Doctor's Orders

Having escaped work a bit early yesterday I finally got a chance to pop into my new local, it having opened on Sunday. Doctor's Orders is Nottingham's first Micro-Pub, and the name came about because it used to be Carrington Pharmacy (which has now moved a few doors closer to town). This also explains the 'prescriptions' window through which you can have a look at the beer stillage. Room being at a premium there's no bar, it's just a matter of grabbing yourself a table and ordering your beer, and don't be expecting much other than beer or cider or you'll be disappointed. It's cask only, and all that straight from the barrels you can see on the (rather posh spring-tilted*) racks. No hand-pulls, no frills - anywhere!

I had a half of Lincoln Green 'Marion' Pale Ale, which was in damn good condition. The beer range looked decent, if not hugely adventurous - it'll be interesting to see how they develop the range they do. It was also nice to be able to have a look at the 'soon to appear' beers - there's a chalkboard as well as printed beer menus.

All in all, and despite it being a fleeting visit, I was really impressed. It's certainly a good place to have within five minutes walk of my house, especially since the fact they don't do food means that me and the dog will be welcomed providing we behave ourselves. As far as I remember they're open 12-2 and 5.30-12 daily. It's a bit of a trek out of the city if you are visiting Nottingham, it being a good mile away from any of the 'must visit' city pubs, but it's a great addition to the (very) local beer scene.

* I was a bit jealous; none of the weekly chock-combat against 18 gallon casks we used to have in the pub I ran.

Pembrokeshire

We're off on our holidays next week, heading for South West Wales. It's somewhere I'm quite familiar with since I've been irregularly visiting family friends down there for almost my whole life.

Welsh pub, Welsh beer

Here's a few that I'm already a fan of. I've written about Cresswell Quay before. I always used to try and make a trip to The Station Inn in Pembroke Dock, which I think I'm right in saying is now no longer a brew pub, although since we're staying a bit further from Pembroke Dock this time (over in Narberth) I might not make it this time. The Stackpole Inn is quite a recent favourite. I seem to remember having excellent food there. Other favourites (off the top of my head, I'm sure there are more if I asked others) are the Sloop Inn, Porthgain; the Freshwater Inn and the Tafarn Sinc, up in the Preseli Hills.

Arn from the Blood Stout and Tears blog recommends the Hope and Anchor in Tenby, which is one I don't remember having visited. I'm on the look out for more recommendations. Although there are some great pubs in some stunning locations I do remember the beer selections being somewhat predictable, so it would be great if anyone knows of any pubs down there that might stock something with a bit of variation from the Brains, Felinfoel and Worthingtons norm.

Does anybody know anywhere, particularly new places that might have sprung up since my last trip down there a few years ago, that are worth a visit?

Cellarman or seller, man? A hypothetical question.

Boak and Bailey's post about four hypothetical pubs and drinking choices provoked an interesting debate about dogma over-riding taste buds and the like.

Here's another hypothetical situation. You want to set up a pub in what is undeniably a very competitive market. Like anyone with a bit of business sense you need to decide where your money goes when you start up the business. So you have to make a decision. Do you?

1. Use a sizeable percentage of your wage budget to employ an experienced, Good Beer Guide credited (for want of a better term) cellarman, who you know will make sure the cask beer comes to the bar in peak condition? Because of this your front-of-house/bar staff budget will not be as high.

or

2. Go with 'craft' keg, and spend that part of your wage budget on bar staff, training them up to really pro-actively sell your beer in your venue. Perhaps employ people with sales backgrounds rather than pub experience?

What are the pros and cons of the choices? I've got my own ideas but I'm interested in what people might think. As ever, opinions are invited.

Great Beer or Great Times?

A piece Mark Dredge wrote about pubs with views got me thinking about how the situation you are in can affect the enjoyment of the beer you're drinking.

I'm going to assume anyone reading this is generally on the look out for a quality beer. It could be a pint of something you've been looking forward to for a long time, one you've read about, even to the point where it's been recommended as the best beer in the land, and finally you come across it in in a pub. A pub with a hen party/football team outing/karaoke competition/insert pet hate here, or any number of other extraneous factors that might just cloud your judgement.

I would argue that tasting is a subjective thing no matter how 'expert' we become at it. This is not a bad thing - I don't want to read opinion from someone whose writing isn't born of a passion. There can't be many wine show judges who would say 'I discovered my passion for wine by tasting and spitting eighty samples of a morning' but I'd like to think their passion got them there. When I worked in wine retail we used to get customers that came in saying 'I had this great wine on holiday, do you have...' but while I might have been able to sell them the wine I could never transport them back to the place and time they had it, although I hoped the fond memories would return irrespective of how good the wine was.

I commented on Mark's blog about drinking Worthington's Firewater in the Cresselly Arms in Pembrokeshire. Tide permitting we used to potter up the river from Burton Ferry to the Arms in my uncle's little dinghy. We'd sit on the quay overlooking the river enjoying a beer served, via a jug, straight from the cask. A great beer, or a great situation? A beautiful pub in one of my favourite parts of the world with people I love, and love to be with. On reflection I'd take an indifferent beer in those circumstances over the world's greatest beer and a hen party, but maybe it's just me.

The Pipe and Glass

I was glad to see that the Pipe and Glass in South Dalton, East Yorkshire won the Michelin Pub of the Year award. I was brought up near there and it's a pub I've been visiting on and off most of my life since my parents still live nearby.

While it's generally had a good reputation locally, in the last few years it's really kicked on from there; good Yorkshire beer, an excellent wine list and superb food, which has earned it a Michelin star - and it's our venue of choice for birthday dinners and other celebrations. It also has good vegetarian options which, importantly, don't leave you wanting a snack by the time you have got home.

Highly recommended if you're ever in that part of the world. Friendly and unpretentious, proper Yorkshire hospitality.

More in The Guardian.

Black Iris Brewery, Derby

I had the chance to have a look round the new Black Iris brewery in Derby last night. It is at the back of the Flower Pot pub, a proper, independent (the owner has two pubs) boozer/live music venue not far from the city centre.

Black Iris' beer is a work in progress project, but they have released three - a pale ale, a bitter and a stout. Bearing in mind these are the first releases from guys who are learning on the job they have done really well - I'm glad to see that they intend to learn the basics, ie. get these styles of beer right, before leaping into more experimental projects. Each of the beer recipes only uses a couple of different hop varieties - again so that they can get an idea of how the hops effect the end product.

Here's the artwork for the first run of beers as designed by a local tattoo artist.

Nick, a proud Dad, and a small but perfectly formed brewery:

   

Note: This is actually a post from my old blog which kept going wrong, but I thought I'd add a bit and move it over (19/11) as it's something that not many people would have seen.

More backstory from This is Derbyshire here. You can also get more news from Black Iris on Facebook. Their Intergalactic IPA was a highlight of Nottingham Beer Festival for me.