Digbeth Taproom Duo

In which we make our way to Birmingham to explore the bars and pubs of the Digbeth area. 
I've ended up with too many pictures, so this day's shenanigans are split into an Extended Post: the A-side has the graffiti, craft beer and hipster brewery taps; the B-side has the proper pubs.

Despite the best laid plans we didn't actually start our Digbeth explorations in Digbeth.  Stepping out of Moor Street station it had turned bitterly cold and was pouring rain.  Particularly wet rain.
We hopped from one bit of shelter to the next until we spotted an A-board which offered an early alternative to loitering in shopping centres.

TILT, on the corner of the City Arcade

Tilt (2 City Arcade, Birmingham, B2 4TX - web)
At 11:30am the windows were steamed up and there was a decent early crowd in, either sipping their artisan coffee or quaffing the craft beers.

We got the last table (that didn't involve being banished to the basement) and ordered our own crafty murk and flat whites.
Great beer menu, but what is that - font size 6?
My eyesight isn't what it used to be, but at least it's still good enough to spot the prices and stop short of ordering a pint of the double peach Gose at £22.50.

Instead I ended up with the sensible strength and sensible price of a Triple Point Brewing 'Pint of Sheffield', a nice tropical haze of a beer to start the day with.

Interestingly, WhatPub says "Some beers served from key keg and therefore may be considered real ale, ask the staff or see the beer info clipboards to determine which."
That'll surely ruffle the feathers of a few CAMRA folk.

Tilt gets its name from the collection of pinball machines, with a run of 8 just around the corner from the bar and a few more downstairs.  I didn't part with my pound coins as I've come to realise I'm quite hopeless at pinball.

As the rain stopped, we left Tilt and walked away from the centre, looping past the Woodman pub and HS2 works, under railway bridges into the heart of Digbeth.
This was the scenic route.

One of your windows is broken

Strolling through some quiet streets, we headed under the grand railway viaduct which our train had passed over earlier. Modern brewery taps aren't always in the most obvious or best marked places...

Under the bridge?..

Through here??

In there???

In hindsight, the door propped open with a beer barrel is obviously the way in, but it didn't seem obvious at the time.  Poking our heads in revealed an anonymous makeshift white plastic porch with sliding door.
Beyond this was the brewery tap, with it's bar, brewing kit and bench seating - revelry in full swing. 

Halton Turner Tap Room (Rea Court, 40 Trent Street, Digbeth, B5 5NL - web)
Well, perhaps not quite in full swing -  the clientele consisted of two Aston Villa fans with their burgers and beers.
The beer list looked great though, with a wide selection advertised on a digital screen on the back of the bar, both their own brews and a few local guests.  The bar had three hand pumps with just the one in action on this visit, serving up a nice quaffable 'Blindside' porter.
As we were ordering a bite to eat, I threw early caution to the wind and also grabbed a half of the 9.2% imperial stout 'Nativity in Black'.

Shame to visit when it was so quiet, but I guess the rotten weather and early hour didn't help.  A good brewery bar with extra marks scored for having beer mats!

Moving on, we made our way to another brewery tap which was close by.
Another rather anonymous entrance...

At least this time there's a "This Way" A-board, next to a random pile of logs and discarded Christmas tree

Dig Brew (43 River Street, Digbeth, B5 5SA - web)
Unusually, I felt, for a brewery tap we were confronted by a 'please wait to be seated' welcome desk and went through the "have you got a reservation?", "no, are we okay just for a quick drink?" routine.
Looks like this place gets fairly busy at times.

German beer fest style benches stretch down amongst the shiny brewing kit, but for now just the small square front room was being used.

We ordered the one cask ale - a strong and tasty winter warmer, and a superbly coconutty black IPA, 'Enter the Void', which was a collaboration brew with Walthamstowe's Exale.

I was a bit put off by the table service, but our beers were great, with the rest of the list offering up lots of interesting options to tempt us to stay longer.  Dig Brew do some very cool art work on the cans and literature too.

They have a 'Say Doom and Die' event this coming weekend with "weird and wonderful beers that have been loitering in the barrel vaults", including 10 imperial stouts and 2 barley wines.
Oooh - can we come back?  A trip to Birmingham for 10 imperial stouts - what could possibly go wrong?

Yes!  Another shiny brewing equipment picture!

We'd done the craft bar and two brewery taps.
Right! Time to find a proper pub!