Even a Blur style robot for this one, a final post from the great city of Nottingham.
OK, I may be getting my Blur mixed up with the miserablists from Oxford now.
Being unable to locate the Olde Trip, we popped in to the Crafty Crow, a personal favourite, on the way to catch the 7.35pm back to Newark.
It’s not clear why I like the Crow so much, possibly it’s because the beardster called me “Brother” in there last year, which even my sister doesn’t do these days.
Mainly, I think, it’s because it has fabulously strong beers.
“What’s your strongest beer, Brother ?” I asked.
Looking slightly alarmed, the barman pointed at the keg tap for Vibrant Forest’s 11.5% coffee stout.
The lady at the bar (a deadringer for Mrs RM) murmured acknowledgement of my recklessness wise choice but declared it a beer for sharing. Three quarters for Mrs RM, a fifth for me. It was sensational but tough going.
Not a pub for Old Mudgie, though he has gone quite crafty of late, and a soundtrack of “Rosanna” and “More Than Words” would have ticked some of his boxes.
Back at Nottingham station for the 7.35 departure, a single coach was clearly insufficient for the Lincoln-bound hordes with their Primark bags, and we gracefully agreed to wait another hour for the next one. Other folk were less accommodating with the guard.
So we got our trip to the Canalhouse (top), whose “facilities” we had unashamedly used on a previous visit.
You may be able to detect a slight deterioration in the camerawork by this point.
Long tables for a communal atmosphere that was slightly lacking at 8pm on Sunday. A few mates meeting up for a natter, just like Mrs RM and me.
By this time all I wanted was strong coffee and 24 hour BBC news. They did me an excellent black coffee (with little biscuit) to counteract the Black Iris IPA, which was only 6% but otherwise superb.
I kid you not, they were playing “My Sweet Lord” here too (and “Let It Be”, there’s a theme there somewhere). I reckon I’ll know the words to that soon. The chorus, anyway.
I’m fairly sure Mrs RM didn’t try to get back to Newark by canal boat down the Trent, but I can’t be sure.
“I have gone quite crafty of late”? You will be hearing from my lawyers forthwith!
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My lawyers took a print of that post where you enter BrewDog before you could delete it !
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This craft beer nonsense will never catch on outside of the London beer bubble, you mark my words.
I bet you never went in the Crafty Crow when it was BZR, and did a “triples for singles” offer on 6 different spirits. The challenge of course being to have a triple of all 6 (surprisingly easy).
Challenge for Nottingham pub expert Alan: name the 6 spirits (brand-names required for full points)
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I did go in BZR and have got a photo of it.
But i dont do spirits so could not name any,i probably had a drink of John Smiths Smooth Crap.
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I would expect nothing less, Alan 😉
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I’ll put you all out of your misery:
Gordons, Bells, Smirnoff, Bacardi, Archers and Malibu. Who needs craft beer eh?
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I thought of you when writing about all those craft places, py. One of the most impressive string of keg line-ups I’ve seen.
Interesting how Spoons seem to have all but given up on craft on keg these days.
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I think wetherspoons have moved away from the beer connoisseur market altogether – a few years ago, when demand for interesting beer outstripped supply in the UK sector, there was a gap in the market for them to attract otherwise dissatisfied customers, and often spoons would have the best beer range in town. But now the regular pubs have cottoned on, and a range of craft keg, big cask ranges, or at least a range of crafty bottles is so ubiquitous, that gap has closed, so they’ve had to pivot back to their traditional audience. It seems that you’ve noticed this trend in Spoons’ reduced cask ranges?
Nottingham has always had a good beer scene, and craft beer has really grown there since about 5 years ago. Even small market towns are starting to become craft beer meccas. I was in Shrewsbury a few weeks ago, and, yes, there are still the old traditional pubs that I remember visiting yonks ago, but there are also plenty of places round Smithfield Road that do craft beer that weren’t there a few years ago.
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Which places round Smithfield Road that weren’t there a few years ago? The Salopian Bar has been going for yonks.
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What’s your take on Blind Tiger Mudgie?
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Is that canal place the one next to the crown court? If it is it’s changed since I was in there (1983). It definitely had it’s own moorings/small dock wharfe thingy out the back. They had some decent real ales on then, can’t remember whose it was. Happy days, went in every day Mon – Thu for 3 months. Can’t say a great deal more but I’ll lend you the book they wrote about us/him.
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The Canal House was not open in 1983, Richard.
I think you may be confusing it with Fellows,Morton & Clayton which is next door and fronts onto Canal Street,it used to brew its own beer under the Whitbread umbrella.
The Canal House is as it looked when it first opened in the late 80s though a different line up of beers on the bar.
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Nice sunset view of our usual mooring spot when we visit Nottingham by boat. Ye Olde Trip is found by walking along the canal (in the direction of the photo) and turning right onto the next road bridge and you can’t miss it. On our epic fail we went the other way from where you took that picture…won’t make that mistake again!
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Never mind the beer (which is great), but are there any breweries that do better pubs than Castle Rock? You’d be hard-pushed to name one.
One of the best things you could say about the Cambridge Blue is that its a bit like a Castle Rock pub (but significantly more expensive)
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Agree with that, underrated pubco
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My aged eyesight is clearly fading, and the early beers at home are working…I thought the first photo was a craft place with coffins to pose around. Perhaps called Coffin and Spluttering?
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At first glance, I also thought they were coffins.
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I thought at first it was some sort of bumper pool but on second look it’s canal boats. 🙂
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“Three quarters for Mrs RM, a fifth for me. It was sensational but tough going.”
Hang on, who got the other 5% then?
“Strong beer stronghold”
It would appear you can’t say that without some Belgian brews thrown in (not that I’m complaining). 😉
“and a soundtrack of “Rosanna””
Oooh, one of my faves. (my wife’s name is Rose Anna, but most of her relatives call her Roseanna; and we met a few years after that song came out)
“Canalhouse back view”
Hold on, you recycled that from your “Into the Meadows” post. 🙂
Cheers
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Most of my posts are recycled, or nicked from BRAPA. Saving the Planet and all that.
The other 5% evaporated.
BRAPA and Mr Coldwell and I were talking about you today. All bad.
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I’m… flattered? Or disturbed.* 😯
Cheers
*It’s disturbed. My wife agrees that I’m definitely disturbed. 😉
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She’s right. Or is it left. etc
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Coffee and TV is underrated…one of top five Blur tracks I reckon 👍 11.5% is a serious beer 😵😵 like Crafty Crow as nice and chilled but not quite as taken with canal house
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