By Kieran Hancock
The last few years have seen an explosion in the availability of great quality beer, independent breweries and innovation in brewing. From sours to stouts and farmhouse to framboise, the beer industry has never been more exciting, and I’m constantly impressed with the quality the local breweries give.
To supply these beers to a weary traveller we look first to the micro pub. These cosy (usually rammed) gems are dotted around the best cities and they’re all unique.
There are few better examples of a micro pub than Newcastle’s own, The Mean Eyed Cat.
As you walk up to the pub you’re greeted by the latest review from Twitter on a chalkboard outside, “ALL THAT CIDER AN THEY DINNET DEE SNAKEY.” Like a badge of honour, The Mean Eyed Cat display these hilarious reviews and goads you inside with enticing deals “January offer 2 pints of White Rat for £6.80 (normal price £6.80).” It’s refreshing not being treated as simply a consumer and it sets the tone perfectly for what the pub is all about.
Stepping inside sometime feels like hallucinating, the funky mix of Mexican decor, ever-changing artwork and multicoloured beer lists, it’s quite a lot to take in; but Johnny Cash’s sweet melodies are there to calmly pull you over to the bustling bar.
Now, you can be the coolest bar in the world, you can have edgy artwork, first class seats and a roaring fire; but if you don’t have good beer then what’s the point in all that? It’s here that the pub excels, to this day I have never walked in and not been blown away by what they have on offer. There’s always the house keg and cask beers available, fresh “El Santo” from Two by Two Brewing and the luxurious “Cramped” from Almasty, two local hoppy brewmasters. On top of these are a further 5 cask pumps and 7 keg lines, which consistently feature some of the best beer a ticker could dream of. There’s always a local brewery and you can pretty consistently get your fix of Kasteel Rouge, an incredibly sweet and dangerously easy drinking 8% Belgian Cherry beer. It’s hard not to want to try everything, and I always find myself spending far more than I intended because of this. The drinks are always poured by a friendly face and you can trust them to guide you to the right brew. Oh and yes, they do real cider from the box “£3.90 under 6% and £4.10 over 6%.”
The classic pub nibbles are often available (vegan pork pies and empanadas) but on a Thursday is where things really get kicking. We rarely plan it, but seeing the pictures surface on Twitter my girlfriend and I are often forced into making the trip down and getting some street food at the Cat. A food vendor parks up behind the pub and the smell of what’s cooking flows inside, imagine pretty much any style of food and there’s been a vendor serving it here. We’re talking: loaded fries, paella, fish & chips, Mexican, pizza, Cuban, Indian, German, BBQ, Romanian – pretty much anything you can dream of, you betcha they’ve had it or will have it one day (sushi please).
The Mean Eyed Cat has all these wonderful ingredients and to top it all off it’s simply a lovely place to be. There’s no nonsense, no need to feel uncomfortable and “no baloney.” For Tryanuary go out and give it go, pubs like these are why we love the (craft) beer industry; bringing people together for good times, good craic and plenty of delicious beer (or cider, or just a wee rum & coke).
Guest blog post by Kieran Hancock as part of our Tryanuary series. You can check out more from Kieran on Instagram at @MosaicKie
