Tenby Harbour Brewery, the saving grace of the Martins holiday 2020

Well actually, the saving grace of this year’s holiday may be pushing it, but as you are all aware the UK is slowly coming out of a pandemic that has spread across the globe.  So a holiday to Tenby was not always on the cards, in fact it wasn’t until about 9 days before we were set to arrive that we got the go ahead.  Now, those of you in England may not be aware of the different lockdown rules we are under here in sunny Wales, bars are only permitted to open if they can host their guests outside. No indoor pubs. Which makes for a damp time considering the Great British Weather.

Anyway, back to the saving grace of our holiday. We ventured out on Sunday (our first full day) to find a very busy Tenby, we didn’t time our trip to the pub very well. We’d had a quick walk in to town the day before, not long after we arrived but it was pouring it down. Today the sun was shining, so everywhere you look, queues to be seated in the beer gardens.  Tenby House, one of our favourite bars hasn’t even reopened.  Tenby United RFC bar located on Upper Frog Street was always packed, no room at the inn there, as was The Hope and Anchor and the The Buccaneer Inn on the main drag through the seaside town.  Restaurants such as The Bay Tree were always fully booked.  Even the local takeaway phone lines were busy!

Somewhere between The Buccaneer and and Hope and Anchor you’ll find a little alley, and a little hubbub of people in and out.  Now obviously, being a beer reviewer and having visited the brewery many times before, I knew Harbwr Tenby Harbour Brewery is located half way down the lane.  Sure enough, there was a little queue at the entrance of one of the lovely old buildings the brewery have recently acquired. Time and money as well as blood, sweat and tears I suspect, has been put into this new little complex.  Lots of sliding glass where modern meets traditional.  Sent Simon to join the queue and we finally got our first pint in Tenby! There’s not much room in the lane, but we managed to grab a little table perfectly placed to enjoy the afternoon. (Bring some loose change, no toilets if you’re drinking from the brewery bar in the lane, you’ll need to use the towns many public conveniences at 40p per wee wee.)

Pia Whanga New Zealand IPA.  Crisp and cold, just what the doctor ordered.. Malty, biscuity and with quite a surprising bite of hoppy bitterness on the back of the tongue, with enough carbonation to make it really refreshing. Mmmm mm!  And super tasty with a relatively low abv of 4.2% for an IPA.

And I must add, we did manage to get in The Buccaneer for a meal later on in the week.  Menu is limited, but the food is good.  Staff were fab, and you can use the pub’s toilets, win win!

Although our holiday wasn’t hampered by the current lockdown restrictions, roll on 3rd of August when bars are allowed to reopen inside again.  

Hope you enjoyed my first blog for Real Ale Craft Beer, hopefully you’ll be back.

Stay safe people, see you next time.

Melanie Martin

Now I can’t leave without posting this here: