The Lincolnshire Poacher, Nottingham

The Lincolnshire Poacher is a Castle Rock pub on the Mansfield Road, roughly 15 minutes walking distance from the city centre. The pub retains a multiple room layout, with entry to a corridor that runs down the right hand side to the pub. To the immediate left there is access to the main bar – a small bare boarded room with enough space for just the one table and a couple of small drinking ledges with high stools. The etched windows here show the pub’s former name as the ‘Old Grey Nags Head’ – a name that was changed when the pub was closed by Shipstones and reopened by Lincolnshire brewers Batemans back in the late 1980’s. From here you can access a seating area on a slightly lower level to the left of the servery. There are banquettes and low stools in this room, and like the bar area, its walls are decorated with lots of brewery mirrors including one for Knotty Ash Ales. A high shelf has all sorts of brewerania on it, plus some trophies and a number of handled glasses hanging from the edge. Following the entrance corridor towards the rear of the pub, you pass a small snug which has some well upholstered banquette seating, a small serving hatch and a collection of books. Beyond this there is a bright conservatory space and a decent looking paved garden. The beer range really stands out here and rivals anything else the city has to offer. On my visit, the choice was from Castle Rock Harvest Pale, Screech Owl and Elsie Mo, Saltaire Raspberry Blonde and Triple Chocoholic (£3.20), Leeds Pale Ale and Gathering Storm, Ossett Excelsior, Fullers Bengal Lancer, Shottle Farm 8/- Ale, Nethergate Essex Beast, Everards Tiger and Dancing Duck Dark Drake. A blackboard in the corridor lists all of the ale options, and once at the bar there is a small board on the bar back that details the four ales not visible from the hand pumps. In addition to this, there were a total of eleven ciders and perries (all at £3.50), a keg range that included the likes of Erdinger, Sagres and Vedett, an extensive bottled Belgian beer range and a selection of 60 whiskies. It was very difficult picking one beer from that sort of a selection, but I ended up with a pint of the Triple Chocoholic which was absolutely sublime. Food options were listed on boards above the servery and mains were around £7.00 whilst a cob would set you back in the region of £3.00. I thought this place had a bit of everything that a good pub should have. The beer range alone is a good enough reason to make you way out here but the pleasant and welcoming environment will make you reluctant to leave this excellent establishment.

A terraced Castle Rock Brewery pub with rear conservatory and patio area. The pub is in plain brick with some red paintwork, with stone linteled sash windows. In the GBG 2011. The interior is an L-shape open plan room. The main bar at the front is a straight room though in two areas. The decor is white and wood panel (with green chimney breast), with wood floor and a green ceiling. The walls are covered in an eclectic colloection if prints, old photos, mirrors, brewery memorabilia and even an old Wrigglies Gum machine - it is great. At the side, heading out towards the patio is a small wood panelled snug that has its own serving hatch. The conservatory at the back is laid out more for food, clearly they do food here, but i didnt eat here so can't comment on that. There was no TV that i saw and there was no background music. The service was fine and the clientele more mature based and it was reasonably attended for a lunch time visit. Beer; usual tap stuff with 12 handpulls including; Castle Rock Screetch Owl, Albert Ball MILD, Harvest Pale Ale; Batemans XB, Spring Goddess and Dark MILD (class); Everards Tiger, Bombardier, Springhead Brewery's Bramley Apple, Jarrow Red Ellen, Dancing Duck's Ayup and Burton Bridge Damson Porter. Sheer class - so good, i could watch an omnibus edition of Big Brother if it mean't being a return trip.