Oh look, it’s those nice Banks’s people again. I must say, they (a.k.a. Marston’s) did come back very quickly and politely to confirm Pedi is made in Burton.
“Pedigree has to brewed through the Burton Union system, which only exists here in the Burton brewery. It’s also the only beer we put through the Unions.”
So there you go then. Not that where and how beer is brewed matters if it then sits in the pipes for a week.
No Pedigree, but more well kept beer in the Stumble Inn.
This one was BRAPA‘s fault. I tend to stick to the pubs in the Beer Guide, ignoring folk exhorting me to visit new places. If they’re that good they’ll be in the Guide next year, won’t they ?
But Simon waxed lyrical in his write-up, and Mrs RM insisted.
That said, it took some finding, you’d hardly stumble across it, tucked away in a tiny shopping arcade reminiscent of Daventry. Look closely above and you’ll find it marked at three different places on the map (the smaller red marker with white circle is where WhatPub places it). We love a challenge.
Two photos will show you the whole of the pub;
Perhaps it will be the first former Fired Earth office to make the Beer Guide.
In sharp contrast with Simon’s visit the night before, we were the only visitors at 3pm. A good job the young barman was so chatty then.
It turned out the owner had had such a stressful evening preparing for BRAPA and Simon’s “rockstar demands” he’d had to take the afternoon off, leaving this young chap to clear up and hold the ship.
Luckily, clearing up doesn’t involve taking down the Christmas deccies.
I had a posh fruit juice and a sip of Mrs RM’s “Smoking Blonde”, which is probably sexist but Mrs RM picked it so it can’t be. This was the 6% beer Simon had wished he’d gone for. Not that you’d have been able to read the strength, or the sexist name, on the weird reflective pump clip (and I had my new glasses on).
The barman was from Darlington, one of the greatest places on earth, and we reminisced fondly about the Voodoo Café.
I hope he got some more customers after we left. It must be terrifying being on your own in a Fired Earth office after dark in Northallerton.
retiredmartin 
I have weird visions of Jack Jones standing inbetween the conditioners and the casks.
I encountered Schofferhoffer on tap in a nightclub/music venue last year. The only other tap offering was a Berlin lager. Strange place Hull.
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Strange is good. Hull Old Town is too good for the North, should move it down to Cambridge where it would be appreciated.
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Your ticking destiny (and BRAPA’s) seems to be endless visits to micropubs, constantly having to revisit places as the micros fall in and, inevitably, out of CAMRA favour. Tyneside and Northumberland’s Pub of the Year has just been announced – the basement Town Mouse Ale House. In common with most micros, the beer is ok but it falls outside my definition of a pub. Re Pedigree, either they’re telling porkies or volume has dropped to such a level that the Union room can cope with it now.
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I guess that volumes have dropped.
Yes, just read that in the Canny Bevvy. The Beer Guide should JUST be about beer quality, the Pub of the Year needs to appeal and ideally accommodate everyone !
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BRAPA must have great sympathy for what Emily Maitlis has gone through this week.
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I’m hunting, not stalking 😉
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For 20 years?
That would be Elmer Fudd levels of hunting ability.
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There have often been rumours of Pedigree being brewed other than in Burton and I remember quite a few years ago the Head Brewer categorically stating that he could drink all the Pedigree that’s brewed in Wolverhampton and drive home perfectly safely.
Yes, the volume of Pedigree has dropped and for three years now less of it than Hobgoblin has been brewed.
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Well I certainly see more Hobgoblin around the country in the pub chains, and even some Marston pubs prefer to stock it and Wainwright to Pedi. Hard to avoid Pedi in Derby though !
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I’m sure I used to drink Pedigree at a lovely old corner pub at the end of Ratcliffe Road (full of old terraced houses) in Loughborough when at Uni. the canal was just behind the pub. Old fuddled brain can’t remember the pub name – happy days.
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The one that springs to mind is the Boat, very much a Pedi pub and in the Beer Guide through last decade if not now. Great pub !
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That’s probably it…….real snug n’all if I recall correctly.
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Certainly is.
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How about the Boat Inn? Meadow Lane?
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Five points, Dick. You beat me to it. Dick and you would actually like Loughborough. Decent hotels, curry and a string of interesting pubs. Perhaps the Midlands in 2021.
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If it weren’t for all these new micros, we might have a shot at completing the GBG before Simon completes it.
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When kept well Pedigree is still one of the top drinks around in the BBB section…
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Love that floor, and the shelf of bottles. In a pub of that size, I suppose the barman almost *has* to talk to the customers or it gets a bit awkward!
I must say I don’t have much respect for these disposable looking pump clips you see these days. An old London Pride pump clip looks like a real work of art by comparison. But I suppose the smaller breweries simply can’t afford to mass produce something on that level.
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Agree on both those points, Mark. I don’t mind change at all, I just think the old Bass and Pedi pumps were works of art as you say. There are classic modern pumps – e.g,. Otter and Dark Star.
The pointe about “having” to talk to the customers (and vice versa) in a small pub is a good one; Pub Curmudgeon talked about that on his post yesterday. Would you feel awkward or pleased to chat, Mark ?
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Oh I’m a big fan of chit chat with the bartender, so I’d be ready to gab, for sure. A little uneasy though about the idea of a micro so small that everyone in there, at any given time, ends up having to join into one big group conversation, or at least overhear it the whole time they’re in the place– not sure I’d enjoy that!
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I think that’s a good distinction, Mark. There’s a difference between a one-to-one chat with a friendly landlord and the potential group chat where you’re all facing each other round the wall of a tiny room, as Pub Curmudgeon notes as well.
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Blowed if I could find it on Google Maps. 😦
And what is “Perries” as seen on one of the windows?
Cheers
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A Perry is a cider made from perry pears rather than apples.
A bit too sweet for my liking but can be a delicious drink on hot day.
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Thanks PPT. My guess would have been some sort of Prosecco. 🙂
Cheers
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Westons do a particularly good “proper” one, I think. Very rarely seen in pubs, only in those beer festivals that CAMRA run to destroy pubs (see: Richard Coldwell article).
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A quick way of getting pissed.
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It is located in Garthway Arcade and cannot be street viewed. The entrance to the arcade can seen across from the parking lot next to Kwong Tung or from High Street next to Grover’s.
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Thanks Richard. I shall now cease my Google Street View attempts. 🙂
Cheers
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Five points, Dick.
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There seems to be a great deal of resemblance to the Stumble Inn at Scarborough. Not just the name, the plaid textile and the general decor too. It’s not too far away neither. It’s there any connection? Like, is this a micro chain?
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There’s all a chain. Martyn Hillier probably runs them all from a penthouse in Monaco to strict “Herne Guidelines” (allegedly).
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Was the chatty barman a bit camp and a touch of a jock accent?
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That’s chattist.
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