Hoppin' a Train

When I think of England, I typically think of pubs (what else), the countryside (full of sheep of course), and trains.  Railway travel is such a part of their lives that we decided to catch the train to Nottingham for the evening.  Not only is it economical, it also bypasses traffic jams and allows me, normally the chauffer, to fully enjoy the evening.  So we took the train to the Nottingham train station, and walked over to the Castle Rock (Fortified with Flavor) brewery tap, the VAT & Fiddle. 

The VAT & Fiddle is close to both the train station and the brewery, and specializes in pale ales.  Their Harvest Pale was the Champion Beer of Britain in 2010, and they had a huge selection of their other beers on cask.  I had the Sherriff’s Tipple, a 3.4% ABV bitter that was refreshing (it had been a long day), and their Pie Eyed 150.  Pie eyed is slang for being drunk, and 150 is to commemorate 150 years of the Nottingham Football Club, the oldest in the world.  We met up with Robin of Nottingham (that never stops being funny) and I took him to another CAMRA recommended pub, the Newshouse.

The Newshouse is off by itself on Canal Street, and I was so proud of myself for finding a top notch pub that Robin had never been to before.  The pub was quaint, and had a good ale selection.  I went with the Burton Bridge Stairway to Heaven, a 5% ABV Pale Ale.  I was still bemoaning the fact that I missed the pub on Sunday, but this beer helped me get over it.

We were looking for something to eat (something a little quicker than Thai or Indian food), so the group decided to go to Hooters for dinner.  That’s right, Hooters.  No real ale.  No ploughman’s or fish ‘n chips.  I went along, reluctantly (I blush really easy), and got a Philly cheesesteak (not bad) and a tall Budweiser.  Heck, if I’m going to be a heretic I might as well go all the way.  Our server was going to be competing the following Tuesday in the bikini contest for a trip to Florida.  She had won twice before, and even though I’m pretty sure Jenn won’t want to go root her to victory, Robin will do his best to make sure she wins.

Finally, we headed back to BrewDog (it was much easier walking there then driving) so that Robin could try some of their specialty beers.  It was Hopslam Thursday, and they were celebrating the release of their IPA is Dead series of beers.  These were all IPAs brewed with specialty hops from around the world.  I went with their strongest offering, Anarchist & Alchemist, a triple hopped IPA that weighed in at 14% ABV.  The barmaid allowed me to sample the other varieties; Challenger from Britain, Galaxy from Australia, HBC from America, and Moteuka from New Zealand.  All these other IPAs were at 6.8% ABV, and had subtle differences in the flavor and finish that I was glad to be able to perform my own taste test comparison.

We had a good evening, and Robin was kind enough to put us in a cab so that we could make the 1015 train.  I was glad to take the ride home, and the walk back to the hotel.  It was a really good evening.  -6000/12129

“A night of good drinking is worth a year’s thinking.” – Charles Cotton