Lee Williams and Stephen Powell are the two founders of Bristol Beer Week, currently halfway through its inaugural event.

Today’s highlights include a celebration of women brewers at the Red Lion in Redfield and Chelsea Inn in Easton, and a cask vs keg battle at the Barley Mow in the Dings.

Tomorrow at the Three Tuns in Hotwells sees an evening with Adrian Tierney-Jones, author of 1001 Beers You Must Try Before You Die; and it’s Bristol beers against the world at the Crofters Rights on Stokes Croft tomorrow and Tuesday.

Here are Lee and Stephen’s top-five Bristol favourites:

Bell’s Diner & Bar Rooms
Stephen: “Bell’s was one of the first restaurants I visited in Bristol nearly 20 years ago, before I moved to the West Country permanently. Owners and chefs have come and gone over that period, but the décor and feel of the restaurant has always remained a constant. I’ve eaten better food on rare occasions but never has the all-round dining experience been matched. It’s fantastic to see that the current owners have kept the same formula but taken the new Bell’s Diner & Bar Rooms back to its community bistro routes.”

Drinks that aren’t beer: Full Court Press and The Milk Thistle
Lee: “When I’m not drinking beer I’m more often than not craving good coffee or a well-made cocktail and Bristol certainly has its fair share of both. Full Court Press on Broad Street is the magnificent brainchild of Mat North, one of the UK’s most passionate and knowledgeable coffee connoisseurs. Mat’s approach to coffee is similar to that of a dedicated craft beer bar. Using an ever-changing lineup of the very best and most interesting coffee roasters, he provides dedicated tasting and flavour profile notes for each brew. The real reason to visit Full Court Press though is to try their magnificent cold brew coffee (below) or cascara coffee cherry infusion. The Milk Thistle is a beautiful speakeasy style cocktail bar, wonderfully hidden in plain sight in the heart of the city centre. After gaining entry by ringing the doorbell, you enter its rich and atmospheric old world interior before being politely ushered to the bar. Once at the bar you can order some of the most eye-openingly innovative and palate pleasing cocktail creations this side of the prohibition, all carefully made by a handful of Bristol’s friendliest and most enlightened mixologists.”

The Downs
Stephen: “As all ex-university students know, Bristol has a tractor beam which holds many an unsuspecting young adult firmly within its clutches. Despite being nearly half my life ago, I remember the first time I crossed the Downs on the way to Stoke Bishop halls of residence, and then everyday for a year after that. In autumn, the yellows and reds give the area a New England feel. In summer, the deep greens and hue of BBQ smoke are as majestically English as any of London’s Royal parks. With a perfect view down the Avon Gorge to the Clifton Suspension Bridge and back up towards Avonmouth, there are few better spaces to clear one’s head in our fine city.”

Meat and Bread
Lee: “Bristol is a hotbed of innovative slow food and quality drink enterprises with people like Ben Warran and his American inspired Meat and Bread extreme sandwich company at the forefront. Meat and Bread began life, as so many good food vendors do these days, as a pop-up street food stand. Today he operates most days out of Arbor Ales pub the Three Tuns in Hotwells. Using high quality locally sourced meat he puts his considerable chef skills to making the most delicious salt beef, jerk chicken, BBQ pulled pork, cured pork belly, burgers and bacon sandwiches this side of the Atlantic. Ben refers to his hearty creations as ‘dirty’, in a good way. And they certainly are with toppings and sides that have included the likes of banana ketchup, bechamel cheese sauce, fried pickles, black pudding bites and even donuts instead of bread buns.”

Bristol beer
Stephen and Lee: “Over the last two or three years, Bristol has undergone a beery renaissance. New breweries, pubs and beer bars have been popping up all over the city. When we decided to set up Bristol Beer Week we knew there was a real passion for beer among Bristol’s drinking population but neither of us bargained for the scale of positive responses we have seen. Bristol has always been a diverse and cutting edge city so its position at the forefront of the UK beer industry should not surprise anyone.”