The Flowerpot, Derby

Good sized, and very popular, two-room ale house on the fringe of the city centre. You enter to a bare boarded main bar area with a small, carpeted seating space immediately to the right, full of padded banquettes and with a fireplace on the end wall underneath a plain mirror with various old brewery adverts dotting the surrounding walls. The servery is to the left and has a plain panelled counter and nice old bar back with some cool retro Bass signage and an impressive integral clock. Pump clips cover many of the surrounding pillars and beams and helpful beer boards hang to one side of the bar. The counter runs on into the rear room where loads more seating can be found, although the pub was so packed when I arrived, I couldn’t even get into the room, never mind find a seat. I eventually squeezed my way through to find a large, carpeted room with its own bar which sported an eye-catching bar back covered in sunflowers. Seating is almost entirely in the form of padded banquettes with chairs and high stools in support. Loads of framed photos of various subjects line the walls and I spotted another beer board and plenty of plain mirrors. The pub has an extensive ale range which was getting a good road testing from a packed house, with options on this visit comprising Oakham Bishops Farewell, Marstons Pedigree, Harrington Whim IPA, Blue Monkey Infinity Plus 1, Abbeydale Restoration Porter, Lenton lane Pale Moonlight and Ampersand Corocan. I took a pint of the latter and spent the rest of my stay wandering around trying to find a seat, but all in vain. There was a riotous atmosphere on a Saturday night and had I been able to claim a seat, I may well have decided to stay here all evening and soak it in. This seemed like a great ale house, with plenty of interesting, well-kept beer and a cracking atmosphere. It suffered a little bit from its own success on my Saturday evening visit, but I imagine its easy enough to catch it at a more suitable time and enjoy a relaxed pint or two instead. Definitely one of my favourites in Derby.

The Flowerpot is a large pub with lots of different seating areas served by front and rear bars. My visit was late on a recent Tuesday so a couple of beers were off, which left Oakham’s Bishops Farewell, Whim Ales’ Hartington IPA, Lenton Lane’s Moonlight and Zoo Not Out, Marston’s Pedigree and Burton Bridge’s Damn Dog as the cask options. Some traditional ciders were also available alongside a craft lager list. The very friendly governor was having a bit of beer chat with a couple of locals at the bar so I decided to stop and listen meaning that I didn’t have much of a nose around the pub. However, there was a lovely strong smell of curry, either the chef is amazing or this pub allows take-aways to be eaten in. I liked it in here and will pop back in when next in the area.

Another pub that I was last in 8 years ago. I remember even less about this one, as it was the pub where we suddenly realised that we would miss our train home, as we hadn't left enough time to get to the station. This time, being only our 4th pub of the day, we were a little bit more sober. We remained in the area near the entrance. But the room does extend back much more beyond the bar. Regular ales here are Oakham Bishop's Farewell, Marston's Pedigree & Whim Hartington IPA. 5 guest beers were Lenton Lane Pale Moonlight & Twist and Stout, First Chop Joe, Blue Monkey BG Sips & Whim Flower Power. Some of our party were quite pleased to see a couple of stouts on. I chose the Twist & Stout, which was the better of the two. Real ciders are also stocked - Lilley's Apple & Blackberry Cider & Bee Sting Perry & SeaCider Bakewell Tart. With live music also popular here, this is definitely worth including on any pub itinerary for Derby.

Another tick from the 2018 Good Beer Guide. Old school feel inside but opens out to a courtyard with a stage. Live music on a Sunday afternoon for my visit, which was where all the punters were. As seems to be the norm in Derby - many handpulls on. Unfortunately, I had the worse pint of the night in here - a lifeless Blue Monkey that died a headless death whilst enjoying the band. Good pub though. Visit blogged at http://bit.ly/2w1lOlC