Victoria Hotel Beeston, Winter Beer festival.

Any beer festival at the Victoria hotel is always a great event, but when over 15 ales from local breweries are available it sounds even more appealing.

When it came to picking beers for the evening I stuck to the local offerings.

Leadmill Brewery Pacific Gem (3.9%). The Leadmill brewery started in a converted pig-sty at Selston, but since 2001 it resides in the stable block of Park Hall farm at Denby, Derbyshire. Pacific Gem is a very light golden beer. On the nose it is very hoppy and strong kiwi and citrus flavours can be tasted. It is a very light refreshing beer which also has some complex grassy tones. A nice beer, but a bit more character is needed to make this a top ale. 6.5/10



Leadmill Pacific Gem



Prior’s Well brewery Father Hawkins (4.5%). Prior’s Well brewery was opened in July 2010. It is based in the grounds of the Clumber Park estate near Worksop. Father Hawkins is a dark brown beer with a slight reddish hue. Nutty flavours at the start go to a tobacco finish. It is an amazingly easy drinking beer, but it hasn’t got that much character. A good session best bitter 5.5/10

Maypole brewery Celebration (4%). The Maypole brewery name has been around for 15 years, but it is since 2005 that the brewery has it is operating in its current guise. Maypole is based at Eakring, Notts. Celebration is a golden ale with strong ‘green’ flavours such as celery and vegetable stock. It is a refreshing, palette clearing English golden ale. 5.5/10

Coppice Side Brewery Scary Crow (5%). The Coppice side brewery has only been in operation for a few months from its Heanor site. This golden beer has a sweet start which goes to a well balanced bitterness. There are some lemon tones, but I would want a little bit more hop character. 6/10

A few beers in Nottingham on a quiet Sunday night

On a quiet Sunday night I headed towards Nottingham city centre in order to go to some of the nice ale houses in the city. The first port of call was the Hand in Heart on the Derby Road as it drops down into the city centre. The Hand and Hard was originally a Victorian brewery which used the caves beneath for storing the ales. A Victorian shop front was added which enabled it to start operating as a public house.

The hand and heart is an interesting establishment due to the unusual setup of being carved into caves. There are normally about 7 beers on tap including a special brewed for the pub. The bar staff who served me were very friendly and knowledgeable about ale. My first choice pint of beer was the very last one in the cask. I was pleasantly surprised when the bar maid asked me to see if it was ok and if it was not, they would get me another beer. As it was, the beer wasn’t right so I choose another ale upon the recommendation of the helpful barmaid.

Anglo-Dutch Brewery Kletswater (4%). The Anglo-Dutch brewery is based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire and has been operating since the year 2000. The name comes from the fact one of the partners of the brewery is Dutch and one is British. Kletswater is a light amber coloured ale with a thick dense head. Some lime can be detected on the nose. Upon drinking, Kletswater is a wonderfully balanced very smooth drinking beer. There is a slight caramel sweetness at the start which then has some biscuit and even Stilton tones. This is a superb ale with great length and a very complex flavour. 8/10

I then left the Hand and Heart and walked to the Lincolnshire Poacher pub which is on the Mansfield Road. At the Poacher I tried two beers.

Oldershaws Brewery Caskade (4.2%). Oldershaws has been brewed just outside Grantham since 1996. Caskade is another amber beer with a thick head. It is an easy drinking beer with a slightly warming light malty character and citrus nose. 6.5/10

Castle Rock Brewery Lords and Ladies (5.1%). This is Castle Rock’s December monthly special which is brewed to promote the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust’s work. This dark mahogany bitter has a thick head. It is extremely smooth, creamy and easy drinking. Flavours of sweet brown sugar and light treacle can be tasted. 6/10

I then walked into the city centre to one of my favourite pubs – The Kean’s Head. At the Kean’s head it was an easy choice on which beer to try, one of my absolute favourites, Screech Owl from Castle Rock.

Castle Rock Brewery Screech Owl (5.5%). Darker golden beer which has a rich sweet indulgence to it, as well as complex grassy and citrus flavours. This is another ale with great length and although it was not at its best, it is still a smashing beer. 7/10

I then took the short walk to the Newshouse on Canal Street. This is another favourite of mine for some quiet drinks and a bit of a chat. Traditional pub games are present in the Newshouse and I took the opportunity to hone my dart skills. The service in the Newshouse is always very friendly which helps create a very nice ambience in this traditional pub. Overall the Newshouse tends to appeal to the more discerning drinker, due to its slightly off the beaten track location. I always appreciate the choice of ales in the Newshouse, especially as they always try to serve at least Mild. After chatting to the barman, he advised me to drink Pitchfork from the RCH brewery.

RCH brewery Pitchfork (4.3%). RCH brew down in Somerset and have been in operation for nearly 30 years. Pitchfork is a golden bitter with a medium head. There are some lovely complex flavours which include grassy and citrus tones. This is a lovely well balanced beer that left me wanting to drink more. 7.5/10

Lunch at the Trent Navigation at Trent Lock, Long Eaton

I thought I would make use of the bank holiday Monday by going on a nice bike ride. The route was to go from the Nottingham University Park Campus to the city centre along the canal before picking up the River Trent which I would follow to Trent Lock. The bike ride sounds a great idea, but the practicalities of it with hyperthermia setting took some of the shine off. It therefore goes without saying that upon arrival at Trent Lock I was in need of a good pub to warm myself up and replenish my energy.

After dumping my bike outside the Trent Navigation I went in to order a drink/food. The choice of ales was poor with just some un-flavoursome beers from some of the uninspiring corporate large breweries. So I took a pint of mild, which as expected turned out to be bland. Whilst ordering my food at the bar, things did not get much better as the barman was having a war-of-words with someone over an issue of a locked door. Thankfully this disagreement only got as far as threatening to kick someone’s door in! For lunch I ordered the Navigation burger (topped with cheese and bacon) and chips. Since the pub was busy, we were told there would be a big wait for the food - I did not really mind this, as it meant I had time to defrost myself.  

So I sat there sipping my poor beer waiting patiently for my lunch, when someone decided that playing a best of the 1980’s CD at a loud level was a good course of action. Things were not getting better at the Trent Navigation!

Eventually the food arrived and I was impressed – for all the wrong reasons. The burger was the greasiest vile insipid thing I have had for years. Combine this with poor quality soggy bread made for a disgusting lunch. The portion (or lack of!) of chips that came with the burger would have been perfect if you were on a diet. Sadly I am not on a diet, and after riding nearly 15 miles on my bike I was very disappointed with the portion size.

The combination of terrible food and the music made this place a real throw back to the 1980’s, in all the wrong ways! Without doubt this is the worst pub I have been in for a long time. It is sad to see, because it is in a good location. I think this is probably the reason of the poor service – a captive audience who are forced to put up with crap food/drink/ambience once they arrive.

A quick half at the Wellington.

After leaving the Harlequin, my drinking companion had a need for a pale hoppy number from the Little Ale Cart Brewery. So off we scampered to the Wellington at Shalesmoor, where they make these fine ales on the premises.

This is perhaps my favourite pub in Sheffield. It is at the other end of the spectrum to the likes of the Harlequin. The Wellie is a cosy pub where one can have some of the finest beer in the country in intimate surroundings. I was really pleased to see they had a Blue Monkey ale on tap, which I felt compelled to order.

Blue Monkey brewery Nuts (4.6%). A dark mahogany coloured best bitter with a thin head. This tasty beer has a slightly fruity nose – tones of prunes and lovely full bodied character. Nuts has a complex flavour with great length and a lovely woody flavours. A smashing beer from one of my favourite breweries – 7/10  

Little Ale Cart Brewery Hertfordshire (4%). There is a very fruity nose from this pale ale. Grapefruit and apricot flavours make this a really easy drinking and pleasurable ale. 6.5/10

Lunch at the Harlequin pub in Sheffield.

For lunch on New Year’s Eve I decided to go to the Harlequin on Nursery Street which is near some of the other fine ale house in the Kelham Island area.

Upon arrival the pub was busy with a wide range of clientele. This ale house is not just for the CAMRA real ale types, but is also very approachable to people looking for a nice drink or some good simple homemade food. The pub is quite bright and airy inside with a long bar where food and drinks are ordered. The pub is perhaps lacking in a particularly strong identity which is often associated with the real ale style of pubs. This is no bad thing, as it is very clean and presentable, and is somewhere where no one would be put off from going.

The bar staff are very friendly and are more than happy for me to try a few beers before I make my selection. There are probably about 10 real ales and 10 real ciders available, plus a host of specialist bottled beers. Simple and very reasonably priced food is also served. I opted for their homemade steak pie with chips and a half pint of Porter.

The pie with hand-cut chips, peas and carrots is priced at £4.00 and is a real bargain. Naturally, it is served with the proverbial Henderson’s Relish. The pie is very good, and the hand-cut chips are some of the best I have had for a very long time. I also saw some lovely looking sandwiches and chip butties leaving the kitchen, which looked equally tasty. For home made well priced food, it does not come much better.

The first beer I chose was Revolutions brewery, the Original 45 Porter (4.5%). It is obviously a very dark beer with a medium head to it. On the nose roasted coffee tones dominate. Upon tasting, flavours of chestnut combine with the coffee to make it a tasty easy drinking porter. 6/10.

Whilst at the Harlequin I also tried a pale ale called Cougar from the Fat Cat brewery. This golden beer has an excellent citrusy nose coming from the American hops used in its production. Sadly the flavour didn’t quite live up to the wonderful nose, but it is still a nice beer. 6/10.

Cock and Magpie, Chesterfield

Ask most people what they know about Chesterfield, and you will likely be regaled with an account of the ‘Crooked Spire’ – the twisted and warped spire of the parish church, which looms over eastern edge of the town centre. Chesterfield’s fame, it seems, is owed entirely to its incompetent church-builders. Had those artisans constructed the spire with properly dried-out wood, the resulting edifice would have pointed straight into the air; but the little Derbyshire town would have been robbed of what little notoriety it now possesses.

In point of fact, Chesterfield has a handful of ancient buildings, some of which have interesting historical associations. Chief amongst those is Revolution House, situated in the suburb of Old Whittington Moor. At that little cottage, in 1688, a few English aristocrats hatched the plan to invite a Dutch prince, William of Orange, to invade England, and depose the reigning monarch James II.

Next door to Revolution House is the Cock and Magpie. I visited that establishment on a cold, overcast, weekday in October. To my surprise, I found that the place was packed to the rafters. At every table, in every snug corner, and throughout the conservatory, silver-haired diners were tucking in to their lunch. As you may have gathered, the reason for the pub’s popularity was its ‘senior menu’, which offered pensioners a two or three course meal at a discount price

My companion and I did manage to find a table, opposite the bar. The smartly dressed staff were very polite and attentive, and our food was quickly served to our table, despite the ubiquity of other diners. I washed down my roast turkey sandwich and chips with a pint of Jennings Sneck Lifter – though I do not recall the nuances of its flavour, as my mind was elsewhere, distracted by the Toby Jugs, brasses, and other pseudo-antique paraphernalia with which the pub was decorated.

Johnson Arms Beer Festival Day 1.

I trundled down to the Johnson Arms with three friends in tow for the first day of their beer festival. The first days beers focussed on the Blue Monkey brewery, which is one of my favourite breweries. It was good to see that the Johnson Arms was very busy including a large contingent of the University of Nottingham Real Ale society.

Here is my brief review of the Blue Monkey beers that were available.

Blue Monkey Original (3.6%). It is a dark amber/copper coloured ale with a thin head and sweet nose. Fruity chestnut flavours can be tasted in this smooth drinking beer, which finishes with some tobacco. It is perhaps a bit too sweet to drink lots of and I would like a bit more bitterness at the end. A nice beer, but usually I expect more from Original - 6/10

Blue Monkey BG Sips (4%). BG sips is a pale golden beer with a thick creamy head. It is a lovely hoppy ale with very nice floral and citrus (grapefruit) flavours. The body is light and it is very easy drinking. 8/10

Blue Monkey Evolution (4.3%). Light amber colour with a malty nose. Grassy flavours can be tasted as can floral tones. It has a good bitterness, but is not as complex as the batch I tried at the Notts beer festival. 6.5/10

Blue Monkey 99 Red Baboons (4.2%). Dark ale with malty gingerbread, and slight coffee flavours. It is a very smooth beer which has a warming character. 7/10