Red Lion Inn, Matlock

Official site of the Red Lion - www.red-lion-birchover.co.uk

Official site of the Red Lion - www.red-lion-birchover.co.uk

I thought this was the better of Birchover's pubs. It has a small bar with a quarry tiled floor, a well and a log burner. Dried hops and tankards hang from the beams. There was no TV that I could spot but music was playing. There is also a larger dining room with stone walls. Dogs are allowed in the pub but not in the dining room. Well behaved children are also welcome. A blackboard in the bar listed the cask ales and food specials. It also published the wifi code. A quiz night was due to be held on 23rd April but it wasn't clear if this was a regular event. The pub has its own brewery (Birchover). Their Bircher Best & Nine Ladies are regularly stocked. A third beer on for our visit was Wigley Walker. SALT Alpacalypse was on keg. I couldn't spot any traditional ciders, leaving Rekorderlig & Aspall's as the keg choice. I missed the cash is king sign next to the bar and paid with card. It also seems that the pub/brewery must have had a falling out with CAMRA some time ago. CAMRA's website mentioned a discount on their beers but the landlady said that they didn't offer a discount and hadn't had anybody in from CAMRA for 20 years! The pub did appear in the Good Beer Guide back in 2011. So 20 years seems a bit of an exaggeration. Nvertheless, my Nine Ladies was a very enjoyable beer. There are some outdoor tables to the front overlooking the main road through the village. Opening hours are limited to Thursday evening and all day Friday, Saturday & Sunday.

Two roomed pub. Customers in walking boots are welcome in the modest sized and basic bar which had wooden benches and stools, terracotta tiled floor and a dart board on the chimney breast above the wood burner. There is also a glass plate on the floor covering an old well head. The other room is long and a bit smarter but still with a hard floor. It was occupied by a few diners. On handpull there was Leatherbritches Ashbourne IPA, Thornbridge Jaipur, Burton Bridge Brewery Bridge Bitter and Nine Ladies Ale (brewed for the Red Lion by Peakstones Rock Brewery) – a nice dark amber bitter, as well as Weston’s Traditional Scrumpy and Country Perry. Around the other side of the bar were the usual keg offerings. Food wise, sandwiches were a bit pricey at £4.50 upwards but I suppose these free house country pubs have to make ends meet somehow. Home made pork scratching were also on sale at £1 a bag. I liked the place and I’d happily go back.