May 2025. Derby. An ambitious agenda; a half of Doom Bar if you can guess how many pubs we actually did. I didn’t actually spot any Doom Bar in Derby, and fully intend to write to CAMRA to ask them to campaign to protect that historic beer. Nope, it was Bass after Bass on Friday,… Continue reading THE BIG DERBY “CURATED PUB SURVEY”. No. 3 – EXETER ARMS
Month: June 2025
THE BIG DERBY “CURATED PUB SURVEY”. No. 2 – THE SMITHFIELD
May 2025. Derby. The BIG unofficial Derby pub crawl went off-course immediately on leaving the Brunswick, our group deciding that no, they couldn’t wait 13 minutes for the Alex to open, so over the Derwent, looking all pastoral and romantic, until Paul brings my attention to the abandoned shopping trolleys on the left. This crawl,… Continue reading THE BIG DERBY “CURATED PUB SURVEY”. No. 2 – THE SMITHFIELD
THE BIG DERBY “CURATED PUB SURVEY”. No. 1 – THE BRUNSWICK INN
May 2025. Derby. Well, disappointment for my readers hoping for dumplings, feminist pop and stained glass, but joy for those who like short posts focusing only on pubs. In dystopian 2025 there are two distinct types of permitted activity involving the visiting of a number of public houses for the purpose of consuming beer and… Continue reading THE BIG DERBY “CURATED PUB SURVEY”. No. 1 – THE BRUNSWICK INN
MAY ’25 STOCKTAKE + JUNE PREVIEW
A quick summary of a low-key month where the highlight was another country tick pin as we ventured into the Caucasus. A dozen bars in Georgia, and thirty-eight different pubs (a very different beast) spread across the usual North-West to South-East route. A culinary month, from the artisanal salads of Reddish, to the robust dumplings… Continue reading MAY ’25 STOCKTAKE + JUNE PREVIEW
ROOSTERS AND CHICKEN WINGS
May 2025. Sheffield. And so we leave Georgia, the capital’s airport so comfortable we arrived there over 3 hours early and still nearly missed Last Call. Great name for a bar; but with Staropramen at a tenner I gave it a miss. Back home in Sheffield I lasted almost a day before sneaking out up… Continue reading ROOSTERS AND CHICKEN WINGS
A RAINY NIGHT IN GEORGIA. YOUR TBILISI CRAFT BEER GUIDE
May 2025. Tblisi. Georgia. Your final post of holiday snaps; I’ll skip over the Vardzia cave network, and return to good ol’ English BBB tomorrow. I had to squeeze Randy in here somewhere; she’s a big fan of the Caucasus craft scene, particularly tomato gose. Due to Independence Day our Uber into Tbilisi had to… Continue reading A RAINY NIGHT IN GEORGIA. YOUR TBILISI CRAFT BEER GUIDE
retiredmartin 