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Off to catch the train shortly to go to Nottingham with Birmingham CAMRA. Chance to leave a few cards around.
They plan to do a Castle Rock brewery tour while there, so may get out of the rain for a bit. Got a list of good pubs for after that I did while in Nottingham for the excellent beer festival last month.
Will let you know how we got on.
Good day in Nottingham yesterday. There were around 20 of us, and we went to the Castle Rock brewery first to see their extended premises. The tour was conducted by the brewer, and as it was a working day we spent the time on the top floor looking over rails to the brewery. It was not as good a tour really as others we had been on. We did get into the old part of the brewery and had 4 free halves at the end, but the price was £7. In fairness, I expect the tour will be better when all the work on the new section is finished. Will just give beer details here and save descriptions for the reviews.
Vat & Fiddle. Castle Rock tap.
Good range of their brews as expected plus a couple of Elgoods, a Springhead and a Batemans.
We enjoyed Castle Rock Screech Owl and stayed with it as it was so good. Went back there for another before catching the train.
Newshouse.
Skinners Cornish Knocker and Saltaire Harvest Moon Ale.
Canalhouse
Castle Rock Harvest Pale and Preservation Ale.
Olde Trip to Jerusalem.
Disappointed with beer quality here. We and a few others took back Nottingham Robin Hood Bitter, and heard others had taken Nottingham EPA back for poor quality. Other beers were all Greene King ranges, so settled on their Westgate Fireside. For a pub that is so much a tourist attraction it really does need someone in who can keep beers.
We lost the advance party at this point as it was hard for me to keep Ray in sight behind and the main group in sight in front, but the next pubs were to be the Fox and Crown Alcazar pub, Horse and Groom, and Lion via tram. I found that the couple I was keeping in sight were not going on the tram, and we had no idea where we had lost the others or what tram we needed etc, so we thought we were best doing our own thing.
Hand & Heart.
Enjoyed a meal here, along with Full Mash My Olde Ale and Ossett Winters Tale.
Gatehouse.
Wild Walker Old Big 'ead.
Approach.
Flipside Copper Penny.
Salutation
Magpie Midnight Porter.
Left a card in the pubs visited, and enjoyed all the beers apart from the Olde Trip. Went back to Vat & Fiddle for a final Screech Owl and found the 2 gents who had left the group there. The main party had gone into the Bell which is why we couldn't find them after the Olde Trip as no-one had mentioned a visit there prior to catching a tram.
Never mind. We had a good day and the 4 of us caught the 19.37 back to Birmingham. Hope the others had as good a day as we had.
Useful info Gill. I am looking to do Nottingham properly at some stage so all info is handy. Sounds like Mr Half Pint wouldn't be much good on a three legged crawl.
We were a lot younger when we did a 3 legged crawl of Harborne, a lot of years ago! Keeping up not a problem if the advance guard sticks to their itinary, but we still had a good day. Trust your swollen foot is not hampering your activities now.
Other Nottingham pubs we didn't get to this time round Dragon, Khean's Head, King William iv, and Lincolnshire Poacher. Can get round them all in a day, but we couldn't do it this time due to the brewery visit.
Still quite painful but have at least managed to double my walking speed. 2 gigs (+1 tomorrow) and 3 football matches in the past 6 days haven't exactly given me a chance to rest it. I think I did more damage than I initially thought and should probably go for an x-ray but I generally shy away from bothering the NHS unless totally necessary. I would probably be quite good in a 3 legged crawl at the moment.Quote:
Originally Posted by gillhalfpint
Attachment 430 :whistle:
A friend has an interest in the Poppy and Pint, which opened for business on Sunday at the site of an (ex) British Legion in Lady Bay, West Bridgford, ~2 miles SE of station - beyond Trent Bridge at South end of Pierrepont Rd. I don't yet know whether customers will have access to the adjacent bowling green. A folk club are to use upstairs as a music venue.
It's Castle Rock, so expect their fine beers plus guests. I notice another Tynemill pub, the Stratford Haven, is quite nearby for a double-up.
http://curryandbeer.co.uk/wordpress/?p=2079
Booked in for the weekend in Nottingham this Sat and Sun. Doing the MILD trail, so really looking forward to it!
I don't get it. Why mild in May? Why not mild when the weather is cooler? Mild in November would be better :confused: