Tag Archives: nottingham

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Review: The Salutation Inn (Nottingham)

The Ye Old Salutation Inn is one of the Oldest Pubs in the UK, I say “one of” because 2 other nearby pubs lay claim to the same title and rather than get involved in this argument ill be straight and say CBA.

Sally

If I’m honest however I would say the Salutation is the “least modernised” of the pubs which lay claim to the title and represents an authenticate English pub to the tee. To give you an idea of how old this place is it was built in 1240, lets not beat about the bush, that’s bloody old.

pete

The interior is made up of a lot of stone and a lot of old timber which makes a beautiful change to the usual modern pub interiors, its obvious the owners have been careful not to change the old feel of this pub.

inside

Beneath “The Sal” are caves (Nottingham is known as the “City of Caves”) which date back to the 9th century which people are free to take a look at (assuming Pete the landlord is in a good mood likely) and are usually given to “LARP” and role-playing geeks (and to be clear I myself in the past have role-played occasionally)

Inside 2

Keep your eyes peeled for the resident ghost which is apparently a small girl (no really..)

The pub is broke up into 4 main rooms. 2 smaller rooms near the entrance are nice and cozy, the main bar is a quite large room with a great jukebox (usual MP3 one with a zillion choices, however is usually dominated by rock/metal)

The upstairs is a large room usually for functions or karaoke and live bands. I had my wedding reception up there (for a small fee Pete kindly put on a barman and a barrel of Nottingham: EPA which was sublime) which was fantastic.

The Salutation has a great selection of beers on, usually with a great backup of real ciders and a myriad of bottled beer/cider and spirits (They even have the Dan Akroyd vodka in a skull bottle)

To be clear the selection in the Sal rivals wetherspoons for sheer volume

Selection

There is usually at least 3-5 real ales on as well as the usual fare. The beer is always kept excellently with a great selection usually rotating daily. The Sal doesn’t appear to favour any brewery over another with guests from The Nottingham Brewery, Blue Monkey (Pete seems to have a monkey fetish), Milestone and many more regularly appearing.

Occasionally there is a beer festival and about 10-15 barrels materialise in the main bar.

CAMRA discounts apply here if you’re a member.

Another great point of the Sal is the food. You would be forgiven for looking at the beer stained folded sheet of paper with the menu printed on and thinking “cripes”. The reality is The Sal has a great chef and do some great food at decent prices.

The Chilli the salutation do is literally the best I’ve had anywhere. Its nice and spicy and well worth a try. The burgers are handmade and excellent.

While the Salutation is primarily a rock pub (Its motto is “Rock and Ale”) don’t let that put you off. The Sal is a friendly pub, with friendly staff, great food and ale.

Just what you should expect from a real ale pub.

Click here for google maps location

Cheers!

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Riverside Farm and the Nutbrook Brewery

Food isn’t really our focus here, but it’s mixed with ale, so get over it.

Riverside Farm is located at the old Harry Ramsden site next to the Riverside Retail park. It’s a little out of the way but offers something different for those willing to make the short journey, or perhaps have been out shopping and need something to shut the kids up, or can’t be bothered to cook a meal.

Riverside Farm

The food is pretty much standard fare, portions are average and having been three times now nothing much on the menu sticks out as being exceptional. The puddings are certainly worth avoiding however, they’re expensive and small, to somehow ‘fool’ the customer a mountain of whipped cream is put on top of pretty much everything, lame.

Thankfully the Nutbrook Brewerys beer single handedly rescues little issues such as above, they have 2 dedicated Nutbrook pumps rotating and they’re always quality ales. The last visit offered Bitlyke (4.2%) and Responsibly (4.4%) the former being the difference between a good and an average meal, a real top pint.

Is the Riverside Farm worth a visit? why not really, Nutbrook beer isn’t exactly everywhere in Nottingham, so just for that reason it’s a decent enough shout, just watch out for that whipped cream…

http://www.riversidefarmpub.co.uk/

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King William IV

Ice Hockey fans, lots of them.

That was my initial impression on walking into the King William IV, otherwise known as the ‘King Billy’ My first thoughts from the outside revolved around why I wasn’t wearing a stab vest, it’s based towards the outskirts of the city centre near the Ice Arena (hence the hockey fans) it looks a bit rough round the area in general, and the windows have bars on them, but looks can often be decieving.

Poncy glasses and the unnecessary in general are not present.

Any doubts you may have had are quashed upon entry, 8 hand pumps are practiclaly on the other side of the door, the bar staff are very pleasant and the beer priced fairly. Of the beers I’ve had there in 2 visits, Newby Wyke – Kingston Topaz stood out as exceptional. At night lit by bulbs with a soft pink/red glow you would be forgiven for thinking you where in Amsterdam, but they don’t serve Amstel thankfully.

Being badgered to go made me finally give in and make the journey to this pub, and I’m glad I did as it’s a fantastic place to have a drink prior to Panthers/Forest or watch the mighty Notts County VS Manchester City; you could also use it as a good starting point for a pub crawl snaking your way back into town.

Unexpectedly they have a TV in the drinking area at the rear that has sky sports, a nice bonus! A pub then that’s  a little off the beaten track, but well worth the journey.

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SIBA festival returns in new year

Well happy new year and all that, here’s some great news, the canalhouse is welcoming back the SIBA festival!

SIBA national beer competition/ SIBA champions beer festival

Thursday February 10th – Saturday February 12th

SIBA

It's a bit different with all hand pumps, no gravity.

It’s nice to see this competition return to Nottingham again, hopefully they have found a new home!

A list of the competing finalists can be found below

http://www.siba.co.uk/events/?page_id=883

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Roundhouse Nottingham : Review

In-case you’re wondering, the roundhouse got its name because of its large triangular nature.

This magnificent hexagonal beast is located at the top of St James’ street and is actually part of Nottingham’s old general hospital, hence the trapezium shaped nature, synonymous with UK hospitals at the time.

This is a great pub actually, and due to its location one of the best ways to kick off a pub crawl, it’s easy to float down into the heart of the city centre as it’s pretty much all down hill, much like your night likely will be.

Round House Bar

Quality beers, and make sure to try the Tyrells crisps!

The bar is well stocked with a good selection of Ales which change frequently, The Roundhouse have a deal in place with the Full Mash brewery, they brew an exclusive Ale Roundhouse Gold (4%) and sell it at £2 a pint, it’s worth visiting the pub for this beer alone.

Because of its previous usage and the fact that they sell food (which is a popular choice) the roundhouse has a lot more comfortable seating than an average pub as well as benches in a courtyard at the rear for the summer, or winter if you’re a smoker.

The Roundhouse is a characteristic pub with a warm friendly atmosphere and offer a lot more to drink that just ale,  it’s well worth a visit, so if you haven’t do so.

You can check out menus and more from the official website by clicking here.

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Lincolnshire poacher – winter beer festival review

The Lincolnshire Poacher is a bit of a gem on Mansfield Road and always has a wide selection of beers, so it was good news then to hear them announce a winter beer festival with 25 beers on gravity, on top of the 8 or so well kept beers they usually have on the bar(s).

I’ll admit despite being a good beer list I thought this festival would be a complete rip-off, I was wrong and all beers where £2.80 a pint which is fairly reasonable, if you thought that was still too pricey you could of course just stick to the 5%+ beers, but that’s a little extreme. It’s worth making note of the fact that Nottingham Beer Festival winner Kipling was amongst these beers, and unsurprisingly was shifting very well.

Main Bar

For once the Poacher main bar was not the focus of attention.

As expected the festival beers where well kept and as always the staff where very polite, however as I have previously touched upon in an article some of the none festival beer pricing on the bar was daft, Fullers London Porter at £3.40 a pint must have been rolled up from London by Mr Fuller himself, of course nobody is forcing you to buy it.

(unless you went into the back garden where Mr Fuller was hanging around with a lead pipe threatening people : disclaimer for idiots and the PC lot, that is of course a joke.)

Board

Beers from the 25 where being replaced as and when needed, this board changed repeatedly on the Friday night, and already had been doing so judging by the chalk smudges.

Space was at a premium with the snug area playing temporary home to all the extra beer so it was a little tight at times, this didn’t seem to bother anyone as people made do with propping up against walls, hey support is support right? Best beer then, for me at this festival I’d give it to Ossett – Vivian May 4.1%.

A great beer festival and hopefully this won’t be the last, judging by the volume of beer being shifted I doubt very much it will.

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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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Nottinghams most expensive pint of Real Ale?

The Lincolnshire Poacher whilst being a fine pub and a worthy winner of Nottingham CAMRA pub of the year in the past has been criticised for its high pricing, and this appears to be coming to a new peak.

Jaipur

Jaipur lit up by a torch, because we where drunk and had a torch.

Of course it would have to be Thornbridge again, and it’s by co-incedence not by some kind of commercial tie-in that we’re once more mentioning them, this time it’s Thornbridge – Jaipur, the signature 5.9% strong ale, a fine beer, my issue though lies with the pricing at a whopping £3.40 a pint, robbery? you betcha.

Do you know of anywhere else in Nottingham charging more for a pint of real ale? let us know!

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Nottingham (Robin Hood) 2010 beer festival review

And just like that it was all over, but enough talk of what I did last night and onto last weekend which again saw the Nottingham beer festival dominate the city centre, seeing over 21,000 visitors guzzling 800+ beers 50 ciders and a selection of fruit wines so quickly that once more they didn’t need to open on the Sunday (a day usually reserved for drinking the remnants) the rate at which the beer sells is something that has to be witnessed, Kipling anyone?!

Our advice is if you want the best range and guaranteed entry then make your way down on the Thursday, the aforementioned Thornbridge – Kipling (festival champion) had already sold a full barrel by around 5pm; thankfully another came on, though I doubt it lasted long at all, a magnificent beer and worthy champion.

notts

Friday saw things begin to really heat up, the atmosphere was buzzing and queuing at the gates had formed just before 6pm (those that wish to go in 2011, you’re best leaving work early if you don’t fancy queuing) it was amazing to see the number of beers beginning to sell out, it hits you then at just how much really is being drunk, shedloads, but you only need to look around to realise that theres so much other beer left, and beer on reserve it’s pretty much a moot point.

rain

Rain mid-evening on Friday saw a rush into the tents

Once again a huge selection of food was on offer, I didn’t try it all as I’m not a machine but the range was vast, one of the grumbles from last year was the lack of beer token outlets, there are now 3 : problem solved, as was last years toilet issues, it’s hard to work out how they shoe-horned in more and put them indoors but given the weather it was a move that paid off.

Grumbles this year, well the main one is not being able to try the Kipling on Friday, but then it’s hardly the organisers fault for not having a crystal ball, maybe they ought to get 5 barrels of last years champion in for 2011, now there’s a thought…  – edit : seems that the organisers did have a crystal ball, but due to supply issues from Thornbridge the order couldn’t be substantially increased!

castle

Time it right, and you can walk right in

One thing I had previously touched upon in my day 1 report was the beer pricing seemed a little odd with Nottingham beers being the same price as beers sourced from all over the UK , so I emailed CAMRA some questions on the festival. Steve Westby festival organiser gave me an insight as to why this is the case.

Over half of the beers at the festival come to us from local brewers (as do many guest beers in our local pubs). This is because they nearly all have swap deals with other brewers around the country, by which they swap casks of beer on an abv for abv basis. So we actually pay the “local” price for these beers.

Which pretty much shut me up on that point quite nicely. Steve also went on to point out that they’re always looking for volunteers to help out with the festival, you can find out more by clicking the Nottingham CAMRA link on the right of this site.

In a nutshell if you’re wanting to go to the biggest and best festival in the UK, with the largest selection of real ale on the planet then start planning on coming to Nottingham in 2011.

What was your beer of the festival? leave us a comment below.

What was our beer of the festival? unsurprisingly, also Thornbridge – Kipling, followed by Great Oakleys – Wot’s occuring?

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The loons guide to the Nottingham (Robin Hood) beer festival.

Nutters, they’re absolutely everywhere so here’s a short and sweet guide for the loonies among you, the DEADMAN 8, the strongest beers in order of strength!

BREWDOG Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire

622 PARADOX 10.0%
– Whisky cask aged imperial stout.

RES HARDCORE I.P.A. 9.0%
– An explicit beer with masses of hops

FULLERS Chiswick, London
661 GOLDEN PRIDE 8.5%
– A robust strong ale of immense character

COASTAL Redruth, Cornwall
RES EROSION 8.0%
– Dangerously drinkable, strong dark malty brew

HUNTERS Ipplepen, Devon
236 FULL BORE 8.0%
– A strong, golden, honey ale, refreshingly malty

MAYPOLE Wellow, Notts
324 DAMBUSTERS ‘GONER’ 8.0%
– A strong barley wine

MALLARD Carlton, Nottingham
353 DUCK OFF 3 (PHIL’S FINAL DABBLE) 8.0%
– A pale barley wine

GREEN ROOM Brewed at Keltek, Redruth, Cornwall
199 ROGUE 7.6%
– Strong dark beer with a deep fruity aroma

Remember to drink responsibly, ahem.