J.D Wetherspoon = Home of Hoppy: The Silk Kite, Tamworth.. http://www.tamworthblog.co.uk/2009/0...-blogs-review/
It was in the 2009 edition but it's not in the current one, cough up your £10 and get a new one
Soupy and I met there for our Derby Crawl last November and they had well kept Deuchars and Hobgoblin on, the Bass clip was reversed, read our reviews here. I think Hoppy had a difference of opinion with the guvnor in there which put him off a bit, the History Boys thread sheds some light on it. If you're going in February, Hoppy, give us a shout as me and Soupy have unfinished pubs business there
I did a huge Derby crawl over a very long weekend just over a year ago. Certainly the best city I have done as far as ales are concerned. You could spend a week in the Brunny, the Alex, the Flowerpot and the Babbington alone without having the same pint twice. The Brunny is the tops for me - fantastic, especially when you look at the photos inside of the place before it was renovated. One place I would thoroughly recommend that is often overlooked and isn't currently reviewed or rated on this site (I feel a cut & paste coming on) is the Falstaff which is a short(ish) walk away from the town centre. Really friendly customers and landlord, own brew beers and check out the photos of the "orbs" floating around the pub. Scary. Oh, and if you don't have the Bass from the jug in the Station, you haven't been to Derby!
A pub is for life not just for Christmas
Hmmm, Winter Ales are dangerous at the best of times, never mind in conjunction with a crawl of the town! I can see why you've opted for a two-night stopover ROB.
My list for Derby, still unvisited but high on list, is (in no particular order) Alexandra, Brunswick, Falstaff, Flowerpot, Smithfield, Station, Olde Dolphin, Old Silk Mill. No Babington Roger ('spoons rarely feature on our crawls) but with 18 HPs, it sounds like it should be added, as should that extra day to allow for 'jokers'.
Hi trainman,
Nice to see you here, I think you will recognise quite a few of the people chatting. Myself and Dave M are the admins of Pubs Galore, so if you have any problems, queries or improvements for the site just ask either of us, we are always keen to hear the communities feedback.
Hope you enjoy your stay.
I'd add The Derby Brewery Tap @ The Royal Standard to that list. It gets mixed reviews for the decor but there's no doubting the beer quality.
The 5 thirds and a bowl of local cheese make a good option for tasting and nibbles.
We always stay for 2 nights in Derby when going to the two annual beer festivals.
We can't get there until about 7 or 8 on the Friday so we stay around the station area (not hard with the Alex & the Brunswick on the doorstep).
We then visit the festival Saturday lunch and stay out until closing to get several more pubs in.
A pub is for life not just for Christmas