I foolishly thought that the major selling point of The Farm, hidden away in St Werburgh’s, was its fantastic beer garden, giving the pub a real country feel, albeit only a few hundred metres from the M32. How wrong could I be.
Although its beer garden, which I visited on a very sunny afternoon last week with my friend Polly is one of the best in Bristol, and dominated by a fabulous mural which covers two whole walls of the outside of the building and features pigs in a hot air balloon and a yawning cow, the Farm is so much more than this.
Among the drinks on tap are Red Stripe and Thatchers Gold, with a fine selection of wines and spirits. And the food menu features pub classics alongside ever-changing specials.
But it is the many events at the Farm which really gives this pub its identity, along with that beer garden of course which they use to great affect to host many of the events, from raucous New Year’s Eve parties to the monthly residency of Archie’s Reggae.
Inside, a roster of artists display their work. Films are shown on Sunday nights and and repeated on Monday nights on the big screen. And there are bring and buy sales and regular craft workshops.
The Farm may still be known primarily for its beer garden, but delve a little deeper and you will be more than pleasantly surprised.
The Farm, Hopetoun Road, St Werburgh’s. 0117 944 2384.
Yes, this pub has so much going for it but in all honesty they NEED to sort out the pumps and the quality of the beer they serve. In all the thirteen years I have been in this city I have been eternally disappointed with the sharp metallic flavour left in my mouth on nearly all of my visits. For those in the know, and those not in the know, this is usually a sign of some sort of cleaning solution or metallic polish left in the pumps or the pipes that connect to the barrels. All you need to do when you empty out the pipes is flush them thoroughly with clean water… simple, yeah?… well it’s worked for generations anyway. Come on Farm, get it together so us real ale fans can enjoy the best of both worlds – great beer in the garden.