Edinburgh & Cardiff Rugby Bars.

Discussion in 'United Kingdom & Ireland' started by mdfb79, Aug 31, 2015.

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  1. mdfb79

    mdfb79 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,757) Jan 11, 2010 New York
    Pooh-Bah

    Hello UK Beer Advocates,

    I’ll be visiting Edinburgh, London, and Cardiff for about 13 days in early October for the Rugby World Cup. I’ll be attending a few matches in person, but also watching a Scottish match and a Welsh match while in Scotland and Wales respectively, and was wondering if anyone has any good rugby bar recommendations, preferably with good local beer? My wife and my preference is a good atmosphere with locals to watch the matches, but would love to have some good local beer while doing so.

    Tentative plan is to watch the Scotland – SA match at The Three Sisters, Frankenstein, or Teuchters, and hit up Brewdog, The Bow Bar and Guildford Arms before/after the match in Scotland, and then watch the Wales – Australia match at the Urban Taphouse and hit up Brewdog, Zerodegrees Cardiff, and City Arms before/after the match in Wales.

    If anyone has any tips or better recommendations for where to watch the world cup matches especially, I’d love to hear them from the locals.

    Cheers!


    Edinburgh Beer Bars I found:

    The Cloisters
    The Hanging Bat
    Brewdog Edinburgh
    Guildford Arms
    The Bow Bar


    Edinburgh Rugby Bars I found:

    The Three Sisters
    Teuchters
    Murrayfield Bar
    Frankenstein
    Sportsters
    Malone’s Irish Bar


    Cardiff Beer Bars I found:
    The Goat Major
    Zerodegrees Cardiff
    City Arms
    Brewdog


    Cardiff Rugby Bars I found:
    Urban Taphouse
    The Old Arcarde
    The Old Market Tavern
    The Cosy Club
    Y Mochyn Du
     
    #1 mdfb79, Aug 31, 2015
  2. CwrwAmByth

    CwrwAmByth Grand Pooh-Bah (3,113) Jan 24, 2011 England
    Pooh-Bah

    City Arms has a great selection of cask ales on normally, and is right opposite the tap house. Though both are right next to the stadium, as is brewdog, so it gets really busy before and after a match. Tap house and city arms would have you more than covered with local beer. Great burgers at the tap house too. I'd also recommend the hop bunker (hopcraft brewery) and the gravity station (waen brewery) for beer in Cardiff, with a good range of bottles in the latter.
     
    #2 CwrwAmByth, Aug 31, 2015
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  3. JVHBass

    JVHBass Aspirant (222) May 13, 2012 Virginia
    Trader

    I don't believe the Urban Taphouse has TV's to watch the game. Neither do City Arms or Brewdog for that matter; however I could be wrong.
     
    #3 JVHBass, Sep 2, 2015
  4. Kozel

    Kozel Initiate (0) Jun 18, 2014 Scotland

    You're fine with the Edinburgh bars, but could also add Holyrood 9a, Jeremiah's Taproom and Stockbridge Tap.
     
    #4 Kozel, Sep 2, 2015
  5. Hanglow

    Hanglow Pooh-Bah (2,051) Feb 18, 2012 Scotland
    Pooh-Bah

    The Three Sisters is a student/stag party place really but I'm sure it'll be fine for watching the rugby on their big screens. I used to go there as a student and during the 1999 Rugby World cup was there when the south african team all came in to get absolutely smashed. We ended up chatting to them for quite a while, getting steadily more drunk, then they decided to have a little game of rugby between themselves on the grassmarket in their suits. I still vividly remember Ollie Le Roux demonstrating to us how to tackle by launching himself at full pace into a lampost. How it remained standing I do not know
     
    #5 Hanglow, Sep 2, 2015
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  6. CwrwAmByth

    CwrwAmByth Grand Pooh-Bah (3,113) Jan 24, 2011 England
    Pooh-Bah

    #6 CwrwAmByth, Sep 2, 2015
  7. mdfb79

    mdfb79 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,757) Jan 11, 2010 New York
    Pooh-Bah

    Excellent, thanks for the info everyone!

    Good to know about Three Sisters...might choose a different bar if that's the case.

    I found Urban Taphouse (and all the other rugby bars I listed for that matter) on "Best of" lists online from a few years ago of the best bars in Edinburgh/Cardiff to watch rugby at. If anyone else has better suggestions to watch the matches I'd love to hear them.
     
    #7 mdfb79, Sep 2, 2015
  8. Pulley9

    Pulley9 Initiate (0) Mar 19, 2015 Scotland

    When I went to Edinburgh to watch rugby (and didn't have tickets for the matches) I would normally go to the Caledonian Ale House, but alas it is no more after the Haymarket rail station revamp. So really I'm not much help here, however I could recommend Teuchters to you as a good pub, not sure what it's like on a rugby day though!
     
    #8 Pulley9, Sep 4, 2015
  9. Kozel

    Kozel Initiate (0) Jun 18, 2014 Scotland

    Ryries is right beside Haymarket station and is pretty decent.
     
    #9 Kozel, Sep 4, 2015
  10. rozzom

    rozzom Pooh-Bah (2,620) Jan 22, 2011 New York
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I'm guessing it must have been during the same time, but we came across Trevor Leota and some of his teammates at Berties. OP - definitely not recommending Berties (if it's still going) - they were just very.....welcoming..... to anyone. A 16 year old's money was still good money as far as they were concerned.

    Edit - and f**k - three sisters takes me back
     
    #10 rozzom, Sep 15, 2015
  11. mdfb79

    mdfb79 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,757) Jan 11, 2010 New York
    Pooh-Bah

    Haha, thanks for the additional feedback. Very much looking forward to the trip and trying some local beers while watching great rugby (which can be hard to do in the US).

    Cheers!
     
    #11 mdfb79, Sep 15, 2015
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  12. rozzom

    rozzom Pooh-Bah (2,620) Jan 22, 2011 New York
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Just curious. Are you in NYC? Where's your go-to spot for 6 nations?
     
    #12 rozzom, Sep 15, 2015
  13. mdfb79

    mdfb79 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,757) Jan 11, 2010 New York
    Pooh-Bah

    I am....live in Manhattan on the UES.

    I try to go to The Jeffrey if they are showing matches (sometimes they do, sometimes they do but delayed) as I love that spot, but otherwise I go to The Recovery Room (next to Pony Bar UES) @ 1st Ave & 75th. The Recovery Room doesn't have good beer but a normal sports bar and they play international sports so always show 6 nations matches.
     
    #13 mdfb79, Sep 15, 2015
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  14. rozzom

    rozzom Pooh-Bah (2,620) Jan 22, 2011 New York
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Ah cool. I used to live in West Village, now live in Park Slope. I've always tended to flit between Baker Street Pub and Red Lion. Neither for beer reasons, but both seem to draw a fairly knowledgeable rugby crowd, especially BSP. Also watched an Ireland game at Brass Monkey once and O'Driscoll was there watching (on crutches). Need to try watching at Jeffrey though - didn't realise they showed it!
     
    #14 rozzom, Sep 15, 2015
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  15. rozzom

    rozzom Pooh-Bah (2,620) Jan 22, 2011 New York
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Went to Baker Street the other day for the opening game. But told my friends I was "running late" and caught some of the first half at the Jeffrey while nursing a HF Double Citra. Thanks for the recco!

    Also - thank god Scotland beat Japan today (and got bonus point) - first half was very nervous
     
    #15 rozzom, Sep 23, 2015
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  16. mdfb79

    mdfb79 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,757) Jan 11, 2010 New York
    Pooh-Bah

    Haha, no problem! Apparently they will only be playing the free Universal sports games there, so I'll probably be at Baker Street a few times.

    Can't believe Japan beat RSA!
     
    #16 mdfb79, Sep 23, 2015
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