Rock Solid

Just after the trip to Norwich, United's fixture at Notts County allowed for some midweek Castle Rock action.

I love Castle Rock: they brew some delicious beers including former national champion and personal favourite Harvest Pale. They also have an excellent range of pubs selling their own brews alongside various guests. Finally, the beer is always well priced and discounts are offered to CAMRA members - a great example of a well run brewery. Just opposite Nottingham station is their brewery tap, The Vat and Fiddle.

 

I opted for the magnificent Harvest Pale and found it on fine form. Being a Tuesday night with a football match to attend, time was limited. We managed a couple after as well though. Firstly, the Trent Navigation, just next to the ground.

A pint of Fernandes (who I think have something to do with Ossett Brewery) Smooth English was quaffed before it was time to move on to another Castle Rock gem, The Newshouse.

This is the other side to station as the Vat and Fiddle but just as worthy of your time. The tap room contains a bar billiards table, rarely seen these days (unless you live in Northampton, which is apparently a bar billiards oasis). I opted for a guest ale in the form of Burton Bridge's Stairway to Heaven.

With the last train looming we made a swift exit. The last train back from Notts means an hour stopover in Derby. Resisting the urge to visit popular 'sauna' Bubbles opposite Derby station, we headed for the Friary, always reliable for a late drink.

The pint of Golden Best from Timothy Taylor was the hundredth drank in a real ale pub this year (this was back in March, more progress has been made since then). So Notts provided a nice caveat to the weekend's nonsense in Norwich. Nest time you're there be sure to seek out some Castle Rock - you won't regret it!

Aha!

Due to being busy / lazy, I've not stuck anything on her for a few months. In that time the list has grown somewhat, with trips to Norwich, Nottingham, Bury & Rochdale, Manchester, Exeter and London (again). First up Norwich, home to Norfolk's premier broadcaster.

Norwich is a city that, along with Sheffield and a couple of others, lays claim to be the real ale capital of England. I'd never been before, mainly due to it being a bloody long way away, but I found myself down there for the weekend back in March. First port of call was the Fat Cat.

I loved this place, a bold claim but I'd rate it easily as highly as Sheffield's Fat Cat, one of the best alehouses I've been to. There was 12 on handpull with another 18 or so on gravity behind the bar, plus a big selection of ciders, wheat beers and whiskeys (Anglian Roofing had knocked off nice and early and were getting well acquainted with the whiskeys).

We ended up spending about 4 hours in here and sampled a decent selection, including some nice efforts from their own Fat Cat Brewery. If you ever go to Norwich I'd highly recommend seeking this place out, the only downside is that I can't go to it on a more regular basis. Oh aye, spotted another one of these as well.

The cause for the trip was a stag do, so we were in for a bit of a surprise pub crawl on the Saturday. We made our way to the station and found out we were heading to the Berny Arms (not to be confused with popular 90s fun pub / grill chain Berny Inn).

To say it's out in the sticks is putting it mildly - the place is unreachable by road and there are only a few trains a day that go to it, the only other option is by boat. Once we'd told the conductor that we needed the train to stop to let us off (the train doesn't usually stop there) and alighted, we realised we really were in the middle of nowhere. After a trek across some fairly wet fields we finally arrived. Fortunately, it was open.

A few pints of Humpty Dumpty - Special helped us while away a couple of hours before it was time to brave the Norfolk countryside and try to flag a train down to take us back to Norwich. Safely back in civilisation, we headed for the Adam & Eve.

Tucked away from the centre but still within easy walking distance, this was another fine alehouse with a very quaint exterior. Pints of Wolf Brewery's tasty Golden Jackal were supped and the barman provided us with free bowls of chips, great stuff all round.

After the chip entree, we were off for some food and more ale in The Vine.

It lays claim to be the smallest pub in Norwich and it certainly was compact. Four ales were on offer - I opted for the excellent Oakham JHB from up the road in Peterborough (their brewery tap, just across the road from Peterbrough station is well worth a visit if you're in that neck of the woods).

We went upstairs to the restaurant part of the pub (also compact!) for some splendid Thai food. To be fair, after a day on the ale, some turkey dinosaurs would have gone down well but the food was brilliant and certainly a change from the usual pub fayre that you might enjoy with a few pints. Darkness was well and truly upon us as we stumbled into the centre and the next stop - The Birdcage.

This was quite a bohemian boozer, with a lovely Art Deco frontage and interior, mixed in with a load of artwork, flowers and the like. A pint of Brains Milkwood was supped, arty poses were struck and we were off. Things were definitely starting to get a bit hazy by the time we arrived at The Plough, home to Grain Brewery.

I went for a pint of Blonde Ash which was a wheat bear, naturally cloudy and very drinkable. It should be noted that I could have quite happily spent a fair few hours in any of the alehouses mentioned above. After The Plough we went for some hip hop action with DJ Format at the Norwich Arts Centre.

Winters Winter Ale was available (alas in a plastic pint pot) and consumed. By this time the previous 24 hours was starting to make its presence felt. We did visit a few other bars (no real ale) after this and ended up in some nightclub but by that point my ability to function a camera had long deserted me.

I really can't recommend Norwich highly enough for the discerning drinker and plan to return some time soon. I would say the first pub of the weekend, The Fat Cat, was my favourite and easily one of the finest I've visited this year. I also get the impression that there were a lot of pubs we missed out so all the more reason to return.

The Big Smoke

Early March saw a trip down to the capital to watch The Blades at Brentford. I do love a London awayday, there's so many boozers to choose from that with a bit of planning you can get to a load of new ones every time. We arrived just in time for what we thought would be opening time at The Lamb only to find it shut. After hanging around for a few minutes and banging on the door we were told that they'd be opening at 12 instead of 11. Sound. Back on the tube then and down to Leicester Square where we finally managed to get started in The Harp.

This is a real gem, it won CAMRA National Pub of the Year in 2010 and it certainly doesn't disappoint. Just tucked away from the hustle bustle round the corner from the Garrick, it was a fine place to get over our false start. I went for the ever reliable Darkstar Hophead, although they have a constantly changing selection of ales on (as evidenced by the amount of pump clips above the bar in the picture below).

Definitely the sort of place you could while away a few hours just watching the world pass. We, however, had no time to waste, so it was off round the corner to try to find The Lamb and Flag. After locating it we found it was closed for a refurb (can you see a pattern emerging here?), so we settled for one in The Round House.

A fairly standard Fuller's effort, it served a purpose with a pint of Hook Norton Hooky Gold after the second setback of the morning. With time getting on we started to head west, breaking up the journey out to Brentford at Earls Court with a refresher in The Courtfield.

Ideally located opposite the tube station, with a classic London corner pub style, it provided light relief in the form of St Austell's splendid Tribute. With it being a sunny afternoon we opted for some pavement drinking, watching some Stokies on their way to Stamford Bridge. We were befriended by some middle-aged bevvy merchant who put to the world to rights before offering us some tips on how to be successful with the opposite sex. Enlightened, we hopped back on the tube out to Brentford. With Griffin Park being famous for having a pub on every corner of the ground the original plan had been to visit each one. Due to time constraints and meeting up with some fellow Blades we had to settle for visiting just one: The New Inn.

The handpull on offer was the ubiquitous Doom Bar from Sharp's, washed down with a Jager for good measure. Former player Alan Quinn was enjoying a few outside here, occasionally being interrupted for photo requests by people who really should be old enough to know better (Remi). A brace from Ched and a sold out away terrace ensured spirits were high as we headed back into the centre post-match, with Soho the destination. Our first port of call was The Old Coffee House.

An inner city Brodies haven, I opted for their marvellous London Fields Pale Ale. Hoppy with plenty of citrus in there, this was my favourite of the day.

The pub itself was a great find, just across the road from the Stone Island / CP store on Beak Street (which I think has now moved). Maybe it's because it's called The Old Coffee House or something to do with the frontage, but it had a bit of a continental / Amsterdam feel to it, definitely worth seeking out if you're looking for a pint in that area. With time closing in we had time for a couple more - The Ship and The Dog and Duck.

I went for the fairly hefty Bengal Lancer IPA in this Fuller's pub, although the excitement got too much for Remi as chucked his all over the floor / himself. After the barman had very kindly replaced it gratis we supped up and headed to the last alehouse before home: The Dog and Duck.

We walked in to be greeted by Tim the Postman stood at the end of the bar, always nice to go all the way down to London and bump into someone from your local. Moor Beer Company's Somerland Gold provided a fine end to the day, dispensed from a lovely wooden serving hatch, which was just one part of a beautifully preserved interior.

With time running out all that was left was for the customary dash for the final train whilst trying to carry a load of ale and a Maccy's. After a slightly slow start a cracking day was had by all, London really does have some great watering holes to offer. Next up, a Norwich / Nottingham double header.