Sips is a bar in Salisbury, UK selling craft beer, set up by Jacob Price.
Jacob gave a talk at IGNITE + CRAFT last year which was my first introduction to the bar. Here's my write up about him from the Ignite blog post I wrote (I work at Scrace Architects which runs the Ignite events).
"Jacob is a wizard with craft beer, as we saw when we headed to his bar after the Ignite event. Lurid cans lined the shelves, gleaming with cutting edge graphics, shoulder to glassy shoulder with cork topped beer bottles. His talk introduced us to the shrouded world of Trappist monks and their charitable beer making enterprises. A truly Trappist beer is blessed. We were captivated as Jacob opened various pages of the official craft beer spell book."
I had noticed Sips out of the corner of my eye, but I'm not exactly a bar fly, so I never ventured in. But it's such a lovely place, it's top now on my list of places to hang out.
It's such a contrast to all the chains on the high street. When you visit you're likely to be poured a drink by the owner himself. So it feels like being a guest at someone's house. I invited a couple of friends and they were a bit skeptical - digging for info on why it was special. But once they tried it, they kept suggesting we go. It's one of those places that's a memory place, a landmark.
Anyway it had a bit of a glitch lately with some accountancy / financial problem and closed for a while. We really missed it. On their Facebook page they posted some updates about reopening and I dropped by to look. People had scribbled messages of support on the windows.
Inside is a mural by artist Ben Tallon and once there was a Lego model of the bar, in the bar.
The other thing notable about Sips is a brand of beer they sell called Omnipollo. It's a brand run by a graphic designer and a beer inventor. I'm just crazy about the lush graphics and wanted to collect the cans but they're £20 a pop.
I should say something about the actual beer. I like it. You can have a beer like a beery cocktail, a thick moosh of fruits and fermentation. It's like Cider with Rosie (a book not a cider) - you get the buzz under the hay bales.