24th February 2020
You’ll probably notice the slight dip in enthusiasm as I approach the latest micropub.
Perhaps they’re just too young to develop a sense of history, too small to possess the pubby intrigue of a Waggon and Horses or Pelican. In a micro, there’s nowhere to hide, and that can be a bit dull.
But I did enjoy exploring the Nottinghamshire mining towns.
One stop and five minutes down the line from Newstead, mighty Hucknall flaunts its new found confidence with new GBG entries in successive years.
The Byron’s Rest is at the other side of town to the Station, where a year ago I said I’d be back. Plenty of weird and wonderful architecture to admire here.
Byron himself has rather passed me by, but Wiki tells me his daughter was Ada Lovelace, who turns out to be not the porn star I first thought but the inventor of the computer program.
The things you learn here, eh ?
Byron’s Rest is next bar to Launderbar, which has a great font but sadly no bottles of soapy DIPA.
My heart sinks as I see what the Byron is promoting.
It’s a long thin bar with a lot of quirky character. Old Boys, domino couples, children with dads, pianos and porcelain.
One of the most impressive beer ranges in a micro so far, for people who go “Oooh” when they see new beer names.
So I go for Plum Porter to be contrary, like the bloke who has Doom Bar when the Batham’s is on (that’s me as well).
I silently applaud the sign instructing me to SIT DOWN !, and don’t even complain about the jug.
Is Plum Porter the national drink of the £3 a pint micropub ?
Oooh.
On a more somber note I read today that Mad Dog (second clip from left ) have now ceased brewing.
If only you had gone for that instead of the awful Plum Porter they may have survived.
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Who.?
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Err Mad Dog Brewing.
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Never heard of him/her/them.
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Went to their brewery tap on a farm once and tried it in a few pubs in Gwent. Sometimes good, often disappointing.
Not much margin for error for some of these brewers trying to penetrate holes in the market.
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That “once served please leave the bar” sign is surely inspired by them having read your blog and BRAPA’s and seeing all the angry gripes about bar blockers. 😉
I’ll bet you don’t often see 8 cask beers on tap. Do you reckon they’ve got the customer base to justify it?
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I would like to take full credit for the sign, Mark, but I expect they’re just civilised in the Byrons Rest 😉
Some micropubs do tend to attract drinkers who like choice and variety (not me), and this one was doing decent Monday business. 8 is a lot though.
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Didn’t realise you were a pianist.
Err on the side of caution, never give Simon a lift to anywhere with “moon” in it’s name.
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I can think of plenty of pubs that would benefit from a “Once served, please leave the bar” sign.
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Would it be contrary to go for the Jarl, if Bass were on too?
I’d probably not notice the second if there were the choice.
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Love those colliery plates. Loads of them on a pub wall in Moira I went too and blogged about but can’t recall its name!
A piano means it’s a small pub not a micro as decreed by Herne bay rulings
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