King William Ale House Pub, Bristol Review

King William Ale House, Bristol

Posted on 02. Sep, 2010 by Robert Gale in Pubs

King William Ale House, Bristol

The King William is a Samuel Smith owned pub located on King Street, an old cobbled street in Bristol dating back to 1663.

A Little History

The pub occupies one of three Grade II* listed terrace houses and according to English Heritage dates to c1670. The other two houses are occupied by a restaurant and the Naval Volunteers public house. The English Heritage website describes the features of the building in great detail including the fact that it has a 18th century shop front and 17th century door frame.

The Building

There are two entrances, one in King Street and the other in Little King Street. Enter through the front entrance on King Street and you walk past a small lounge and into the bar area that has a large stone fireplace and booths. Like most Samuel Smith pubs, it has a very traditional feel to it and is very dimly lit.

Head beyond the bar towards the rear of the pub and you’ll find a much larger lounge area. Here you’ll find more comfortable seating, another fireplace and the stairs that lead to the toilets and, according to other reviews, pool tables. Free pool on Tuesdays was advertised when I visited in June 2010 so it seems they are still there.

The Beer

Being owned by Samuel Smith you will only be able to find beer from that brewery. The usual crowd are featured such as Alpine Lager, a stout, a cider and two ales – Old Brewery Bitter and Sovereign Bitter. It was good to see Sovereign Bitter as this isn’t available in some Samuel Smiths pubs.

The pub is let down by the fact that the ales are keg rather than cask. Still, it is a good place to have a cheap pint in Bristol.

More Photos of the King William Ale House

Venue Location

Cayo Arms

20 King Street

Bristol

BS1 4EF

Tel: 0117 926 8672

View on Google Street View

Robert Gale (Twitter: @awv)

Beer Taster, Pub Attendee, Photo Taker

Robert Gale likes beer, pubs and beer festivals. He also likes to take photos of beer, pubs and beer festivals. Most weekends of the year you can find him travelling around the UK (and sometimes beyond) photographing and reviewing good quality pubs and beer festivals. He also has a day job in the form of a web developer for Ozum.