Chesterfield and Matlock pub crawl

Appen,

   on Friday I was due on a raucous all dayer with my friend Christingpher, however a surprising and unsavoury blight befell him and he cancelled in the morning. Seeing that I had a whole day to myself, and knowing there were a few new venues I wanted to try, I threw together an unsophisticated poorly thought through plan, the details of which follow.

Full speed to Chesterfield

Perhaps not a title to set your pulse racing but there was a frenetic feeling to my dash out to the Derbyshire brewing capital (sorry Derby, but you only have four, whereas Chesterfield, if one includes Staveley, has five, so neurgh). I was so disorganised that I didn't leave home til gone half 1 but got into town, bought my Derbyshire Wayfarer, caught the train and got a bus out to Chatsworth Road in an hour, shortly after which I arrived at my first pub of the day.

Tramway

The Tramway Tavern is on Chatsworth Road, just far enough of a slog outside town to be an undesirable wander, but with the bus stops set just far enough apart to make a bus journey annoying as well, especially when the bus pulled up outside to get round a truck - then drove off five minutes up the road. And it was chuffing wazzing it down, which along with siling stair rods, is a meteorological term.

I arrived as the rain stopped (ha ha the weather....) in a rare burst of sunshine, and went inside to contemplate why I hadn't gone to the cash machine. I had five pounds. So I bought a pint, a delicious one of Brampton Impy Dark, from a choice which included their Golden Bud, a Jubilee Ale and a couple f guests from Ashover, St Austell and Peak Ales. This was a fairly exclusive pint, since I was the only person in the pub, and sitting in the left hand bay listening to a rather curious mix of tunes, I decided to try and formulate a plan.

This meant I got through my pint quite quickly (thinking makes yer thirsty see) and had to ask for cash machine directions from the barmaid before I left. I didn't fancy a half pint, since that's all I had money left for.

Rose and Crown Brampton

A short walk up Chatsworth Road and I reached the cash machines of Morro's then I walked up the road to the Rose and Crown, not before missing the turning and the guide marker of the Real Ale Corner. Clearly the persisting it down monsoon had seeped into my brain.

On the bar at the Rose and Crown were a selection of Brampton beers and a couple of guests which didn't seem to suit my tastes, but when I'm confronted with the Brampton Stout very little can match it. I sat down with a North West CAMRA mag and a local for company supping my pint in the near left of the odd shaped building. Shortly after sitting down a couple walked in and surveyed the range. The Wasps Nest pumpclip was facing the customer but had a sign on saying coming soon. Said the gent "Ow long before its going to be on, the Wasps Nest?" "Later" "Arr much later?" "Might not be on until tomorrow actually" "Orh, we'll leave it then".And off they popped!

As I remarked when I went back to the bar, its good to see a customer who knows what they like, but Christ, that's some restriction to put on your visit!

I tried a taste of the Tudor Rose but didn't really fancy it - new world hops according to the website but subdued and confused by pushy malt I found. Instead I went for a pint of the Best which was a very pleasant beer at £2.45 a pint, and dallied briefly with the idea of walking to Walton to get the X17 to Matlock, an idea my heavy soaking coat and sodden jeans quickly helped dispel.

Real Ale Corner

I headed back to Chatsworth Road and into the Real Ale Corner, my first visit. A stellar range of bottles surrounded the walls, and there were two pumps dispensing jubilee beers, Hoppy and Glorious from Kelham Island, and Leeds Brewery Jubilee IPA, but my eye was caught by the RAC's own brew, a mild, which was being served by gravity.

I made a bit of a balls up here am afraid. Listening to the helpful staff member's spiel about the beer's qualities and upcoming brews from her husband, I took a swig and noted it was quite tart. I pulled a face, and explained that it seemed a bit sharp, but persuaded myself that I would find this edge disappearing to reveal the wider and more mellow characteristics. I only had a half and taking a big swig to reaffirm my flawed premise it was well past half gone before I thought it might be off actually. So I pointed out it tasted wrong, and then bought another half. The lady behind the bar tried it, pulled a bit of a face and took the beer off, but didn't proffer a free replacement - whilst I should have said it was off and requested a replacement straight away, this seemed a bit mean - she'd just admitted it didn't taste right at all...

Grumbles aside I did stick around long enough, stood up instead of seating myself at one of the two barrel tables, to have a half of an excellent Leeds Jubilee IPA, a brilliant 4.8% fruity pale which had I been less embroiled in my adventure I would have liked to have had much more of.

Matlock bound

I caught a bus back into town and then noting I had a while to wait for the X17 I popped into the Royal Oak for a quick half - this was a tasty Northumberland Sovereign, which went down well, amongst a slightly less admirable range than last time, apart from the allure of the Jaipur.

MoCa Bar

Soon I was in Matlock and heading for Dale Road and Matlock's newest real ale venue MoCa Bar. This is a modern spacious and airy bar in an old building with 5 handpumps and key kegs. Since the bar was showing my favourite Derbyshire beer Blue Monkey BG Sips, it was no contest what I was having. I settled down in the window, listened to some very good tunes, read my copy of Inn Spire and enjoyed my ale.

In fact, I perhaps enjoyed it a little too much, as I was soon at the bar ordering a further half of BG Sips along with a half of Abbeydale Vespers, which I don't think I've ever had before. I had only intended to stop in Matlock long enough to visit MoCa, so soon had to be off back to the Bus station, but mission accomplished, and I had seen enough to want to go back for a return visit.

Spa

Back in Chesterfield I decided to go in another new venue, to me at least, and popped in the Spa Lane Vaults for a pint. Here I got a very nice pint of Springhead Dark Tom, by far my cheapest beer of the day at £2.00 a pint, and drinking it being a nice way to spend my first trip to the vaults.  

Coco

My last Chesterfield destination was Coco Bar and Bistro on Corporation street, which finishes rather haphazardly at the edge of the ring road where the footbridge to the station starts. This is really much more a bistro than a bar - there is a bit of seating at the bar in this modern shiny but tastefully decorated venue, but it seemed mostly tables for dining: unless my libations have skewed my recollections there didn't seem many places to sit for a pint.

Initially I was disappointed to find only one of four handpumps in use, with the Thornbridge Wye (Why?) which we have already established I don't like, but the barman assured me a Welbeck beer was coming on next, so I plumped for some keg instead whilst I waited. I had a half of the Freedom Pioneer or at least I started - in a bad few minutes for the bar manager (I reasoned he must have been in charge, he had a different coloured shirt on!) two ladies at the bar took back their Wye saying it tasted too vegetabley, and I asked to swap the Pioneer.

I couldn't really think of a quick way of explaining that it tasted of the worst and most astringent characteristics of Selby Brewery beer in the mid nineties without having to find other more identifiable comparisons of that strange musty taste you get from some breweries, but I got it swapped for a Thornbridge Kipling anyway (the Pioneer had been £1.95 a half), which really served only to remind me that beer which already tastes really good in cask rarely becomes better in a cold fizzy state.

Things looked up however with a half of the dry Topaz pale ale from Thornbridge, and a pint of the excellent Diamond Jubilee wheat beer (6.0%, £3.00 a pint) from Welbeck Abbey Brewery (above), which to my surprise, ended up being even nicer than the Blue Monkey BG Sips and Brampton Stout to be the best beer of the trip. Below is a picture of the bar manager gamely posing for what he no doubt mistakenly expected to be exposure in a high quality mass readership online beer guide. Sorry about that...

So, all in all this was an excellent appraisal of some of the Brampton, Chesterfield City Centre and Matlock pubs that shows the real ale "scenes" if that's the right term, in rude health in all three areas. And now that the opening of the White Swan on St Mary's Gate is imminent there is even more reason to go back for another look.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Wee Beefy's (March of the) beer bites

Good evening,

    my first news regards some recent and planned ale related openings.

Spoon fed

News via a reliable sources comes of a Wetherspoons discount grog warehouse opening at Handsworth, near the Asda. There is a lot of work going on creating what I understood was to be a retail park. One wonders how this would fit into the area's drinking options, especially if it was offering much cheaper alcohol than its nearest neighbours?

Handsworth is blessed with four pubs; (I am not including the White Rose, although it is 200 yards inside the boundary, because its not really part of the original Handsworth village).

These include some older more traditional ones; The Old Crown, Cross Keys and Turf, and two of those sell real ale. And there is also the New Crown, which sold real ale last year, and is admittedly a newer (looking at least) pub, which is why it differs slightly (and perhaps because it has suffered from being the first choice port of call for the local tweenies).

Its safe to say that any new build pub would struggle to match the atmosphere of a venerabl;e haunt (no pun) like the Keys, but in these hard times that counts for little. And that's pertinent, because one thing that does link the Handsworth establishments is that irrespective of ownership, prices are roughly the same in each - i.e. normal. In isolation this is no cause for concern, but Wetherspoons of course sell real ale and other drinks at a consistently lower price than the "normal" rate. I remember baulking at a £2.00 pint in a Wetherspoons last year, but then thought, wait a minute, this is still a good 50p a pint less than anywhere else (in town, not to mention the suburbs).

So if we accept that retail park (if even that is what its to be) visitors are likely to lap up discounted ales and lager, and that a Wetherspoons will open up, what impact would this have on the pubs of Handsworth ?

In my recent experience The Cross Keys struggled during its change of ownership but on my last visit seemed steady if not soaring, The Old Crown has a recent CAMRA award to its name and a good range of beers food and clientele, The New Crown is potentially popular but not necessarily for the right reasons, and the Turf Tavern is almost always rammed, no doubt credit to being managed successfully by Aidy.

I can imagine that your "floating voter" imbiber would quickly ditch any of the above, but the Old crown and Turf seem to have a loyal following. If we interpret that to mean the other two fail, then no matter how good the Spoons spoon fed offerings are, I consider that would be bad news.

The first off license to sell own beer wholesale to the on licensed trade?

According to essential brewery info site Quaffale (see : off license to brew own beer by Quaffale ) the Real Ale Corner in Chesterfield is brewing its own beer, albeit at Raw (an on premises brewery would make the above novelty headline all the longer). I think there may previously have been a tie up between an offie and a Brew pub in Newcastle but certainly this would have to be the only off license I know of retailing its own brewed products.

In my time working at Archer Road Beer Stop customers often came in expecting us either to sell home brew supplies, which wasn't exactly outlandish, or, not recognising the beers on the pumpclips (especially those written in marker pen on white paper) expected that we brewed our own.

Dave was always very modest about his brewers potential and reassured enquirers that he had neither the ability or intention to do so, but it happened enough times for me to think that the Real Ale Corner have happened upon a really canny idea.

In the past, Threshers, Booths supermarket in the North West and Wine Cellar (and other brands owned by Parisa Group) have all had beer brewed for them or been involved in the ownership of a separate brewing arm (I think Parisa fits that bill) but I can't recall hearing of an off license brewing its own. More details can be found at Real ale corner, and everything  .

Pub News

Just a quick note about pubs and beer this time!

Shakespeares number beers

I was in the above recently and sampled two excellent beers. The first was from the cask, and was the excellent Steel City Brewing "9" (based on Xiberia). This was easily as good as the aforementioned ale, and again I think its gravity dispense takes an edge off some of the less conciliatory hop flavours that sometimes arise in their brews. I also think it was a little hoppier than the Xiberia, and perhaps better for it. Maybe the alcohol being 4.8% also helps calm down the flavour. Either way its a cracking pint.

I also tried a pint that i had read about in the world of beer blogging. I had never come across any Five Towns beers before except at Oakwood so seeing their "65" beer I thought I would give it a go. I had read about it on the following blog earlier in the week so was keen to try it for myself  (see a review at Timbo writes about Five Towns beer ). I think his review covers all of the taste features but I would mention that I was surprised by the sweetness on display. It crept into the taste after every mouthful and if it hadn't been riding the crest of a hoppy wave it would have ended up tasting like a far less appetising beer.

As it was this ws a really enjoyable (worryingly) easy to drink 6.5% pale beer which wins my praise for having the potential to be ascorbicly dry yet ending up being almost unsettling mellow and of course quaffable as a result. Hopefully there are a few other Five Towns Brewery ales in the cellar so I can get to try some more of their output.

Upcoming Events

There are two beer fests this week in Sheffield pubs - the Kelham Island Tavern one starts tonight I think, and there is one at the New Barrack Tavern. This is a little confusing however since K-cott reports the festival beers in the left hand snug room were available on Tuesday night prior to the Wednesday match. If this is so, I would assume the festival runs all week? Their website says it starts tonight though and runs til Thursday so will head down Saturday for a peak I hope.

That's all the news I have for now, happy slaking!

Wee beefy