Two New Pubs for Oxford

Pub news tends to be dominated by closures, so it's fantastic to be able to report on not one, but two new openings in Oxford in the latter half of 2018.

It's taken me a couple of months to wander up to Summertown to visit the Bicycle Shed, but we made it on the day of opening to the Plough on Cornmarket Street.

Smart bar at The Plough, Cornmarket Street, Oxford

The Plough (38 Cornmarket Street, OX1 3HA).
The Plough opened on Friday 21st December to make the most of the festive drinks trade, although it's still a work-in-progress with the upstairs dining room to be completed.  The downstairs bar will be dedicated to serving drinks, with large windows opening up onto Cornmarket and St Michael's Street.  It's bright and airy with a modern feel and an unusual 'V' shaped bar.
First registered as a pub in 1656, the last ales were served on the site in 1924 at which point it was converted into the Domestic Bazaar Company.  Austin Reed opened in 1936 and sold their suits in this location until 2016. 
Many of the original features were lost during it's shop conversion, although the 1st floor windows and two pediments are said to be original.
The return of the Plough is the work of Chris Mulhall, who runs the 1855 bar in the Castle Quarter.  XT brewery have worked in partnership on the project, so on this first day visit we found XT4 plus Animal 'Hop Kitty' & 'Koala' on cask, whilst their Oxford Lager, Oxford IPA and Imperial Stout were pouring on the keg lines.  Excitingly they're installed brewing equipment and the facility to serve the beer straight from the tanks.

Brewing Kit at the Plough

The 'Koala' was served up with a great frothy head and was tasting great.  I popped back to the bar for a half of the 8.6% stout, which I don't think I've seen available anywhere previously.

According to to this Oxford History website there were 16 pubs along Cornmarket over the years, from the original Jolly Farmers at number 1 to the Sun Vaults at number 63.
Until this years re-opening of the Plough, The Crown was the only one remaining of these 16 pubs.

Oxford's second new pub to report is a couple of miles north up Banbury Road in the Summertown area...

Oxfords leafy suburbs - The Bicycle Shed Pub and Summertown Cycles

The Bicycle Shed (204-206 Banbury Road, OX2 7BY -  website)
Opening at the beginning of October 2018 this is a venture by the same folks behind central locations St Aldates Tavern, The Grapes and the George Street Social.
They've taken over a location once housing an Indian restaurant and (appropriately with their name) next door to Summertown Cycles.  For many years now the Dew Drop Inn has been the only pub serving this part of town, with a fair old trek to get to the nearest alternatives.

Drinking Locale at the Bicycle Shed, Summertown

The Bicycle Shed is set back from the road with a patio area out front.  The website and early reviews were heavily orientated towards food, so I worried that this would be a 'gastro' pub with little thought for anyone just wanting a drink.  But the front bar is comfortable to just settle and relax in, whilst the back room, the 'Potting Shed', is set for dining with many of the tables reserved on our visit. 
On the bar were three local cask ales from Siren, XT and Loose Cannon, plus some decent keg offerings including a couple of beers from Box Steam and a tasty single-hop table beer from Tap Social.
We did stay to eat and I'd happily recommend heading here for the food.  There's a focus on vegetarian and vegan dishes, although good choices for the carnivore too, catering for all.

It's brilliant to see new pubs appear and I hope that they attract new customers and prosper well.Hopefully 2019 will see the Somerset in Marston finally reopening after a long campaign by locals, and perhaps the Hollybush on Osney Island opening it's doors once more? 

Good for the...Constitution, Camden Town

Attending a training course found me back in Camden Town earlier in the week: a return to what was a bit of a local haunt back in the days when I lived in London.
Over the year's I've seen many a band, who turned out not to be the next big thing,  playing in sticky floored venues across Camden.
And on the most foolhardy of nights we'd end up with cans of Red Stripe in the dodgy back room of the Marathon Bar.
Those were the days. 
Sort of.

The all-seeing Camden Eye.

I'm quite pathetically un-rock'n'roll these days, with a remit to get home at a sensible hour.
Just enough time, then, to check out a handful of bars after being released form my course. 

The Camden Eye (2 Kentish Town Road, NW1 9NX)
This pub stands majestically on the junction of Kentish Town Road and Camden Road, looking across the road at both the Underground station and rock institution The Underworld.
It used to be the Halfway House until being taken over by Laine's and re-named in 2017.  In a recent face-lift the mock Tudor frontage of the upper floors has been replaced by a moody blue paint-job and a white all-seeing eye on the gable.
I just hopped in for a very swift half here, so didn't really get to take in the full pub experience, but it's in a handy location and serves up a decent ale brewed by Laine's, plus a good craft keg selection.

Brewdog (113 Bayham Street, NW1 0AG)

I can remember visiting this when it first opened back in 2011, excited by this new-fangled craft beer stuff (It'll never catch on).
This was a time when Brewdog hadn't begun worldwide domination and you couldn't pick up a Punk IPA in your local Tesco.  The Camden branch was just the fourth bar in their chain to open and their first outside of Scotland.

It's a relatively small street-corner location, hence can get very busy very quickly.  Midweek at 5pm though there's just a handful of customers and it's comfortable and relaxed.
Brewdog rarely disappoint with the opportunity to pick something stupidly strong, and so it was on this occasion  as I chose 'Heir Apparent', an 11.5% imperial stout from Lickinghole Creek Brewery over in the US of A.  And very nice it was too.
My one gripe is the barman filling the glass below the ⅓ pint line and telling me to wait a few minutes and it would settle to the line.  Hmmm - I'd rather see it filled to the line straight away and pleasantly settle just above a few minutes later. 
Especially as these strong imported ales sure don't come cheap.

Just over five minutes walk eastwards from Brewdog takes me to an area once known as Agar Town.  This is a lost neighbourhood of London, which may not be a bad thing as it was, by all accounts, a bit of a shit-hole.  Built in the 1840's it was cheaply constructed with no street lights or sewerage and quickly gained a terrible reputation.
Charles Dickens is quoted as saying that "the stench on a rainy day is enough to knock down a bullock".
In 1866 the Midland Railway enquired about buying the land as they constructed the new St Pancras station. The estate landlords couldn't have been more eager to sell up and the whole area was demolished within 2 months. 
All of which brings me to...

The Constitution (42 St Pancras Way, Camden Town, NW1 2QT)

Better than a fruit machine.
Retro table-top Donkey Kong  at the Constitution.

Built in 1858, this pub is the last remaining building of the Agar Estate.  With a host of dull modern buildings in the vicinity now, the pub stands proudly next to the canal.

It has a sizeable open plan room although there's a bit of a shortage of tables partly because a darts board and pool table take up a chunk of the space.  There's a small raised area occupied this evening by a few old boys and a sleepy dog, whilst a bunch of youngsters utilise the pool table.

With four ales on cask, I picked an autumnal ale from Windsor & Eton Brewery, served in good condition and coming in at £4 a pint.  Which I figured was pretty reasonable for London.  
The Constitution is listed in the 2019 Good Beer Guide and is well worth venturing beyond the main drag of Camden Town to visit.

Next up, a long walk along Agar Grove took me to...

Two Tribes (Tileyard Studios, Tileyard Road, N7 9AH).
This brewery and tap room only opened in April 2018, although Two Tribes began brewing on the south coast in Sussex in 2015.  They brew a Jamaica Porter and Session IPA for Island Records, reportedly taking up much of the capacity at the brewery, so this new location in central London can be used to conjure up more experimental creations.
Tileyard studio's houses a vast number of recording studios including one's belonging to Basement Jaxx, The Prodigy and Mark Ronson.  
So I guess you could search out the brewery tap room in the hope of rubbing shoulders with someone famous.  Personally I could've been sat next to Mark Ronson and been none the wiser.

Two Tribes.  Nope, can't think of any way to incorporate Frankie Goes to Hollywood into the caption.

I really liked the Two Tribes tap room.  It's small in size, meaning that when you grab a seat inside it feels as though you're really in among'st the workings of the brewery.  

Unlike many of the weekend-only tap rooms they've got good opening hours (Mon 12-6, Tue,Wed and Thur 12-9, Fri and Sat 12-12, closed on a Sunday).
Great beers.  Card-only (the hip kids don't do cash anymore).  And DJs and live music lined up on many nights.

So, a short evening.  All very sensible and just scratching the surface of what Camden and surrounding areas have to offer to the beer hunter. 
Every once in a while I have to concede that I can't visit every pub.

Bolton Wandering

Exploring the Pubs & Bars in Bolton & Horwich

I've gotten out of synch here, taking an age to write up this October mid-week football trip to watch Forest play at Bolton Wanderers.
So with no further ado - afternoon pub explorations:

Straight off the train I headed to a Good Beer Guide recommendation - Great Ale at The Vaults (Market Place, BL1 2AL).
The Market Place has been smartly and impressively renovated to create a retail and leisure hot-spot.  Down on the lower level, as the name suggests, you can find this bar, between eating places and a Dino-themed crazy golf course. It's kinda an ale bar for folks who don't like pubs.  

Great ale in an un-traditional setting - in the Vaults

I went with the bartenders recommendation of a Beatniz Brewery 'Beach Bum' pale ale.  It's described by the brewer as a beer to sip in the sunshine, so I wasn't in the ideal environment, sitting with my coat on inside a shopping centre.  
Interesting place with a good craft ale and cask choice, but I wanted something more traditional.

And where better for that than The Old Man and Scythe (6-8 Churchgate, BL1 1HL).
This historic pub throws it's hat in the ring when it comes to the much contested title of 'Britain's oldest pub'.  With mention of a pub on the site in 1251 it's in the top 10, or perhaps even 4th oldest in the country, depending on where you look.

The Old Man & Scythe - one of the countries oldest pubs.

It was rebuilt in 1636 in time to witness the execution outside it's doors in 1651 of the Earl of Derby for his part in a Civil War massacre.
As with all these old pubs, out of necessity of keeping it standing up, many parts of it have seen some modernisation, although the cellars and some of the wooden beams are said to date back to the 17th century.
So what music to complement the olde worlde charm?  Well that'd be Megadeth's 'Peace sells', along with some early nineties alt-rock - perhaps not the most appropriate for the ancient surroundings,  but I was thoroughly enjoying them sat in the snug with my pint of 'Flat Cap' bitter.
A Google search for the pub brings up You Tube video's of ghostly images caught on CCTV.  And cast any scepticism aside, because the pubs paranormal activity is reported in both the Daily Mail and the Mirror - two papers that never get their facts wrong.

A walk back across town took me to The Hen & Chickens (143 Deansgate, BL1 1EX).
I really liked this traditional town centre pub and would have stayed longer if I hadn't  set myself a strict schedule.

I stood in the doorway weighing up which door to use: the 'Vault' or 'Lounge Bar' in fear of getting stuck in the wrong side of the pub.  Only to find that it's now open plan and both led to the same place ultimately.
There's a nice feel to the pub - a number of happy daytime regulars, a lovely tiled frontage on a horseshoe bar and a good range of ales including Bass bitter for the traditionalists.  
I sat up on the raised area beyond the bar, where an old gent made a comment to me each time he passed to and from the games room at the back of the pub.  Didn't understand a word of what he said each time but my hapless grin and nod seemed to suffice.

Walking back through town I skipped the Good Beer Guide listed Elephant & Castle, with a perhaps unfair appraisal from the outside.  But then stumbled across a new brew pub that I hadn't known was there.

Northern Monkey Brew Co (Nelson Square, Bolton, BL1 1AQ)
This brewery and bar was only opened in September of 2018.  Bolton friends Ryan Bailey and Liam Convey started brewing beers in an extension of one of their homes.  They've obviously done a pretty good job of it, leading to them being able to renovate this old pizza restaurant into a smart modern venue, with the brewing kit on show to the side of the bar.
There were three cask ales available and a good range of craft keg offerings from their own brewery plus guests.  Extra marks for the second rock soundtrack of the day with a bit of Foo Fighters and Soundgarden to accompany my tasty 3.8% 'Wilhelmina', a pale session ale.
I appreciate that this bar would probably be best visited later in the day with more of a crowd to create an atmosphere, but I had places to be.

Halloween decorations -well, a bit of cotton wool masquerading as a spiders web. 
Brew kit and bar at the Northern Monkey Brew Co.

Check-in time at the Travelodge had been reached so I dropped my bag off and speculated how I was going to get myself out to the Reebok, Macron, whatever the football ground is called these days.

Bolton have indeed wandered

Their home is now at Middle Brook, by Horwich Parkway rail station.  Horwich Parkway is still a fair way from Horwich itself, but I decided to catch a bus there as it seemed ripe with some good drinking establishments.
"Where about's in Horwich?" the driver asked me as I boarded the 575 bus.  
It's unhelpful when passengers say "don't know", as I did.  
"I'm going to the Blackedge brewery" I added as an after-thought, in case this made things easier. 
His furrowed brow, deep in thought, suggested that this brewery wasn't a top destination for tourists or locals alike.  But then with a spark of recognition he said he knew where I meant and he'd give me a shout when to get off.

Where he was referring to was in fact the The Ale House (36 Church Street, Horwich, BL6 6AD) run by Bank Top.  It did have 'Brewery' emblazoned across it's frontage in all fairness.

Bank Top Brewery's sister-pub up at Astley Bridge is a multiple winner of the local CAMRA pub of the year, but I'd decided it was too much of a rush to get up there today.  So this was a great alternative and turned out to be a fantastic down-to-earth boozer.  The curved bar is set to the left of the front door, with lounge-like areas to the right, consisting of curved banquette seating along the wall and a couple of high tables with stools.  No TV, no food.  Just a spectacular run of 8 hand pumps serving up 7 Bank Top ales and a Nottinghamshire interloper from Milestone.  
When I arrived there were just a couple of blokes and a dog, but it quickly filled up, creating a pleasant atmosphere and hum of conversation. 
From here it was just over a 5 minute walk down the hill to my original intended destination...

Blackedge Brewery Tap Room (Moreton Mill, Hampson Street, Horwich, BL6 7JH).

Just time to squeeze this in before trekking to the game. These are the sort of venues that  can vary dramatically, so I walked through the dimly lit yard and entered the brewery not knowing what to expect.  As you enter, the brewing kit is visible behind a glass window, then up the stairs you'll find their bar, opened in 2015.  
And very nice it is too.  
It has a homely feel, with large rugs, sofa's and bar stools at high tables made out of wooden barrels.  There's a good selection on the drinks menu whether you're after craft ale, cask ales or cider (for which they've won a 2018 cider-pub-of-the-year award).  
First up I opted for a US-hopped IPA before heading back to the bar for a half of the traditional 'Heritage IPA', clocking in at 6%.  I had a phase on the look-out for 'proper' IPA's after reading Pete Brown's excellent 'Hops & Glory' book.  This version by Blackedge was absolutely fantastic.

I knew I had over a 2-mile walk ahead of me and the one chap in the bar wearing a football scarf had left 15 minutes ago, so it was time to leave the Blackedge Tap.  There's helpfully a couple of chip shops en-route, then a number of supporters to follow through a maze of cul de sacs and footpaths in a housing estate as a short-cut to the ground.

Evening kick-off at the University of Bolton Stadium.

For a modern ground I quite liked Bolton - some would say that's because Forest won 3-0 and they'd probably be quite right that my opinion is easily swayed by a winning performance and a good atmosphere in the away end.
Any ideas of a post-match pint were scuppered by the irregular service back from Horwich Parkway to Bolton.  I missed the 10pm train by 5 minutes, then had to hang around for an 11pm replacement bus service.   
A great, if exhausting, day, with some fine quality beers and great pubs.

Happy Hour - Hull Pub Explorations

What a good place to be...

Am I really going to throw predictable Housemartins references into the title?  Yes, of course I am.
This trip to Kingston-Upon-Hull was football orientated, with the KCOM being one of the last remaining Championship grounds I hadn't visited.  And I made sure to arrive with plenty of time to spare to explore a handful of the cities pubs.

The Minerva Hotel (Nelson Street, Hull, HU1 1XE)
Arriving late morning, we made our way down to the banks of Humber, with some unexpected splendid blue skies and sunshine.  In which The Minerva Hotel was looking glorious.

Smallest pub room in Britain?

Built in 1835, this would once have been a haunt for the dockers, but these days the dock to the side of it is filled with yachts and the pub serves a varied clientele.  
There are at least six separate areas to the pub, making it fun to explore as you try to pick your favourite spot.  
There's a great room to the left of the front door, wedge-shaped and bright, with the seats by the window offering views across the estuary.  
But we couldn't resist the tiny snug with space for three persons, at a push.  Signage in here claims that this is 'The smallest pub room in Britain'. Not sure about the validity of that claim, but it brings out the tragic tourist in me, posing for pictures sipping my beer sat here.  
The Minerva once had it's own brewery, but this was short-lived and the brewery now operates as a function room.  There was a good range of beers on the bar though, with three from the Revolutions Brewery, a good traditional Tetleys bitter and a blonde ale from the Yorkshire Brewing Company.

Chilli Devils (23 Arthur Street, Hull, HU3 6BH)
Appearing in the 2019 Good Beer Guide, this small bar was opened in 2017 by Ian Ibbetson who also has a business of the same name producing chilli sauces. 

 They proudly serve real ales and chilli-orientated dishes, plus there are chilli peppers growing along the windowsill and a list of globally inspired chilli dishes on the wall.
Yup, they like their chilli's.
Three ales were available on this visit, a porter, Elland Brewery's ever-reliable award winning 'Beyond the Pale' and, my pick, a  single-hop ale by Little Critters, hopped with Vic Secret.  This bitter pale ale worked well alongside a bowl of mildly spicy stew.  The 3 dishes available are all served from cauldrons at the back of the bar, so there's no waiting around for food to be served.
A great little relaxed place for some wholesome food and good ale.

Ye Olde White Hart (25 Silver Street, Hull, HU1 1JG)
There were four interesting looking pubs on the National Inventory of Historical Interiors list, but I only managed to visit this one this time around.
It is claimed the building on this site dates back to 1550, originally a grand house, prior to becoming a pub in the 1700's.  This was almost completely destroyed by a fire, leaving the Victorians to go to work on the elaborate interior that can be seen today.  

Like Oxford's Turf Tavern, it is tucked between the houses, off the road and accessed by one of two narrow alleyways.  There's two rooms on the ground floor, both with their own bar and both with enormous inglenook fireplaces.  Beers come from Theakston's and Caledonian Brewery plus a local guest ale.
I figured we could just about fit one more in before having to make our way to the match, so we heading just around the corner to The George Hotel.


The George Hotel (Land of Green Ginger, Hull, HU1 2EA)
This was once the tap room and gatehouse for the large, long-demolished George Hotel, so despite its name there is no hotel and you'll be disappointed if you come here looking for a bed.
You may also be disappointed if you come looking for England's Smallest Window.  It's an odd claim to fame - a slit in between the bricks, around 2½ x 25cm, which has been glazed over at some point in time. A gatekeeper would once have sat behind it, looking out to identify bona-fide hotel guests, then let them in through the adjacent archway.
The pub consists of one impressive wood panelled room, unspoilt and dating back to Georgian times, with real fires burning and plenty of custom on this Saturday afternoon.
Horse racing on the sole TV screen, which normally knocks points off a pub for me, but as it offered friendly service, a pleasant atmosphere and well-kept ale, they are excused.
And as if good beer and a record-breaking window were not enough it's located on a street called the Land of Green Ginger!  Which is ace!

England's smallest window, at The George Hotel

Beers downed at the George, it was time to trek across town to Hull City's Kingston Communications Stadium.


Having made the walk back into the centre, elated that I'd remarkably watched back-to-back Forest wins, we headed in the search of some fancy craft beer from Atom that had been spotted on Untappd earlier in the day.  This Hull brewery serve up their ales at the Corn Exchange (1-4 North Church Side, Hull, HU1 1RP).  It would have once been a multi-roomed pub, but has since been opened up and modernised, with 14 taps and 4 cask ales available.  With a great selection I would have usually stayed here for more, but we'd just missed the last order time for food and needed some nourishment.

Which took us a short walk to The Head of Steam (10 King Street, Hull, HU1 2JJ).
This had been a 'maybe' on my list of pubs, but on the hunt for pub grub, with a good menu, decent beer and one remaining table that we could bag, this proved to be a real winner.
Our plates of food were filling and tasty, the beer range was good and the pub was busy and lively without being uncomfortably packed.
Well worth a visit - and my 'You may as well pass' a hop-heavy 6.9% IPA, on cask and brewed by Abbeydale and Brew York was my beer of the day.

Next destination:The Lion & Key (48 High Street, Hull, HU1 1QE) which we'd passed earlier in the day but not had time to visit.

The Lion & Key, earlier in the day

Looking at Whatpub, their website still pictures this as Durty Nellys Irish pub.  It's now reverted to it's original name and is run by the neighbouring Cathead brewery.
This was packed to the rafters and doing a roaring trade when we arrived - bouncers on the door ushering in merry groups crawling the bars of the old town.
It has a spectacular pub interior with it's ceiling plastered with beer mats, wagon wheel lights, bric-a-brac on the shelves and old Hull pictures on the wall.  There was a massive choice of cask ale, but my pick of Cathead 'Ruby Ale' was not at peak condition unfortunately.  Spoilt with such a big choice & I picked the wrong one.

The Lion & Key - at six-minutes past eight.

My plan to visit the historic Black Boy on the High Street was scuppered by it being so ridiculously busy.  Getting into the back bar was akin to squeezing in to a London tube train in rush hour and as there was no way it would be enjoyable to stay, we walked around the corner to  Wm Hawkes  (32 Scale Lane, Hull, HU1 1LF).
This had looked equally rammed on the way past earlier, but the revellers seemed to have moved on - perhaps lured away by the coloured lights across the road at the Manchester Arms which was choc-a-bloc.
The eponymous Mr Hawkes was a gun maker operating from these premises many years ago.
Whilst it appears to be an ancient pub, it's only been up and running since 2012 so fair do's to the designers who have given it a truly historic feel.
Owned by the same folks as the Lion & Key, there is a large range of hand pumps along the bar with both Cathead and local Yorkshire breweries on offer.

A great place, but sadly the last of the night for me.  My stomach was telling me it had had its fill of food and ale for the day and my hotel bed was calling. 
Hull really was a good place to be for the intrepid pub crawler.  I left with a fair number of places on my list un-visited, so a return trip is on the cards.

With folks flocking for Hull patties you'd think they could afford to replace the missing apostrophe, ampersand and 'N'.
Look out, the 'T''s going next.

St Pauli Sunday's

FC St Pauli wellington boots, smoke-filled bars, swing-dancing and football - all in a days pub-crawling in Hamburg.

I began my Sunday jaunt in one of Hamburg's most famous districts, St Pauli.  Hamburg and Altona were once independent of one another and this middle ground between the two was used for industry that neither wanted within their own walls.  With those beginnings it's not surprising that the region developed a fiercely independent and counter-cultural identity.
Entertaining workers from the docks, numerous bars and music venues sprung up as well as a red light district located around the Reeperbahn, once dubbed 'Europe's most sinful mile'.

It's also famous for the emergence in the early sixties of a little-known band called the Beatles and a world-famous football club called FC St Pauli.
As the numbers employed in the shipyards and docks declined, squatters, students, punks and anarchists took their place living in St Pauli.  

And when these locals decided to go to the football, the crowds on the dilapidated terraces of the Millentor stadium shot up from the 2,000 to 20,000.  In contrast to what was happening at many other clubs this crowd were orientated firmly towards the left - anti-racist, anti-homophobic, anti-capitalist and lots of more besides. 

I would've loved to have watched FC St Pauli play, but tickets are incredibly difficult to get hold of, so I'd visited instead on a weekend when Hamburger SV were at home and St Pauli were playing away at Arminia Bielefeld.

Scouring the music listings I spotted that rock club Knust (Neuer Kamp 30, Hamburg 20357) opened specially on 'St Pauli Sunday's' to show the games on the big screen.  Located a couple of hundred meters from the stadium, this club is situated in what was once a slaughterhouse.  It's main hall would be a great place to see a band (I'd contemplated a bit of thrash metal here from Satanic Surfers, but had instead plumped to get tickets for the Levellers across town this evening). 
Benches were laid out in the hall and the game projected onto a large screen at the back of the stage.  The game was also being shown in a side-room and on an outdoor screen, with a good crowd of folk assembled to cheer the local team on and join-in with the 'Woo-hoo' bit of Blur's 'Song 2' when a goal was scored.
The beer to drink when in St Pauli is Astra - the brand is owned by Carlsberg these days, but it's still deeply associated with the district. In Knust I quenched my thirst with a couple of  bottles of their 'Urtyp', a 4.9% session pale lager.

Last time I stayed in Hamburg, many years ago, we visited a number of the bars around the Reeperbahn - a dodgy rock bar, our boring choice of Molly Malone's Irish pub and Gretel & Alfons which was apparently Paul McCartney's hang-out, in which he still hasn't paid his bill.

This visit I wanted to pick somewhere kinda traditional, so I plumped for 
David Quelle (Davidstr.23, 20359 Hamburg) 
This bar dates back to 1906 according to it's signage.  It had a thick curtain across the door, giving that sense that you're not quite sure what to expect behind it.

What I found was a small bar with wood panelling giving way to a vast collection of football scarves pinned to the wall and ceiling. 

And an eccentric bunch of customers on a Sunday afternoon.  Beer and shots of dubious spirits were being lined up on the bar and one lady kept demanding the attention of all present so she could make important (?) announcements, before breaking into St Pauli football songs.  

I sat as anonymously as an odd English bloke at the bar can with my Duckstein pils.

Not feeling the urge to donate my Forest scarf to the collection

Walking northwards took me to St Pauli's neighbouring district Sternschanze where I visited  Galopper des Jahres (Schulterblatt 73, Hamburg 20357).  This serves as a coffee shop during the day with the bar opening at 5pm (I'd learnt this the hard way visiting at 3pm on my first day in Hamburg).  But this afternoon it looks as though the bar may have been open longer with the place a buzz of energy and activity.  It's swing-dance central.  A DJ is spinning '40's era swing classics, with tables pushed aside to create a busy dance floor full of enthusiastic folk.
"It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing".
You don't get this at Brewdog. 

Unlike in the Half Man Half Biscuit song,
this evening of swing has not been cancelled

So I probably didn't get a real flavour for the place as a beer bar, as I dodged dancing couples and perched on the corner of a table.  There were 10 beers listed on chalkboards above the bar, from which I picked a 'Fastmoker Pils', from local Wildwuchs Brauwerk. After Astra and Duckstein this seemed packed with flavour and was thoroughly enjoyable.

Possibly a little irresponsible

St Pauli is an area well worth exploring and apologies for not really doing it justice here.  Glancing at a few reports of how lively the small bars become on a match day it does look an amazing place to be when FC St Pauli are at home.  

For craft beer there is Uberquell by the river, a short walk from the Reeperbahn, or up in Sternschanz Altes Madchen, both of which I visited at different times on this trip.
For me it was time to head across to Altona, just as dusk fell and the neon lights of the Reeperbahn began to shine bright.