Category Archives: Uncategorized

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Still here.

Hello hello, still here and apologetic for the lack of updates post Sheffield, it was quite a review and after putting that monster together I quite frankly could not be arsed for a bit, and Hoppkins has a new baby. Thanks to Radfordlad who left us a comment of an alternative route, I hope to check that one out in the coming months, if you want to check it out for yourself or indeed submit your own please do!

Don’t forget this week is Mansfield roads first collaborative festival with 7 pubs involved and over 100 beers, clicking this text will give you the information you are after, though it seems at least as of yet no beer list is available.

Many thanks for reading, when we started this blog we didn’t expect much, but last month saw us just fall short of 1000 visitors, so a huge thankyou to all of you, and thankyou for your patience, we do have a couple of articles on the back burner ready to go soon 🙂

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Blue Monkey Limited Edition Ale: Infinity (Pale Ale)

Blue Monkey recently released (and due to the lateness of my posting have maybe withdrawn but lets hope not!) a new limited ale called “Infinity”

I had the pleasure of coming across this ale randomly and was not disappointed, it lives up to Blue Monkeys consistent excellent selection completely.

Infinity

A lovely straw coloured pale ale at 4.6%, slightly hazy but beautifully refreshing with that great citrus flavour which im assuming come from those incredible New Zealand hops which are becoming so popular.

I would literally say this is one of my ales of the year so far and hopefully WONT be the limited edition the landlord assured me it was (maybe a petition to Blue Monkey is in order)

I spotted this written on the chalk board in the Old Angel in Nottingham however it was already off. Whether or not this beer is still in circulation is a mystery but if you spot it GET IT WHILE ITS AROUND.

CHEERS!!

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VAT & Fiddle Review

VAT

Castle Rock – Harvest pale is 2010 CAMRA champion beer of Britain, so for somewhere to sell it for £2.30* is a good thing, but you can make a good thing better when the beer hasn’t had to travel.

The VAT & Fiddle you see is the Castle Rock brew tap, the brewery is literally right behind this no nonsense pub with a friendly cat†.
As you would expect a large cross section (6) of Castle Rocks finest adorn the bar along with 4 guests, it’s hardly surprising then that this is the place to try Britain’s champion, every pint of Castle Rock beer I have tried at the VAT has been consistently up with the best.

VATbar

No, you don't have to wear a tracksuit to get in.

It’s hard not to recommend the VAT & Fiddle if you want a decent pint, sure it’s a no frills boozer but when it’s only 3 minutes from the train station and a great way to kick off a journey into Nottingham (or indeed a good pub prior to walking to the football/cricket) it’s undoubtedly one to keep coming back to, no matter what you think of the decor.

*prices correct at time of publishing, you can get it even cheaper with Wetherspoons/CAMRA 50p off vouchers.

†the cat is worth a specific mention being as it will come and sit with whoever it fancies, whenever it fancies.

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The January grind and the ever increasing cost of a pint.

£3 a pint? get used to it evidently, even with a CAMRA card London Pride is £3 in The Approach (£3.20 without) This latest hike in VAT isn’t looking at all good for beer in general with no breaks in the future looking likely, and it’s not just The Approach being particularly ruthless with the pricing, many many places are now charging north of £2.80.

Where do you draw the line? leave a comment and let us know.

The January grind is taking its toll at the moment unfortunately, though reviews are in progress for the King William IV and the Cross Keys, and will hopefully be up for the months end. We like to visit a place at least twice if possible to get a better idea of what it’s all about.

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Pumpclip museum

Stumbled across this site yesterday, it provides an extensive list of all sorts of beer handpumps, clips etc.

But of real interest was the section detailing brewery taps, a great selection of pictures, and some ideas of places to visit in the summer… (this is from all around the UK not just Nottingham)

http://www.pumpclipmuseum.com/page35.htm

But wait, there’s more! A comprehensive page of hand pumps at railway stations.

http://www.pumpclipmuseum.com/page36.htm

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Interview: Blue Monkey Brewery

The Blue Monkey Brewery are a small and relatively new  microbrewery originally based in Ilkeston but whom have now moved to newer and larger premises in Giltbrook, Eastwood.

Blue Monkey

They have already wowed the brewery community by winning no less than 3  medals in the 2009 SIBA awards for:

Overall Champion of the Competition with “Blue Monkey – Guerrilla” (Gold)
Porters, Strong Milds, Old Ales & Stouts with “Blue Monkey – Guerrilla” (Gold)
Strong Bitters  (5.1 – 5.5%) with “Ape Ale, Strong Ale” (Bronze)

I was fortunate enough to get an insight into how Blue Monkey came about and a bit about them from John @ Blue Monkey

1) When did you first start brewing?

What kind of brewing was it? Was it a kit? How did it go?

When did you switch to mashing and what made you switch over? How did that turn out?

I started brewing about three years ago in my kitchen.  I did all grain right from the start, as the point for me was to learn the full process and to try to make better beer then I was buying elsewhere.  I don’t think you can do that with kits.

2) What made you pack up the IT business for brewing?

I was just bored of sitting at a desk all day doing something that didn’t particularly interest me.  I found myself sitting at my desk at work daydreaming about my next brew rather than working, which led me to wonder whether I’d be better of brewing for a living!

What was the biggest challenge of starting up Blue Monkey?

Getting the funding together, and taking the big step of quitting a good job to do it.  After that step, everything else falls into place simply because you have no choice.

3) How did your family react when you told them you were opening a brewery?

I think they thought it was just another ‘scheme of the week’ until I actually quit my job.  Then they thought i was nuts!

4) How have you coped with the recession, increases and other misfortunes of the economy?

We’ve had no problems at all.  I started the business right at the start of the current recession, so it’s all I’ve known.

5) How are you finding the new premises?

Brilliant.  We were so cramped in the old place, so it’s great to get some breathing space!

6) Any tips on novice brewers hoping to move into the world of microbrewing and replicate your success?

Brew great beers and get the branding right, and you’ll be OK.  It’s surprising how many start-ups don’t seem to get this.  Also, it’s not as cheap as you think it is to set up a brewery- I’ve had a lot of people come to visit me who want to get a brewery up and running, and they all have totally unrealistic budgets!

7) How do you view other similar sized microbreweries? As competition? Or allys against the evil forces of huge commercial breweries?

A bit of both, really.  It’s a very friendly industry, and whilst other small breweries are very much our competitors we also help each other out.

8 ) Whats the farthest afield one of your beers has travelled?

I know a few have gone to Norway, but thats about it.  We dont do bottling yet, so we are limited to how far a cask can travel.

Keep your eyes (and Bananas) peeled for more news on the Blue Monkey Brewery here on Nottsbrew!

For more info on Blue Monkey you can goto their website here Blue Monkey

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Lincolnshire Poacher beer festival – this weekend!

Due to a CAMRA error incorrectly listing the festival as last weekend we didn’t cover this as it clashed with the West Bridgford hockey club.

As the title suggests however the Lincolnshire Poacher is infact having its festival this weekend, they’re open from Today at 10am right through until Sunday closing (11pm)

A beer list has been released, and it does look very impressive, what hasn’t been released is the pricing, ominous…

FROM CASTLE ROCK
3 at a time from…. Harvest Pale Ale 3.8% (Champion Beer of Britain), Hemlock Ale 4.0%, Black Gold 3.8%, Elsie Mo 4.7% and Screech Owl 5.5%

FROM BATEMANS
XB 3.7%, XXXB 4.8%, Victory 5.8%

ON GRAVITY FROM THE SNUG
Timothy Taylors Golden Best 3.5%
Darkstar over the Moon 3.8%
Nexby Wyke Sidewinder 3.8%
Great Heck Hecks Angel 3.9%
RCH PG Steam 3.9%
Ossett Vivian May 4.1%
Mauldons Silver Adder 4.2%
Blue Monkey Evolution 4.3%
Kelham Island Easy Rider 4.3%
Brains SA Gold 4.7%
Goffs White Knight 4.7%
Saltaire Cascade 4.8%
Belvoir Old Dalby 5.1%
Kelham Island Pale Rider 5.2%
Leeds Hellfire 5.2%
Thornbridge Kipling 5.2%
Toad Da Vinci Toad 5.5%
Batemans Victor 5.9%

ON THE STOUT & PORTER BAR
4 at a time from
Nethergate Umbel Magna 4.5%
Batemans Salem Porter 4.7%
Fullers London Porter 5.4%
Goffs Black Knight 5.3%
Thornbridge St Petersberg Imperial Stout 7.7%
Exmoor Beast 6.6%

ON THE FRONT BAR (or anywhere else we can find space)
Oakham White Dwarf 4.3%
Clarks Classic Blonds 3.8%
Everards Tiger 4.2%
Titanic Anchor 4.2%
Brains Dark 3.5%
Ossett Winters T’ale 5.0%

AND THE CIDERS….
From Glastonbury, Gwent y Ddraig, Moles, Westons, Thatchers and Biddenedens.

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Review: Spanish Bar (South Street, Ilkeston)

Spanish Bar (South Street, Ilkeston)

A relatively new pub at the bottom of Ilkeston, and is present Erewash Pub of the Year taking the torch from the Dewdrop Inn (whose landlord is Chairman of Erewash CAMRA himself) who graciously handed over the award himself.

Spanish Bar

From the outside you could be forgiven for not thinking this a real ale pub since it looks so fresh and new. But inside caters for even the most specialist real ale drinkers taste buds.

Boasting a wide selection of real ales (5 real ales capacity in bar) and very new and very cool slightly Spanish looking furniture. For those who like sport they have multiple big screens.

There is a formidable bottle selection sporting some real ale treats such as Wychwood for those nights where you just fancy something colder.

Thornbridge Kipling (A beer i personally rate as a 10/10 with a beautiful aftertaste of watermelon) is on as a regular. This pint is a treat and rarely seen.

The beer is kept in excellent as expected of the CAMRA winner with a large selection regularly seen.

Inside

inside2

Now I am one for barsnacks so was overjoyed to see The Spanish Bar stock…

Jerky

Jerky! Which was a wicked change from the usual barsnacks.

The toilets are nice and clean and the staff are friendly. The beer garden is a fair size with an undercover section for smokers with chairs.

On occasion The Spanish Bar is host to it’s own beer festival as seen below (To be clear however this is strictly an infrequent thing, details of up and coming festivals can be found at This Link

Fest
Fest2

To be honest it’s of the most pleasant surprises I’ve had in a long time and well worth a visit.

Google Maps Link