Posted on July 28, 2011 by hoppkins

A sad farewell to Kimberley Miners Welfare

Miners

Recently the Kimberley Miners Welfare closed after 80+ years. A sad day for a lot of people who frequented this great place to meet friends, play bingo and have a drink. Sure it only had one real ale on per time, it was usually kept well so they already were getting one thing right Wetherspoons could fail on some nights when they had 4 times that many guest ales.

Places like the Miners Welfare are not so much about the drink but the atmosphere, I think it’s safe to say without being ageist that most of the clientele of the Miners Welfare were over 50 with a spread below this age maintaining membership. Atmosphere created by the relaxed attitude of the staff, children were allowed in and often met up with other children from other patrons, food would often be brought in from outside without being frowned upon by staff.

Local acts would play on the stage at the back, ignore if you want, sing along if you want, get up and dance if you want! Some were good, some not so good but all were greeted with applause at the end.

The drink selection was mostly generic with 1 guest real ale, they did a mean can of Tango if you fancied a soft drink. The real kicker about this place being gone is it represents (in my opinion) the archetype of the Old English Tavern. A place to meet, talk, drink and eat…a central hub of activity for a community.

Not just someplace to swill lager and watch Sky Sports. Plenty of activities were played here instead like bingo, open the box (finding that key is impossible…) quizzes and stuff which brings people together…not just draws their blank gazes to a TV. I’m not sure who I’m aiming my disappointment or scorn at exactly, only that the “big guys” have contributed to the downfall of someplace like this. Places like this are important for communities, I doubt there are many other local places some of the “older” clientele would like to go to now.

Clubs are becoming a dying breed. Having been a member of at least 4 in Ilkeston/Kimberley I can say that Nottingham on the whole will be worse for more of these closing. However price hikes, higher beer duty and recession make it hard for places which are not centered around profit and competitiveness to stay afloat. The local word is the miners is now being considered as a building project for apartments. So suburbia claims another victim after 80+ years of being open.

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Matt

Fox and Crown Basford / Alcazar Brewery

Well there are plenty of newcomers to the brewing scene in Nottingham, but rather than get swept up in all that let’s take a look at one that’s been around for a bit, brewing from the Fox & Crown in Basford the Alcazar Brewery.

Alcazar started brewing in 1999, whilst that’s still relatively recent they’ve been brewing since well before the recent real ale resurgence, though you would be forgiven for not knowing who they are as I have only ever seen their beers on sale at the Nottingham Beer festival or the Fox and Crown itself, but then they are a small brewery.

This lack of exposure doesn’t mean they do ale not worthy of it, far from it, they have a good stable of beer with Sherrifs Gold and Black Fox both excellent session choices though I will admit to not having tried the whole range due to availability! It would be nice to see them spread out a bit more, but the Nottingham real ale scene is becoming a tremendously fierce battle ground, it seems to survive you need to get some brews with the popular US and NZ hop imports, let’s hope they do.

They show sky sports, which isn't for everyone, but most ale pubs nowadays choose not to.

The Fox and Crown is a great traditional pub in easy walking distance of the Basford tram stop, and it would be rude to not goto the also excellent Horse and Groom whilst you’re in the area!

As Radfordlad points out in the comments below, CAMRA discount is 25p off a pint, and they do thai food though I have yet to try it.

33 Church Street, Old Basford, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG6 0GA

*Note Alcazar beers are available in bottles, I have tried a few and whilst being passable as with most bottled beer they’re nowhere near as good as on draft.

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Matt

CAMRA and BrewDog get nitro knickers twisted.

Hit the nitro! it sounds like something out of Knight Rider doesn’t it? no I didn’t think so either, as we all know KITT uses a turbo boost, not nitro.

You may or may not have read about the big brewhaha kicking off between CAMRA and BrewDog regarding kegging some of their beer at the GBBF (Great British Beer Festival) it’s mostly rather petty tit for tat but it does create a bridge to an issue that over the coming months and years we will be undoubtedly seeing more of, craft beer in a keg. Like it or not ‘craft beer’ in kegs isn’t going anywhere so CAMRAs decision to pull the plug seems a little short sighted, perhaps both parties just need to sit down properly and talk it over, this would be helped greatly by BrewDog who brew some fine beer indeed pulling their head down from the clouds, they’re not the messiahs they often claim to be, just rather good at marketing.

The ‘rebellious’ BrewDog (available in Tescos…) like to get busy with the fizzy, or busy wit’ fizzy if you prefer the Bo Selecta Craaaaig Daaavid approach. So what’s the big deal? well it all comes down to the definitions of ale, live yeast, filtering etc, yes I can hear the snores already but kegging dominance in short is what CAMRA was setup to stop happening; but more importantly it looks to me like a good old clashing of opinion. In Europe and America this practise of kegging is common, my co-writer Hoppkins is a huge fan of American craft beers and has sampled them many times on their home soil, I myself loved many of the beers we had in Amsterdam, again all kegged, in-fact some of the Flying Dog beers I had out there rank as the best I have ever had though I am massively curious as to what they taste like without kegging.

Is there room for both? I don’t think there’s a choice as both exist and both will continue to push forward but you can’t blame CAMRAs defensive approach with the taste destroying reputation kegging has, this can’t be helped by some of the UK brewers putting on some very poor shows, both BrewDogs- Punk IPA and Thornbridge – Jaipur are brilliant brews, but truly dreadful on keg, and I might point out at this point I have tried them both more than twice at different places and times so it wasn’t just a bad batch.

For now it seems a lot more toys are going to be chucked out the pram, but it seems a genuine shame to have beers specifically brewed for kegging as they do in the US and Europe snubbed because of this reason, for now this debate seems set to roar on.

Of much more importance is the Nottingham CAMRA branches confirmation that BrewDog will be at the 2011 Nottingham Beer Festival but as last year on cask, not keg!

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Matt

The Goosebury Bush, reborn a Wetherspoon

Ah Mr Wetherspoon, we meet again.

Goosebury Bush Nottingham

The Goosebury Bush has a lot of work to do, and seems to be doing it so far, the other Wetherspoons’ in Nottingham city center are in an embarrasingly ropey state and are long overdue a complete overhaul, the recent opening of the TBI only further highlighted just how bad its city center counterparts are. Both the Roebuck Inn and the Joseph Else in my first hand experience have been guilty of having a pint returned to be tried by the barman, him commenting on how it ‘tastes of vinegar’ offering a replacement pint, and then leaving the other ‘bad’ one for sale until assumedly it runs out. No wonder many people are put off drinking real ale.

The pub has some interesting features including artwork, stained glass, and some odd woodworked tables, that made balancing a pint tricky!

Previous owners Varsity ended up selling to Wetherspoons, it’s worth pointing out at this point that the Goosebury Bush, or what once was Varsity is about 2 minutes if that from Nottingham Trent University; I would have thought it would be easy to hoover student money up from a pub placed here, or maybe it was and they wanted to cash in, who knows? and thinking about it, who cares? So what’s it like…

(if you’re wondering how to find it, follow the tram tracks out of Nottingham, turn right up the hill when you see a cemetary)

Goosebury Bush Interior

As you would expect from a brand new pub it’s all very tidy, how long this is set to last for remains to be seen, I just hope it doesn’t fall foul of student abuse! There are many very comfy leather sofas and soft chairs and plenty of dinner tables dotted around, including some in the unique overlooking point of the pub, alas it only overlooks a carpark, oh well.

One half of the ale selection, note that this is opening day and running off its 'starter pack'

This picture is as blury as this side of the bars ale is generic

10 ale pumps sets the tone and whilst the selection is currently somewhat generic this is more down to the ‘starter pack’ new ‘spoons pubs get given, speaking to the barman revealed that only 2 are ‘must stocks’ where as the other 8 are open to guests from Nottingham and further afar, given time this could be a bit of a gem, and it hopefully increases pressure on the other city center Wetherspoons dossholes.

Is it worth a visit? yes, even more so when the beer selection gets into gear, we will revisit in a couple of weeks and see what’s what, until then the Dr says drink some beer.

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Matt

The Beer Temple : Amsterdam

Just a quickie here, this months Nottingham Drinker has an excellent piece on Amsterdam (aside from The Gollem now being shut) but it didn’t cover the audaciously named The Beer Temple, which is a shame because in short it’s bloody brilliant.

Those taps go on, there's 30 in all.

This has been opened by the same people who run t’arendsnest which itself focuses on Dutch beers, The Beer Temple however focuses on American beers though you will find quite a bit of brewdog amongst others in there, including a brew containing viagra, though I can’t say I needed that one.

Beer Temple Amsterdam Inside

A second board showing the full selection of 30 on tap.

Each of those boards lists bottles you can purchase from the bar!

As the pictures above show, the bar has 30 on tap and the bottle selection is bonkers, I think it’s into the hundreds, the only downside as everywhere in Amsterdam is the expense, but if you’re going out there armed with your Nottingham Drinker don’t miss out on this place, the Flying Dog beer on sale here is worth the trip alone.

http://www.beertemple.nl

Nieuwezijds voorburgwal 250
1012RR
Amsterdam
(020) 62 714 27

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Matt

Exclusive : Inside Blue Monkeys new powerhouse, The Organ Grinder

The Organ Grinder opens this Friday at 4pm, with free pork pies assumedly while they last!

Organ Grinder

There’s been a lot of talk, and given our web stats a lot of interest in Blue Monkeys new flagship boozer The Organ Grinder; head honcho John Hickling himself was kind enough to let us have a nosey round and answer a few questions this afternoon.

8 pumps, beers facing away on the corner right are the regular Blue Monkey beers BG Sips and Guerilla

4 Blue Monkey beers will be available, 2 rotating and 2 regulars. The other 4 being proper guests, not just sourced from around Nottingham. John himself was enthusiastic about the selection, with beers and lagers (more about that in a moment) coming from all over the place backed up by a landlord with over 30 years experience, 2 of which running the award winning Crown at Beeston, it’s not hard to see why!

Money is being talked about more than ever, if you want a cheap pint Batemans XB is always on at £2.20 a pint, it’s a steady drink, and that’s a good price for the budget conscious, Blue Monkey beers vary in price but the excellent session beer Original will be £2.50 a pint, again a reasonable price, and if you can’t get a good pint of it here I don’t know where you will.

A highly polished (literally) section of Lagers and speciality beers accompanies the ale selection. And yes, that's Jaipur on nitrokeg, somewhat of a wild card! Be warned though, typical speciality beer prices.

Constantly rotating cider and perry.

Being a freehouse allows you to do what you wish with your drinks, and it’s nice to see such a fine selection of lagers, ciders, and fruit wines, these are often overlooked by other pubs. The saying goes you can’t please everyone all of the time, but they’re giving it a go! They’re even going to be doing tea and coffee…

Yes that burner works, and will be on "as soon as it's cold enough"

Work was still ongoing during our visit, but it looks set to be easily one of the best pubs in Nottingham and is likely to be the jewel in the crown of a canning circus pub crawl that must be looking more and more tempting than ever!

Doors open Friday 24th June, 4pm

Address: 21 Alfreton Road, Nottingham. NG7 3JE.

Opening hours: From Midday every day.

Manager: Angus Clark

Click for official site.

Posted on June 15, 2011 by Matt

NottsBrew on Twitter

We’re now on that twitter malarky so we can keep in touch with the Nottingham brew scene by putting @ in front of everything and looking like a complete tool, though we do it so you don’t have to, how nice are we?

~~I’ll see if I can add a widget or suchlike to the site,~~ The widgets in the top right, if you like it old school here’s a URL,

http://twitter.com/#!/nottsbrew

So why not follow us? though I can think of many perfectly good reasons why you wouldn’t want to.

Posted on June 10, 2011 by Matt

Horse and Groom, Basford – Review

I like local beer and support the LocAle scheme but variety is a good thing, so it’s nice to see a traditional pub that serves local ales but isn’t shy to reach out to other parts of the country. The Horse and Groom at Basford is one of these quality pubs offering a good mix with excellent variety and is a good place to visit if you fancy a proper ‘guest’ beer.

Occasionally further ale is offered direct from the cellar.

With open fires and multiple quirky rooms it’s always a pleasure to visit, especially if they have a festival on as they tend to open up the large function room at the rear.

As well as bold beer choices from around the country it’s one of few pubs to offer a permanent mild pump, which is very nice to see as it caters for all drinkers.

Just some of the seating area, there's plenty more.

Being only a very short tram journey from the city center it’s a pub anyone who likes their ale should be trying, or indeed as we did you can even combine it with other pubs to create a tram pub crawl, as long as you drink responsibly of course.

You can find out more about this great pub and its interesting history (based next to the old Shipstones brewery) by visiting the official website,
http://www.horseandgroombasford.com/

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Matt

Hog’s Head starts serving ale, off to a flyer

A quick note of thanks firstly, when we first started nottsbrew we didn’t expect much in the way of interest and where surprised in March when we nearly hit 1,000 visitors. So many thanks to you all in May, we just fell short of 2,500 visitors, not bad for a rubbish site run by two idiots.

So the Hog’s Head then, it’s in this months Nottingham Drinker magazine as now serving proper ale with no less than 5 pumps so I thought it was worth checking out.

Hog's Head

Whilst the interior of the Hog’s Head is (at the time of writing) in need of a lick of paint it still retains its large open feel with two entrances, plenty of seating and a pool table.

Hog's Head bar

Onto the ale, despite 2 being off (it was in fairness a Tuesday) the 3 available where superb, the Salopian brewery again making me wonder why more pubs don’t stock it with its superb Oracle at 4%

CAMRA members get a 10% discount at all times, meaning Tim Taylors Landlord was £2.38, and the other guests £2.25, given the showing it’s hard not to recommend checking this out. With great prices and great ale it’s hard to see the Hog’s Head going far wrong.

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Matt

TBI – Trent Bridge Inn, the Wetherspoons way

It's a 'spoons Jim, but not as we know it.

Today marks the re-opening of the ‘World Famous Trent Bridge Inn‘ after its acquisition by Wetherspoons, clearly not messing around they chucked well over £1,000,000 at it giving the place a complete refurbishment. Whilst a little dark in places it’s full of artwork and cricket memorabilia, with the occasional Pies and Forest shot thrown in for good measure; given the size of this thing this is clearly the target audience as this is the largest Wetherspoons I have ever set foot in, if not the biggest pub, in places it’s massive, one of the rooms is like an assembly hall!

The decor is dark, and changes throughout.

The top floor bar.

Last year prior to take over this famous building was a shambles and to be quite honest had been for quite some years, the beer ‘selection’ was practically none existent, the decor was tired and every time England had a cricket match next door the place was nothing but an embarrassment to Nottingham. Wetherspoons love them or hate them have swooped in and done a great job in modernising and making good use of the space, hopefully this will stand the test of time.

But enough about the decor, this isn’t ~~Homos~~ Homes under the Hammer, what’s the beer like? and this is where it gets a bit interesting, it depends what bar you go to, the TBI has a split bar as you walk in, another bar round the back, a bar on the left of the upper floor and a bar on the right of the upper floor, so that’s five bars, yes, the TBI now has FIVE bars.

The downstairs 'hall' bar

The top floor bar.

The beer selection changes with each bar, I only managed to get shots of 2 of the less impressive bars as the downstairs areas where packed, the main ale selection is as you walk in on the side bar. Unfortunately however even with the ‘full selection’ available at the side bar it’s quite disappointing. The ‘guest’ beers are the Wetherspoons generic uninspired choices such as Batemans XXB and Caledonian Deuchars, coupled with the normal snore festival of Abbot, Speckled Hen and the rest of the Greene King crew there was actually only 2 real beers that caught my eye, and one had just gone! Perhaps this will change, it is opening week. The beer selection is much better now the pub has had time to get into its stride, the usual Abbot, Speckled Hen etc generic beers of course adorn the bar, but 3/4 proper guests are now in action.

Nottingham Brewery thankfully have brewed a special bitter aptly named Trent Bridge Ale, now after 5 pints I can confirm confidently that this is a fine beer and ~~I hope to see it on here all the time~~ will continue to be brewed for the pub. Perhaps what I didn’t expect was the pricing, guest ales where £2.45 which is quite a bit more than the prices some will be used to from Wetherspoons, competing local landlords will no doubt be happy to hear this as all their business won’t be scalped from them!

Correct as of May 2011. Pricier than most Wetherspoons pubs.

Pay and display? yep, Euro Carparks seem to own the (tiny) carpark at the side of the TBI, and they charge £1 an hour, the longest ticket you can buy is 3 hours.

Note sly, 'have you paid and displayed' sign on the left!

So a half decent boozer then, but with the mediocre selection of ale I won’t be in any rush to get back, and those of you thinking you can sneak a view of the cricket unfortunately below is the best you can get, still you can see the scoreboard eh?

Unlucky!