're in as regards the revolution.
The Pavilion, once a cinema, which has traded for many years as a night club with a separate bar has changed hands, been refurbished and reopened as -you guessed it- The Pavilion. Again there is a separate downstairs bar and an upstairs club/gig venue.
The people behind the new Pavilion are, I believe, people who were involved in The Lobby bar and music venue and The Bodega. These guys and their compatriots have been up to all sorts of interesting club and music ventures in Cork for many years. One imagines the metaphorical finger on the slightly sluggish pulse of the Cork beautiful people set. What I mean is, these guys are not property developers, they are music/club enthusiasts with a lot of musician/DJ friends.
Evan Dando is, I think, the first gig scheduled. I haven't seen the venue yet but I have been to the bar. I dropped in during the quiet daytime hours (no food served).
The décor is clean and relatively neutral with a suitably modern feel. Understated and quite nice. I ordered a double espresso and a scone (even TBR keeps afternoon beer sipping for special occasions!). The very pleasant server duly served up a truly rank coffee in a dirty cup, on a dirty saucer and I scone which I suspect wasn't baked that morning - oh, and a glass of water which was fine.
Not great but what about the beer?
On draught were the usual suspects: Heineken, Miller, Coors Light, Carlsberg, Budweiser, Guinness, Murphy's, Beamish, Beamish Red and Bulmers. How come a contemporary, hip bar doesn't have Hoegaarden, Erdinger, Puallaner,Staropramen, Budvar or something from the local Franciscan Well brewery ? These may not be my favourite beers but at least they give some draught choice to the consumer. But no. The young and not so young clubbers and music fans will drink only mainstream industrial draught beer. I can't see Beamish Red selling anyway and I'm told Coors Lite is a hard sell too.
To bottles: Heineken, Miler, Budweiser, Coors Lite, Bulmers Light, Corona, Holsten pils. And for the connoisseur (tongue firmly in cheek): Tiger Beer, Budvar, Erdinger Hefe, Koppaberg (glorified alcopop) and .....wait for it......Hoegaarden 33cl.
So, we have 8 lagers, two of which might be considered premium, a light cider and a sweety pear 'cider', one weissbier and one (not bad) Belgian Witbier.
Wow.
Fuck me!
Is that the best the newest, trendiest, hippest, coolest, finger on the pulse bar can do with beer?
I guess so.
Shit coffee, mainstream beer and bottles of Hoegaarden!
Is there not a market for varied, interesting beer. Look at The Bierhaus. The Crane Lane has consistently sold a pretty good selection of varied bottled beer (not just lager and Erdinger) and local draught - they seem to be doing ok.
I had hopes for this bar but until they get some beer in, I won't be meeting any of my beautiful, affluent, hip friends there. We'll go where the beer is.
Apologies for the Cork Colloquial post.
P.S.
I'd like to note that on other forums, (interesting debate here) many people disagreed with my views on the coffee in The Pav. But mine was sour.
My last drink was; Glass of Touraine Sauvignon Blanc 2006, 12.5%abv
2 comments:
Good blog couple of quick points
The bar does not aim to be "the best the newest, trendiest, hippest, coolest, finger on the pulse bar" in Cork
There is a market for varied, interesting beer and the venues you have mentioned are doing it really well, some are beer specialists, and some are so big that they can handle the wastage and amount of taps etc involved in having so much on draft
This is a small bar that aims to work hand in hand with a live venue/club as a music venue.
There is a degree of snobbery flying around in your blog and it may come as a suprise that many people actually like drinking the more traditional stuff, and many more are satisfied by the variety we have in stock (It's not as we are not stocking these beers in any format)
Of course not everyone is gonna be catered for to their specific needs, i'm sure there are customers who would love to see football or rugby games in there on T.V. aswell, but i'm afraid it's not gonna happen, we have a vision of what the bar and venue will be and it to this vision we aim to stick
Also, the bar is hardly at full tilt yet, the food won't be on the menu for another few weeks and we are all currently really busy trying to get the massive refurbishment project upstairs finished, as we are due to open next week
I am glad that a few people have drawn attention to the fact that the coffee is particularly nice, ultimately people will judge for themselves though and that's the way it should be
I hope a few haven't been put off by your premature blog, but I do appreciate it is only an opinion, so fair enough
There are a number of other bits of tweeking that need to be sorted in both venues, and as the Pavilion aims to be in it for the long haul, we are confident we will get them right
The Pavilion
I genuinely wish you well but as you appear to have no intention of making any effort to stock any sort of a range of interesting beer I, for one, will not be making it a regular haunt & I really believe the market for quality beer is bigger than people think. It costs nothing to put a range of 4 or 5 bottled beers in (forget draught until you have a proven market.
I'll have to try the coffee again - my unsolicited advice there would be training, training, training and good storage/grinding practice.
I do like the look of the bar and do not mean to damage your business - I just want some choice and encourage those who feel the same way to stand up and be counted. If that manifests itself in people avoiding bars without choice the the market will cop on quick enough.
Thanks for your comment.
TBR
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