We
got a bit early today, giving Ian a ride to the train station. That gave us the opportunity to stop at the
Alexandra Hotel (http://www.alexandrahotelderby.co.uk/),
a Castle Rock pub here in Derby, and talk about the day’s event prior to our
trip over to Nottingham. I got their
Robin Hood Nottinghamian Celebration ale (that’s a mouthful) on cask, and a
bottle of Kiss Me Kate as a souvenir.
Kiss Me Kate was brewed to celebrate last year’s royal wedding, and I
was glad to find a bottle for my collection.
We decided to stop in at BrewDog (http://www.brewdog.com/)
for a drink before dinner. 
BrewDog,
a Scottish brewer that brews high octane beers, is one of my new favorite
breweries. Last year I shared a bottle
of Sink the Bismarck (a 41% ABV beer) with my brother, and have a bottle of
Tactical Nuclear Penguin (a 32% ABV beer) that I have aging in my beer fridge. They
just opened a new bar in Nottingham a few weeks ago, and I was excited to try
them out. So I drove over, and was
ecstatic with what I had found. The bar
was cool, with some 8 taps of BrewDog beers, but I was surprised to find that
they didn’t have any casks. They also
offered a large selection of bottled beers.
I got the Paradox Jura, and imperial stout that was aged in Isle of Jura
whiskey casks and weighed in at 15% ABV.
It was fantastic, and nothing like my coworkers had ever tasted
before. I followed it up with a
cheeseboard (I needed to get something for my stomach) and tried their Hops
Kills Nazis, a 7.8% hoppy red ale.
For
the experience, I bought my friends a 25 ml shot of Tactical Nuclear Penguin
for my friends. They described it as
beer brandy, and I found it tasty, sort of the Sam Adams Triple Bock that I use
to have on Christmas Eve. I was told the
bottle had been aged for a few years, so I can’t wait to open (and perhaps
share) my own bottle for a special occasion.
I noticed that they had one of the 8 bottles of End of the World (the
world’s strongest beer at 55% ABV) on their shelf, and was simply giddy with
holding it. You see, the beer is stuffed
in a dead squirrel, and would be considered a unique treasure (yes, I do know
that I am weird). To top it all off, the
bartender noticed my beer book and told me he used to live across the Tap &
Mallet in Rochester, NY. He was
impressed that I frequented the Old Toad, where he used to work. It was fun talking about US beer spots. 
Another
cool thing that BrewDog does is that they do a lot of collaboration brews with
top brewers such as Mikkeller, Three Floyds and Stone. They had a beer called Lost Dog, an Imperial
Porter weighing in at 10% ABV that was a collaboration with Lost Abbey that I
had to get as a bottle to go. They also
do specialty beers, such as their Abstrakt series. I picked up a bottle of Abstrakt 08,
described as a deconstructed blonde imperial stout at 11.8%ABV (not quite sure
what any of that means, but it sure sounds tasty. Abstrakt 09 is due to come out April 2nd
(hope they weren’t joking), and I gave my friend Robin 20 pounds to pick it up
for me (guess it will age for a while in England).
Well
it was time for dinner, so we headed over to Beeston, which sits in between
Derby and Nottingham, for dinner at the Hotel Victoria (BITE score of
7.2/10). The Hotel Victoria is noted for
their food and their ale selection, and is right next to the Beeston train
station. I knew it would be a good place
since everyone who found out that I liked beer recommended that I should go
there. The place was packed, so they had
us sit upstairs, and although the menu was great, I settled for a ploughman’s. I had an Oldershaw Great Expectations on cask
to go with it, and enjoyed the fellowship and conversation. I’m going to have to make this a must see
stop on future trips.
It
was a great evening, and I fulfilled one of my goals of my trip of visiting
BrewDog. Next I’ll need to see if I can drag out my friend Robin to see if he’ll
do one of those beer shots. – 6000/12103
“They speak of my drinking, but never think of my thirst.” – Scottish Proverb
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