It starts as it ends, as do most conversations I have with Charlie Hardiman. Laughing, wiping the damp corners of your eyes having chewed the fat on how the craft beer scene has evolved in Liverpool over the last 7 or 8 years. Charlie was, once upon a time, the manager of the 23 Club. This was the basement bar, beneath the Clove Hitch on Liverpool’s Hope Street which joins the city’s two cathedrals. It was renowned for boisterous nights, hard and fast friendships, the foment and ferment of ideas, creation of future breweries and a place where regulars congregated knowing they’d never be drinking alone. I have written extensively on the place and wrote about its closure a while ago, here: [http://electrokemist.weebly.com/blogs/an-ode-to-the-23-club] Things have changed since the closure, the venue became Bread and Butter briefly, but as per its namesake it never really generated much excitement or caught the imagination. In stark contrast, the conversation with Charlie is akin to taking an eager puppy on its first foray to the outside, straining on the lead, wanting to inspect, smell and play with everything in site; the enthusiasm is palpable, especially for this adventure. Charlie tells me that the opportunity now in front of her, taxing her, making her apprehensive and excited in equal measure is one of total chance. “The opportunity to do this only because I reached a point where I had accomplished all I wanted with Love Lane (Brewery, based in the Baltic Triangle, where Charlie was Assistant Manager of the Tap and Restaurant) and was looking for a new challenge. A friend and former regular of the 23 Club, Gaynor, had found out that Bread and Butter was closing, with the building’s owner looking for new tenants. Through a series of conversations with friends about any appetite for a sort of resurrection and with Victor’s (the owner) daughter, it became clear this was something where the possibilities seemed too good to pass up on.” I suggest that it is quite a different proposition from managing a bar, working in one to actually being responsible for one, especially in an uncertain trading climate, but Charlie seems to be taking things in a nervous, but confident stride. “Absolutely a different challenge, but the time felt right and there is something beautifully cyclical about this arrangement. Having started my own ‘craft beer’ journey with 23 Club many years ago, thanks to Rob Tuffnell (now of Black Lodge Brewery) taking a chance on me, been with companies like Love Lane and Head of Steam, coming back to where it all began as the one in charge. Victor also seemed to be in love with the idea too, as the building really does encapsulate what we both feel is at the heart of the Liverpool beer scene and what Liverpool is about in terms of its attitude and people. The name too, it’s something I can play on if I am feeling pretentious as it does have a dual meaning, or maybe a triple meaning? Obviously in beer terms, a keystone is a major component of a cask to hold beer and you tap it to get the beer. The other meaning is the one based in architecture, where the keystone is the supporting block in the apex of an arch or other structure, it felt somewhat apt given the history of what 23 Club did for craft beer in Liverpool. It was the home of the brewing club which has given rise to most of the city’s current crop of brewers, was the club house for running clubs and a place where many other important players on the scene actually met or got their ideas. I can’t claim full credit for the name, as Matt (Longmore, brewer and collaborator to Charlie) had it locked and loaded in his mind for a while!” The conversation meanders around education on beers, how we learned about styles and breweries, how sour beers were something of a bête noir initially for us both, the shock of trying Duchess De Bourgogne and what expectations there are now in terms of what people want to drink. This has guided her decision making in how to stock and project the Keystone project, with some agonising over getting hold of the precise beers that she wanted, including a nitro-stout. “We’re keeping it simple to start with, there’ll be keg lines with our house lager already agreed and another with a well known and loved continental radler. The other keg lines will rotate on local breweries to begin with, but we will always have local beers on and support our local brewers. There will also be three cask lines, again, predominantly local stock and we’ll be perhaps having a regular stout on tap to ensure that there really is something for everyone. Once the other parts of the building (other than the ground floor) are ready to open, there will be even more beers from further afield and we can start to consider the small package stock. But we do have to play it careful at the moment for obvious reasons to ensure this whole thing works as a business. In terms of food offerings, the shifting requirements with trading during covid restrictions were something of a headache. We explored the possibility of the kitchen operating as a pop up venture, or just doing small plates and shared food as well as other ideas. At the moment, we are focusing on the wet-led element of the pub.” As things stand, it transpires that the pub will open on the 12th April as a beer garden operation, as per the government guidance. Charlie has been working tirelessly with collaborators and some external traders to get the outdoor space up to specification to allow for a good number of people, whilst distanced and safe. It sounds pretty exhausting, but she seems wary if relatively unfazed by it. The idea of setting up other events, such as Meet the Brewer events, Tap Takeovers and other social meetings brings a wry smile but again a wariness and indeed weariness. “It’d be incredible to bring back such events in the spaces we have. The building really does have a lot of potential, including the upper floors and the 23 Club.” The 23 Club, which she has repeatedly told me is staying under wraps until she and the rest of the Keystone team have decided how to present it. “Keystone needs to have some originality to it, we can’t just rehash what’s been done before as things have changed over the last few years and we have to provide what’s needed, wanted and not just what we want. Doing the events is definitely on our mind and we have ideas for other larger, grander scale events which could happen in the right circumstances, but we have to ride out the current situation and get some time served. When we’re finally ready for 23 Club to open, we’re really hoping that it is the icing on the cake and that with it being its own entity from the upstairs there’ll be that excitement generated about bringing people in again.” The conversation twists again onto other matters such as dealing with social media comments, awful reviews and bizarre feedback that is sometimes received. Charlie through fits of laughter also recalls a rather bizarre occasion where an American tourist left a Trip Advisor review for a pub on Mathew Street which was coloured rather by the clientele than the pub itself, with another patron incandescent at the tourist’s wife not having heard of Steps. Though she isn’t clear over whether this sort of notoriety or infamy would be the worst thing in the world. Don’t ask.
It’s easy to see that there is a justifiable caution to the whole approach in resurrecting such a place. There seems to have been a lot of thought and some bravery thrown into the mix taking this project on, but if as Charlie alluded to, the cycle becomes complete, what a wonder that would be. Keystone (23 Hope Street, Liverpool) opens from Monday 12th April at Midday for soft launch and opens to the public on the 13th April at midday. Walk ins only whilst lockdown limitations are in place, space limited to the beer garden to the rear of the property. Walk in space cannot be not guaranteed. See you there (hopefully) soon! Pedro. ------------- Bookings will be taken through the website: www.thekeystoneliverpool.co.uk Follow Keystone on social media: Twitter // Facebook
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