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Beer of the Week (w/e 28th April 2024) with Tris39
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The Barrel Drop, Nottingham
Nottingham
NG1 6JD
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Barrel Drop
Micropub located in a narrow, but long alleyway which connects two main roads. Even the entrance to the alleyway is not immediately obvious.
Once inside, it feels a little dark. But there is a good selection of real ales, craft beers and real ciders, which are all listed on a blackboard opposite the bar.
On our Sunday afternoon visit, it was fairly quiet. Magpie beers on were Raven & Ten For A Time Of Joyous Bliss. Guests on cask were Severn Amarillo Citra APA & Milestone Shine On. Real ciders were Blue Barrel Sherwood Blend & Snail's Bank Rhubarb Cider, whilst craft beers were New Bristol Summer Crush, Abbeydale Heathen & Salvation, Shiny Kiss Ya Homies Goodnight, Magpie Belong To Earth, Polly's Columbus & Amundsen Barrel Aged Glazed & Confused.
There are a few different sections to drink in and I noticed a good selection of board games available to use. This is a decent place and I hope to get back here one day.
On 6th March 2023
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2454 recommendations about 2453 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ian Mapp left this review about The Barrel Drop
Good Beer Guide 2021 entry and without that prompt, I never would have found it. Tucked away down a tiny alley in the city centre.
Classic Micro Pub in look and feel.
Chalk board details the cask and keg. Many from Magpie brewery but I went for a Kernel Pale Ale Mosaic. Informed that the priced listed on the board were not for pints. Even though this was a standard 5.2% and no reason not to serve it in anything other than as god intended.
It looked pretty miserable, with my server attempting to get some life into it. On exiting, I noticed that it had been removed from the chalk board - so I obviously had the dregs.
On 23rd October 2021
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1338 recommendations about 1324 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Barrel Drop
Hunts Yard is a narrow ,steep lane which is easy to miss.Barrel Drop is towards the top end and has a pleasing curved frontage.The bar area is down some steps and has a 6 seater table.At the lane level there is a small area with two tables and a library effect wallpaper at the end,plus the loos.To the right of the bar is a side room.It's all quite dainty but doesn't have the vibe of a micropub,the music is well chosen but quite loud.I suspect the target audience is student/younger drinker and doing a circuit from the copious nearby bars and clubs.
The pub is owned by Magpie Brewery and on my trip all three ales were theirs,my Magpie Five for Silver Pale was uninspiring.
There were also 4 ciders,one from Magpie while 5 kegged beer had one from Magpie and some other more interesting options.
I'm not that keen on Magpie beers and this does seem to be styled as their tap rather than offering a selections of real ales common in many micros.There are better real ale options in town.On this form not sure why it made it into the 2021 GBG.
On 21st May 2021
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2730 recommendations about 2730 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
ROB Camra left this review about The Barrel Drop
Checked opening times before we left home. Said it was open until 10 on a Sunday. Arrived at 9:05 and it was closed. To be fair the door sign said until 9, but their social media was wrong which isn't much use.
On 8th September 2020
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3224 recommendations about 3135 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Aqualung . left this review about The Barrel Drop
On the face of it this looked more like a craft bar than a micropub but the only real distraction was a loud music track playing. It's a split level room with the bar lower down. It was quiet on my early Wednesday evening visit.
Five cask ales are available normally but on my visit one hand pump was unused and one had a cider leaving Colchester AKA Pale & Number One and Great Heck Citra. I went for the Great Heck Citra (£3.50) followed by the keg Magpie Wanderlust Stout (£4.90). Both were in good nick.
I thought this was OK but not the best micropub I've been to.
On 27th July 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Alex Conway left this review about The Barrel Drop
The Barrel Drop is a fairly newly opened micro pub and was a first in the city center of Nottingham. Located down a very small alleyway called Hurts Yard. Which lays sandwiched between Angel Row and upper parliament street. This is quite hidden as there is no signage or advisement on any of the main roads so this place is discovered by tumblers by or people in the know. As you enter the pub is one medium sized room on two different levels the bar is down a few steps on the bottom level with seating to the right with more seating on the upper level. The pub is quite minimalist with no fancy decor just Palin tables and walls with the beer being the main focal point with design taking a bit a of a back seat. Nothing bad just very basic and functional. There are no hand pulls on the bar, all beer is dispensed via gravity from barrels behind the bar. Being a fan of sparklers I’m not the biggest fan of gravity dispensed beer but not the worst thing. Unfortunately on my visit of the twelve barrels behind the bar only five were on which featured Liverpool Organic Brewery’s Shipwreck, a super strong Russian imperial stout, Torside brewery’s “modern bitter (£3.40) and a couple of pale ales I failed to note. I had the Torside bitter which was unfined which I also don’t really like that much either and it was not advertised as so I automatically presumed it to be cloudy before being corrected by the bar girl. It was a bit lifeless and soapy for my liking with my friends pale ale being a little better which at £3.40 was a bit on the pricy side for ale in Nottingham and especially a “Micro Pub”. Overall a bit disappointed by this place, the atmosphere was pretty none existent as there was hardly anyone in on a Monday evening and the poor choice of pricey beers did not do much to lighten my feelings towards it. The Room with a brew a few hundred yards away is a much better example in my opinion. Its not the best Micro pub in the world but if on a busy evening with a better more varied selection of beers this would probably be a lot better. For a micro pub it is not in my list of favorites but it’s still a long shot better than all of the keg only flea pits dotted around the city. It’s worth a visit and could be good if you catch it right but there are better in the wider Nottingham area.
On 13th April 2017
- rating: 7
[User has posted 457 recommendations about 457 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Mark Davey left this review about The Barrel Drop
Nice little micro, hidden away from the bustle of Nottingham city center. We called in early doors on a Friday evening and it was very quiet, with a couple of women drinking pints and a small group of blokes, talking football. 3 barrels on offer and I chose a very acceptable pint of best bitter. My wife had a half of challenging dry cider. the bar is clean and tidy with decent toilets and lots of seating. Not very disabled friendly, due to a flight of steps leading down to the main bar from the door. Well worth a visit, just to see what they have on offer.
On 3rd April 2016
- rating: 7
[User has posted 292 recommendations about 276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about The Barrel Drop
Ten ales on stillage, with eight in operation on my visit. I went for the Leadmill Brewery Susie Q, which was in great shape and packed with flavour, the Wickwar Falling Star was also a good choice.
The pub was split into two areas, the entrance area with Dickens shaped bow windows, also featuring a wallpapered bookshelf. The lower room housed the main bar area over on the left hand corner and a seated area over on the right. The pub was moderately busy on my Friday night visit. The Barrel Drop is slightly larger than your average micro-pub.
On 4th December 2015
- rating: 9
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about The Barrel Drop
This micro-pub has been well described below. I had a less impressive experience than PSM, being greeted by a musty offish smell on entering - whether this was down to the building or a customer I really couldn't say, and fortunately it wasn't overpowering, and my attention soon turned to the beer offering. With nine of the available 11 stillage spaces occupied, it was disappointing to see such a preponderance of pale, American-style beers. I know this ratio will meet with approval in other camps, but I would like to see more than one or two English-style beers when there are so many on offer. I went for the Joules Slumbering Monk, which was ok but nothing special. On a return visit (my mates wanted to try a cider or two) I went for Osset Santiago Alejandro for a change, but as anticipated it was not to my taste. I'd be happy to call in again in hope of some different choices, as this is a congenial environment and certainly has the largest number of beers and ciders I have seen in a micro-pub so far.
On 14th September 2015
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3748 recommendations about 3484 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Barrel Drop
Hidden away down an easily missed alleyway just off Upper Parliament Street, this is a smart little bar in the micro pub format. The pub has a simple layout, with a raised front space under large windows that let in a surprising amount of light, and a lower bar area further into the room with the short servery in the rear left corner. The front half sees a drinking ledge run under the windows plus several tables with chairs and low stools filling the rest of the space. A ledge alongside the steps down to the rear part of the pub had various magazines and other reading material displayed on it, whilst over to the right the room extends slightly into a cosy space with a couple of small tables under bookshelf wallpaper. Moving down to the rear, the bar has a very simple counter, extended slightly at the right hand end by a large upturned barrel. The bar back is comprised almost entirely of stilage for the various beers either available or still conditioning. To the right, the room once again extends a little way into a compact wallpapered seating area with five more tables, a small shelving unit holding a small collection of beer themed books and a smattering of old black and white photos on the walls. An old, bluesy soundtrack was playing for most of my stay, but one customer mentioned that some of the tunes were a bit melancholy, so the barmaid put on some rollicking Led Zeppelin tunes, which was most enjoyable.
There is space for eleven casks to be racked up on the bar back, but around half of these were out of action or not yet ready on my visit. This still left a pretty good choice of Titanic Espresso, Poachers Bog Trotter, Fernandes 10 Degrees, Caythorpe Outlaw and Grafton The Don Jon, plus two bag in a box ciders. I decided to give the Titanic a try and the friendly landlady poured me a fantastic pint that is easily the best beer I've had so far this year. A small but interesting bottled beer range rounded out the options, as I don't recall seeing any keg taps on the bar.
I really enjoyed this visit and ended up spending much longer here than anticipated. The place has a friendly, welcoming feel in keeping with the general micro pub principal, and the beer was first class. A great addition to an already excellent city centre drinking scene and well worth including on any crawl around town.
On 23rd March 2015
- rating: 9
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]