Desert Island Pubs – Ryan Truswell, buying manager for Ale/Stout and Cider, Asda
Beer Insider is pleased to bring you the latest Desert Island Pubs column, supported by Sunrise Beverages. So settle in and enjoy reading the stories behind the selection of pubs from…
Ryan Truswell, buying manager – Ale/Stout and Cider, Asda
1. Earliest Memory of a Pub
I’ve very much grown up in pubs and the brewing industry. My parents met when they were working at Scottish & Newcastle. My dad as a rep and my mum in the office. A job she got because of my granddad, who was head of tech services there, so as you can imagine we only went to pubs where they sold good beer. Although in my memory I do think people were drinking lager. I can recall the World Cup in 2002 and England were playing Sweden and being in a packed pub in the reversible England kit. It was the Rose and Crown pub in Greetland, Halifax. I remember the pub being packed and noisy and lager flying in the air as Sol Campbell scored. I spent many an hour in that pub playing pool and drinking Panda Pops while sneaking a sip of lager when no one was looking.
2. Most Inspirational Pub to my Career
Euston Tap by the station in London. It was the first place I ever tried Stone IPA (still a highlight of mine getting this listed in a pint can in Asda!) On one of my first trips to London as an adult I was pulled in by the size of the place and the neon lights. However, it mixes new, heritage and core beers and ciders from around the world. Always something new and different to the majority of pubs you go in. It proved to me, if you get something exciting and new, back it and then there will be more people like yourself who want to try it and hopefully keep buying it. In my previous role in craft, I would often have a look on the beer board online to see if there was something I should be looking out for.
3. My Current Local
I’m very lucky to live in York, which as the old wife’s tale goes, has a different pub for every day of the year (not sure how true this is). However, I’m a 10/15-minute walk from the centre so I’m lucky to have so many great pubs on my doorstep. However, on the walk in I often struggle to get past the Fat Badger that is just inside York’s Bootham Bar. The Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc in summer goes down very well. The beer garden is inside the city walls so you see a lot of people at the end of the loop looking longingly at the pints on the tables outside.
4. My Favourite Pub
This is a tough question, so I am going to give two answers. I’m going to do one for my “work life” and one for my “personal life”. The Grove Inn in Leeds, right next to Asda house is 100% my favourite from my work life. You cannot order anything but Daleside Blonde in this pub, it is like Guinness in Ireland constantly pulled and barrels changing daily. It is always on-point. The reason behind my choice of this pub is that regardless of if it’s been a good day, bad day, or just a Friday afternoon, the pub is exactly the same. It is a back street pub from 1832 and despite a fire two years ago the interior hasn’t changed massively since its early days. Tiled floors and roaring fires in a pub that reminds you that at the end of the day a pint with people you work with is always needed.
Personal life-wise, I love Spark in York. Though not directly one pub as it is in shipping containers. The two ‘pubs’ they have in there are Turning Point micro-tap where the Disco King is on-point and the second is a mini-tap from the guys at Pivovar, which means there is always a fantastic selection of beers. I like the big tables, being out in the open, and plenty of choice. It’s nothing overly flashy, but great for a quiet drink or with large groups. Just perfect.
5. The Pub you’d like to take to the Island
Elland Craft & tap. The micropub that was pretty much Elland brewery tap from my time working there. It is an old converted bank so has some fantastic wooden features, as well as the safe still in the cellar. It always has five different beer styles of cask ale on, and a sixth on at the weekend, which are all wonderfully kept. Only the house beer a 4% blonde is on permanent. There are also six keg lines that do not follow the mainstream with Budvar the ‘house’ lager and a selection of craft keg that is rarely found outside of city centres. Mike the landlord very much loves being the host and the whole pub suits his personality to a tee, to which if you have a dog with you he’ll adopt it until you leave. It’s an incredibly friendly place where you feel very much at home. No loud music, no TV blaring out, just conversation, laughter and an exceptional range of beer. I’ve spent many an hour with the head brewer of Elland in there plotting what beers we should brew next and how to take over the world. I’ve some very happy memories in this pub.
6. The beer (unlimited supply) you’d take to the desert island?
Liquid Mistress by Siren. It is truly an exceptional Red IPA. Whether this is on cask, keg or can it is just a must-have. To make a beer with that complex malt bill that’s not chewy while also giving you a West Coast bitterness and a fruity aroma makes it top-tier. Though I might be kicked out of Yorkshire for not naming a Yorkshire beer.
Glynn Davis, editor, Beer Insider
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