Portsmouth questions

Regional Forums United Kingdom and Ireland
1

Might be going to Portsmouth with the family in a few weeks, Definitely not going to be a beery trip at all, but I’d like to get a few rates in and bring a few new breweries home. So…

  1. Is there anywhere in Portsmouth I can get guaranteed IoW ticks (the craft beer shops don’t seem to do them, do the local Waitrose stock IoW beers maybe?).

  2. Any decent wife-and-teenager-friendly restaurants where I can also get ticks (Brewhouse & Kitchen will probably be visited as we always like those, plus maybe Croxtons & Huis - any thoughts on these or others?).

  3. Any other non-beery recommendations (we’ve done the obvious things like the Spinnaker Tower, the dockyard etc on previous trips, looking for unusual things that aren’t covered by the main tourist guides).

We’ll not want to use the car when we get there, so needs to be places within a mile or two’s walking distance (staying near the old docks).

Any help’s appreciated, cheers!

2

Have had a family weekend stay in Southsea twice recently.

Croxtons is definitely the best option for food for the family + craft beers. We ate at Meat + Barrell last time. Croxtons had better food and beer choice.

I bought some IoW beers over in Gosport at 33 Green Bottles. Neither the Mrs or the boy were happy to be is Gosport but I got away with it as it involved a ferry ride. Although a teenager may be less impressed with that!

If you get a chance to go ticking the Brewers Tap and Greenwich Brewpub are the places to aim for.

But Gosport has now got two micropubs (33 GB and Four-Ale Taproom), two brewery taps (Fallen Acorn, Powder Monkey) and if you are lucky there could be a Newtown beer on at Queens Hotel. I’d have headed there but only get a small slot for ticking before I have to head back to the hotel and grumpy wife plus 5 year old who’s running ruot 3 hours after his usual bedtime. Although am heading to Fallen Acorn’s beer festival next month.

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3

Many thanks @beardedavenger, good to know I’m on the right lines with Croxtons. The Gosport options sound good, but not sure I’ll get a chance to go there (we tried Gosport years back & didn’t like it much, would have to come up with a good family reason to get the wife to return there!).

I’m hoping the Beer Musketeer in Southsea might yield some IoW ticks (they’re not showing any on their website, but I’m hoping their in-shop range is a bit wider).

4

I found the Beer Musketeer disappointing as there was a lack of local ticks. But I guess the locals are more interested in beers from elsewhere when they can otherwise buy direct from local breweries.

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5

I would try and factor in a ferry or hovercraft trip over to the IoW. You’ll get some beers and a place review for your stats. That’s what I did on my one and only visit to Portsmouth.

<*))))))><

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6

Sadly we’re very unlikely to get ferry to IoW due to the stupidly high cost, plus the fact that we have limited time & various things people want to do (hence hoping to get IoW brews in Pompey).

7

A new place has opened in Southsea:

8

I’ve been meaning to report back how I got on in Portsmouth - well, I didn’t do very well on the beer front, but we thoroughly enjoyed it as a family trip away.

We went on the weekend of all the storms; dodged the Friday when the storms were at there worst, but it was still brutal the rest of the weekend - difficult to stand up by the coast most of the time. Our hotel’s restaurant had been written off by the storm, which was no biggy as we were going to have dinner out anyway - fortunately the bedrooms were still intact.

The Saturday was a case of hunkering down - it was too wet too walk out to the beer shops, and we spent several hours in a retro computer games place - my daughter loved this, & I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting Sonic the Hedgehog - still great even 30 years on!

Most beery eateries were fully booked both nights (astonished we couldn’t get a table at Brewhouse & Kitchen!), but the first night we managed to get a table at Croxtons. I wasn’t overly enamoured of the place (music far too loud, food served in stupid baskets, maybe I’m just too old for the venue!), but their house lager Shant (made by Fallen Acorn) was superb. Also had a Black Iris stout (my first beer from the brewery) which was very disappointing and appeared to be made of cabbage.

Second day we ate at the Belgin restaurant “Huis”, which was excellent, if tiny (booked out even on a Sunday). Food and service were excellent, and there were 70-80 beers all with the proper glasses. Didn’t feel like drinking too much, so stuck to the low strength stuff rather than the strong specials - had De Konninck, Westmalle Extra and Lindemans Peach lambic, Would thoroughly recommend this place although you’ll need to book - its tiny & was sold out even on a Sunday night.

My quest for IoW beers was unsuccessful this time - the ferries to IoW and Gosport weren’t running due to the wind. I missed the “proper” beer shops as they only opened Saturday & it was to wet to walk there then. The Southsea Deli claimed on its website that it had Yates beers, but on going to the shop turned out to have no beers at all. The only IoW beers turned out to be in the Southsea Watrose - they stocked a couple from Goddards which unfortunately I’d already had.

Nevertheless, we all had a good time despite the rough weather & lack of IoW rates, and as a bonus I bagged the highest point on Portsea Island whilst I was there!

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9

I see that Southwick Brewhouse currently have two IoW beers in stock. Two I hadn’t seen before, a lager and a Belgian Ale. However it was only when I got to the checkout that a message appeared saying that you have to email them first if not usng the local delivery option. So ended up ordering from Ghost Whale instead. The Hants, Dorset and IoW ticks will have to wait.