As the summer starts to wind down, I’m off on holiday! So this round-up is slightly briefer than usual, although that still makes it 50% more waffley than your average blog post.

Anyway, onwards – here’s what you should be eating and drinking in September…

Festivals

Some big events taking place this month…

• Bearpit Surplus Feast on Fri 7th (£5) – a banquet made with surplus food, supplied by Fareshare.
• The Coffee House Project, Fri 7th-Sat 8th (£12) – a two-day caffeine-fuelled celebration of of coffee, featuring 50 exhibitors, workshops and talks, a two-day barista competition, street food and live music.
• Whisky Bristol Underground, Sat 8th (£35) – taste whiskies from across the world down in the cavernous corners of The Loco Klub next to Temple Meads, and take part in masterclasses such as whisky & cigar pairings with Davidoff cigars.
• Bristol Thai Festival, Sat 8th (£4) – traditional music and dancing, Muay Thai boxing, Ladyboy show, Thai beer garden, Thai food and produce stalls, Thai massage and children’s play area, tickets £4
• Avery’s Wine Festival, Sat 29th (£15) – sample 50 different wines from around the world in Avery’s historic cellars under Park St.

Bristol Beer Week

At the time of writing the details were still being confirmed, so I’d check the Bristol Beer Week website for more event details nearer the time, but here’s what we know so far…

• Sat 8th – Bristol Breweries Open Doors Days
• Mon 10th – Be a brewer for a day at Wiper & True
• A range of breweries will be brewing special beers, including a collaboration between Wiper & True and Extract Coffee. Yum!

Also, they may not be directly part of BBW, but two other exciting beery events this month are:

• Factoberfest at Tobacco Factory (7-9th) – over 70 craft beers, epic one-off special brews from Bristol Beer Factory, plus a selection of independent ciders. Live music and DJs as well as street food throughout the weekend. Free entry too!
• Bristol Craft Beer Festival (14-16th) – 3 days of beery fun in Lloyds Ampitheatre, featuring over 250 beers from 35 breweries, ranging from local Bristol brewers to international legends, including Denmark’s Dry & Bitter, Belgium’s Alvinne, France’s La Brasserie Du Mont Saleve and Scandinavian brew maestros Lervig. This year’s food vendors have also been confirmed as Asado, Salt & Malt, Eatchu, The Little Taquero and For Mice and Men – what a line-up! Tickets £40 and include unlimited pours of beer.
• Good Chemistry tap takeover at The Hillgrove (29th) – this fab local brewery will be taking over the majority of this brilliant pub’s twenty taps (!), with a chance to meet the brewers themselves, dance along to their DJ, and enjoy some Japanese munch from Kansai Kitchen.

Dinners

Spoil yourself with an extra special meal this month…

• Wed 12th – Vegan tasting menu at The Knowle, £35
• Fri 21st – Martin Millers gin supper club at Riverstation, £35
• Tue 25th – Hearth Supper Club at Bristol Spirit, £35
• Thu 27th – Southern Italy wine dinner at Hotel du Vin, £70
• Sat 29th – Tapas supper club at Spike Island Cafe, £30

Pop-ups

You can also get some tasty curries from Naasto Baasto at Bristol Spirit until the end of September, delectable fish dishes from King Fin at Corner 77 on Stokes Croft, brilliant burgers from Smoke & Glaze at The Windmill in Bedminster (as well as their ongoing home at The Pipe & Slippers), and vegan goodies from Bun Fiction will be available at Kong’s on King St from early September.

Classes & workshops

Learn something new to show off about!

• Tue 4th – Bristol Beer Factory Taproom tasting: Saison, £15
• Thu 6th – New Bristol Brewery beer tasting, £20
• Sun 9th – One day bread course at Mark’s Bread
• Tue 11th – Starting Your On Microbrewery course, £120
• Sun 16th – Figure moulding hearts & caramels at Zara’s Chocolates, £50
• Wed 26th – Meat & wine with Somerset Charcuterie at Avery’s, £30 
• Thu 27th – Silent Pool Gin Club at Milk Thistle, £20
• Sat 29th – Port, cheese & chocolate tasting at The Rummer, £40

Some news in case you missed it:

• Cargo 2 is about to get bigger (a fair bit bigger)
• Bristol is getting its very own whisky distillery 

And that’s it – I told you it was short and sweet! You can keep up to date with other food news by following A Life Less Organised on Facebook, see what I’m eating on Instagram, or just say hi on Twitter.

Here are some other bits you can read if you’ve got some time to kill:

• Bristol’s best curry restaurants
• Bristol’s best date locations
• Bristol pub crawl ideas 
• Bristol’s best burger joints

Dates for the diary
(or check the Events Calendar)

• Sat 1st – Distiller’s Table: Tomato at Psychopomp
• Tue 4th – Brewing crash course at Bristol Brewery School
• Tue 4th – Bristol Beer Factory Taproom tasting: Saison
• Thu 6th – New Bristol Brewery beer tasting
• Thu 6th – Moor Beer supper club at Riverstation
• Thu 6th – Beer and cheese on board the SS Great Britain
• Fri 7- Sat 8th – The Coffee House Project
• Fri 7th- Sun 9th – Factoberfest at Tobacco Factory
• Fri 7th – Bearpit Surplus Feast
• Sat 8th – Vegan food tour
• Sat 8th – Bristol Whisky Underground
• Sat 8th – Grand Pier Gin Festival
• Sat 8th – Oz and Armonico Drink to Wine at St Georges
• Sat 8th – Bristol Thai Festival
• Sat 8th – Decadent Desserts class
• Sat 8th – Bristol Breweries Open Doors Days
• Sun 9th – Truffles and pralines class at Zara’s Chocolates
• Tue 11th – Starting your own microbrewery course at Bristol Brewery School
• Wed 12th – Bordeaux, Rhone And South Of France wine tasting
• Wed 12th – Vegan tasting menu at The Knowle 
• Wed 12th – Nourish Cakes workshop with Marianne Stewart 
• Thu 13th – Dugges tap takeover at Small Bar 
• Thu 13th – Magical Macarons class
• Fri 14th – Charcuterie, cheese & wine tasting
• Fri 14- Sun 16th – Bristol Craft Beer Festival
• Sat 15th – Last of the Summer Gin at The Botanist 
• Sat 15th – Mastering Pasta workshop
• Sun 16th – Figure moulding hearts & caramels at Zara’s Chocolates
• Sun 16th – Brewery tour with Bristol Hoppers 
• Sun 16th – Bottomless Burger Club at Burger Theory
• Wed 19th – Syrian Supper Club 
• Wed 19th – Australia & New Zealand wine tasting
• Thu 20th – Gin masterclass at The Rummer
• Fri 21st – Martin Millers supper club at Riverstation 
• Sat 22nd – Curry Legend workshop at The Spicery 
• Sun 23rd – Bread Masterclass at Little Kitchen
• Tue 25th – Hearth Supper Club at Bristol Spirit
• Wed 26th – Burgundy & Loire wine tasting 
• Wed 26th – Curry Legend workshop at The Spicery 
• Wed 26th – Bar moulding class at Zara’s Chocolates
• Wed 26th – Meat & wine with Somerset Charcuterie at Avery’s  
• Thu 27th – Silent Pool Gin Club at Milk Thistle
• Thu 27th – Cheese & wine pairing at The Rummer
• Thu 27th – Southern Italy wine dinner at Hotel du Vin
• Sat 29th – Port, cheese & chocolate tasting at The Rummer
• Sat 29th – Good Chemistry tap takeover at The Hillgrove
• Sat 29th – Patisserie Masterclass
• Sat 29th – East to West food tour
• Sat 29th – Gin masterclass at The Rummer
• Sat 29th – Avery’s Wine Festival
• Sat 29th – Tapas supper club at Spike Island