Nottingham Stout and Porter Stroll

This month 43 pubs in the Nottingham area each offer a stout or a porter.So I wheeled out my (t)rusty bike and set forth to begin in West Bridgford.This is a suburb of Nottingham with about 44 000 inhabitants-until 1938 there wasn't a single licenced premises in the borough but happily nowadays there are many superb oases.
Poppy and Pint had Gadd's of Ramsgate's stout , very nice, then on to the Stratford Haven where my companion had the Magpie Midnight Porter though I copped out because I saw Elgood's Black Dog which couldn't be ignored.On to the Test Match-an amazing Art Deco (CAMRA heritage inventory) pub for a glass or two of Tommy Flynn's Stout and then on the way home the Bridge Inn for some Paddy's Stout. Loved all the beers, pubs were good and the staff were all brilliant.The stroll continues until the end of the month so I'll give it a few more forays!
Only downside was the accompanying blurb about Stout and Porter lifted straight from the CAMRA website. Full of assumptions, misinformation and folklore, light on facts. patto1ro would have a fit!

 

Yes, it's like stepping back into the 1930s (except for the prices!) Just like watching Poirot, everything is styled as if it was still 1938.
Next week it will probably be the Trent Bridge Inn (not your typical Spoons pub by any means) then over the river to Nottingham proper.

 

Not on the trail but slipped in to my local this lunchtime (just outside Nottingham) and found Young's London Porter on one of the pumps. Had to test it out and then I had to check it again and....well, I really liked it

 

Intend to get out again next Thursday-the TBI to begin with, then the Navigation and the Globe and see where we get to from there! Strangely enough, when I'm on my bike I seem to be able to cope with a lot more pints

 

Phase 2-wheeled out the bike on a beautiful spring day and made it to the Trent Navigation (a pub of fearsome repute in the 60's )...lovely pint of Dark and Delicious (£2.70) from the Corvedale Brewery then across the road to the Globe.......SHUT!!!
Only a hundred or so yards doen the road was the Trent Bridge Inn-one of the best known pubs in the country because of its cricketing associations.Now a Weatherspoon's pub and they have done it proud. Not by any means your typical Spoons place but in parts more like a gentleman's club with plush leather seating and quiet areas.And superbly kept beer (I counted 14 different ones) , the staff we spoke to were well on the ball and knew their stuff.All this at £1.50 a pint using our CAMRA discount vouchers.
So it as Salem Porter to begin with , truly excellent even though it's now only 4.7%. Then it was Nottingham Brewery's Sooty Stout (reputed to be pre war Guinness at 4.7%) followed by Elgood's Snake Slayer (relabelled Old Black Shuck) 4.5%
Just to show that dark beers aren't everything the next beer was John Martin's Pale Ale , very fruity (I sensed peaches rather than hops, maybe because of what I was eating at the time!) and finished off with Wharfebank's Wispa IPA which to be truthful was pleasant rather than memorable.But after half a dozen brews memory doesn't seem to be all that good anyway. And I still had to cycle home........
Phase 3 is now in the planning stage.

 

Phase 3-got the bus (free bus pass these days!) and made my way to the Lincolnshire Poacher.Masses of gorgeous beer on offer. Began with Fuller's London Porter (at a ridiculous price for Nottingham of £3.50 a pint) folloed by Craddock's Stout at a more civilised price.More Fuller's (there were another 20 pumps on which I largely ignored as I love London Porter) and things are a bit blurred after that though a pint of Timothy Taylor's Golden Best passed my lips (yes, I know it isn't a stout but I love it)
Prices perhaps not as bad as they seemed as the pub (and its chain) does a buy 8 get one free scheme

 

Pity is that I saw the Golden Best after ordering the London Porter so ended up drinking a lighter beer after a darker and heavier one.As soon as I saw the Fuller's clip my mind somehow became blinkered to the extent that I overlooked the other pumps! But the Golden Best came through remarkably well and I enjoyed it immensely.
The Poacher is on Mansfield Road which seems to be a succession of good pubs; the Rose of England (had a pint there with Colin Valentine on St.Andrew's Day which offended his Scottishness!), the Golden Fleece, the Nag's head , the..........

 

Although the Stroll is now over we went back to Nottingham for some more dark beers yesterday-first of all the Hand and Heart , another pub like the Trip to Jerusalem in that it is partly cut into the rock.
http://www.thehandandheart.co.uk/
Had a pint of Brewster's Stilton Porter (also marketed as just "Porter") at 4.9% ABV, an old favourite and utterly gorgeous stuff.Brewsters are a progressive brewery whose beers range from traditional mild and bitter but have since the 1990s been very keen on using large amounts of US hops in some of their brews.
I was so taken by this that I failed to record the black beer drunk by my accomplice!Tried also some Abbeydale Brimstone , also lovely stuff.
Next pub but one up the Mansfield Road (only a few yatds there are so many-called the Canning Circuit!) is the Organ Grinder which is the Blue Monkey brewery tap and straight to the Guerilla , another great stout at 4.9%.
http://www.bluemonkeybrewery.com/about/the-organ-grinder