Back to Derby

Hello,

     I made this trip, with Davefromtshop, in mid November. Whilst slowly piecing back together the memories of this lupilous escapade I delayed writing it, and then had a stroke. There is a chance that this event may make some of my memories a little unclear, but that has been a feature of my blogging for many years now and salient memories are not going to make a sudden unwelcome appearance in my musings. Please therefore find below details of our trip to Derby, some of which may be subject to guesswork....

Arriving before 11.00 we found the Brunswick was more than half an hour away from opening, so went for a quick wander down the backstreets trying to find a starting point. That we did, at 11.00, which was the Victoria, possibly next door to a boozer called the Merry Widows. They had two or thirty five real ales on if I recall (I don't) but I know we bought a half each of Purity UBU and sat in comfy chairs facing the fireplace in the bar. A relaxing start to our soon to become scarcely achievable task.

We continued on a familiar path thereafter, heading round to the Brunswick next, where we had beer. For reasons unclear I made no notes whatsoever and also took no pics of pumpclips in this pub and two others. Even my Faceache posts suggest nothing about the Brunswick. All I know is that I had a pint of something pale, based on a pic I took. If you know what was IPAish and on there on 14 November 2017 then that is what I had.

The Alex had a rather smashing range of ales on and I had a pint of Littleover Epiphany at 4.1%, made of citra, simcoe and mosaic - it tasted as good as it sounds. I also had a half of Clouded Minds Dolce Vita West Coast IPA at 6.2 with Amarillo, Simcoe, Citra and Columbus to tickle the taste buds. After a pork pie, we headed through the park to the Smithfield where I had a half of Two by Two West Coast IPA, also at 6.2%. Its worth pointing out that at all three pubs Davefromtshop would also have had beer. I just don't know what it was.

To the Exeter Arms next where we sat in the house next door and had two halves of Tollgate Eclipse BIPA with malted Rye. An odd mix but quite an enjoyable drop, and as always, a pleasure to walk round the many rooms to admire the interior.

The Silk Mill came next and I had a pint of Pentrich Kiama which was a 5% IPA or similar, and this went down really well. This was three hours into our tour and we had consumed five pints. We tried to slow down consumption a little, before heading to the Peacock, which was Dave's first visit. Alas they have stopped selling Bass from the barrel (and at all) but they still usually sell good pies, and I had a pint of Oakham Citra.

Heading back into town we soon found Sadler Gate and went to the Old Bell Hotel. A first for us both, there were four real ales on offer and maybe some keg in this old and recently refurnished building. We both had halves of a local brewery beer, so based on guessing that Lenton Lane Brewery is, we had their Citra. It may have been Littleover though.....

A short wander followed and we found a venue called The Horse and Moon. I know this, because we planned on going there. So we must have, right? There were four handpumps, and as soon as we walked in the barman said "am sorry, all the real ales are not on today". Luckily my drinking universe has widened in my old age so neither of us complained, instead we perused the extensive can and bottle menu. Dave had an American brown Ale, possible from Firestone Walker, and I had a can of the same brewery's collab with Beavertown called West Side Beavo, which Google tells me is 6.5%. Both beers were lovely, and the barman recommended the Forge, craft beer burger bar in a courtyard just down the road. Here we had a half of something unwisely strong, before heading to what may or may not have been our penultimate stop, Suds and Soda.

There is no point my pretending to remember what we had in here, apart from concern about how hungry we had become. Am willing to bet it was delicious. Am certain we didn't go to the nearby Flowerpot, and our last Derby pub was the Standing Order where I locked myself in the toilet cubicle (whilst forgetting to push the unlocked door, like a complete pisshead) and we ate food, am led to believe. On returning to my seat Dave had left my stuff and wandered off, forgetting I was with him, but we were soon reunited in the square where that DJ from Derby filmed the video to I want to be your woman, or similar.

After a good sleep on the train I awoke at Sheffield and found a message from Dave, and headed to Shakespeares for a last one, at least one pint of the 6.5% Cloudwater DDH IPA, which I remember was fantastic.

Derby, as always, provided some excellent boozers, and a fine range of beers throughout. And we also got to visit three new pubs. Am also willing to admit that we probably had too much to drink. Almost half of my beers were 6% or above. I bloody enjoyed it though!

Cheers

Wee Beefy