The Crow, Nottingham

Opposite the castle’s gate, fearsomely modernised and on three levels. The central horseshoe servery has 12 pulls, eight in use for beer, with cider on a couple plus 12 kegs on a horseshoe and more on a converted brewing vessel on the bar back. There are bottles and cans as well. The pulls are split either side of the servery with owners Magpie’s beers one side and other brewers round the back. Elegantly designed with a variety of furnishings, some tables are made from old cask ends but don’t let that fool you, it’s a proper posh place as befits the trendy and yummy mummy type clientele. Look out for the metal birds on the balustrades then tell me if they're crows or magpies?Beer quality in the average to good area.

nice range of high quality beers. And a nice mix of from lunch time and evening meals

Not as busy as the nearby Fothergills or Olde Trip, where the fine weather had encouraged drinkers to spread out onto the pavements and grass, the Crow was a comparative haven of peace and solitude. It's quite a cool and stylish interior, which I appreciated after the glare of the early May sunshine. There are 12 hand pumps and a number of keg, bottle and can options as well: all beers and ciders are listed on blackboards. My Magpie Four for a Boy dark ruby mild was very good. Not my first visit here, and I'll definitely make a point of coming here next time I'm in Nottingham.

Situated just up from the Castle,on the ground floor of a hotel building,the interior is split level with the lower part mainly full of comfy chairs,the island bar is at a higher level and is surrounded by lots of seating and walls decorated with unplaned wood,while there is a further raised seating area near the side door .The decor is hipsterish,and besides 8 real ales,there is a lot of real cider and 64 bottled options of beer and cider.The handpumps are split over two sides of the bar,but there is a helpful board listing whats on,which on my trip meant Magpie Four for a Boy and Best,Grafton Bananalicious,Barlow Wakatu,Great Heck Blonde and a very good Revolutions BrewCo Hex 6 Hop IPA.Food is served until 9pm,with most burgers and mains weighing in around £9-£12 ,and some eclectic music was being played at a sensible volume.There are a few nooks and crannies to fit into ,it felt relaxed and welcoming.Another very good real ale bar,worth including on any crawl around the city centre.

I thought this was going to be one of those modern monstrosity's when looking from the outside but it turned out to be quite good. Though it is modern it has an excellent choice of beers and ciders. There are 12 handpumps on the central bar with 6 on each side of the servery. The servery is up few steps on entering and 8 of the ales are real ale with 4 for cider on this visit. The modern feel let's it down a bit for me but this is a good pub.

Large, light modern bar near castle. Entrance door opens to steps on the outer wall leading up to the large bar with central serving area. Wood slat back benches, chunky wood tables, big glass frontage. A couple of seating areas on the way up the stairs. Nice relaxed pub, 8 real ales plus craft selection.

The Crafty Crow Is a new addition to Nottingham’s real ale scene and a welcome improvement on the former BZR nightclub that operated in the venue. Situated in the area surrounding Nottingham castle this is a much better fit as this is probably the nicest are of town and the riff raff that the former club brought was a real damper on an old historic corner of the city. Thankfully things are much better now. You enter through two very large glass doors into a seating area with some sofas and a few scattered tables and chairs. You have to go up a small flight of stairs to get to the main pub that is stretched over the entire first floor. Hard bight wooden floors throughout with a very clean modern feel to it and as described feels like trendy craft beer bar (which it is) while also having a strong focus on traditional real ale. The prominent square bar is located in the middle of the room and is accessible on three sides. Five hand pulls align the front and back facing sides of the bar so always check round the back for what’s on offer as these are not always displayed on the board of ever bar. Of the ten real ales available many Magpie beers appear (as it is their tap) as well as not so regularly seen guests from up and down the country which is nice. Some of the section I noted on my visit included Magpie Raven Stout (£3.40) Bakers dozen brewery electric Landlady (£3.50) G stamps Brewery Mail Train (£3.20) Magpie best (£3.20) Magpie To for joy (£3.20) Milton Brewery Sparta (£3.20) plus several I failed to note. My pint of Magpie best was well kept to say that I’ve not always been impressed with all their brews and the piece was rather good for a trendy bar/pub in the center of town, and the gust price was equally pleasing. Overall a really nice addition and not far from the roundhouse and the other pubs around the castle. This is great for evening drinks and won’t burn a whole in your pocket either, I recommend a visit.