The Vat & Fiddle, Nottingham

This is a 1930s style undressed brick Castle Rock Brewery (Brewery Tap)corner pub with a patio area. It has a couple of stone string courses and has white bar windows and blue signage. In GBG 2011. The interior has a U(ish)-shaped open plan room which i have as being in Dark Blue and white ceiling and walls, with some wood panel (PSM says Purple - i was a bit merry when i got here, so go with the Signage!) and there are a lot of certificates on the walls. We had a game of darts in here (a bit worrying i know) and there is a TV. I know they serve rolls and such like, we took a couple with us when going for the train and they were fine. The service wasn't very friendly i am sorry to say - a little miserable; the clientele was mixed and it was busy. Beer; usual tap stuff with Castle Rock, Harvest Pale Ale, Albert Ball MILD, Black Gold, Elsie Mo, Sheriff's Tipple, Screetch Owl, Hemlock and Preservation om handpull, with Rudgate Battle Axe and Ruby MILD on handpull. A great pub, great beer. I must return here.

Situated just over the road from Nottingham train station, this pub is the brewery tap for the Castle Rock brewery, which is located in an adjacent building. The pub has a fairly simple three room layout, with the bar counter sited in the small middle section. Either side of this area the pub opens out and provides plenty of seating as well as a dartboard and TV screen in the room to the right. The rooms are decorated in a pleasing white and dark purple colour scheme and one room has a wall full of various certificates awarded to both pub and brewery. There are some benches outside on a paved area at the front of the pub and I arrived to find they had been taken over by a band of Morris dancers who, judging by the bemused looks from the bar staff, were giving an impromptu performance. The Castle Rock beers available were Sheriff's Tipple (£2.20), Harvest Pale and Black Gold Mild (£2.30), Hemlock (£2.40), Preservation (£2.60), Elsie Mo (£2.70), Screech Owl and Kiss Me Kate (both £2.90). Two guests were also on - Batemans Hooker and Salopian Darwin’s Origin - both priced at £2.80. Cider drinkers had Stowford Press and Old Rosie to choose from as well as Weston Country Perry. An interesting tap selection included Bitburger and Marston Oyster Stout. I tried the Elsie Mo and managed to squeeze in a quick half of the Kiss Me Kate before rushing off for my train. I thought the quality was very good - better in fact, than some of the other Castle Rock pubs I'd visited throughout the day. The bar staff were very friendly and helped me to sort me out with a few bottles of Elsie Mo to take back home with me. I was very comfortable in this place and would happily sacrifice visiting some of the other great pubs in town to spend a bit more time in here. As others have said, this is an excellent starting or finishing point for a Nottingham crawl and an essential port of call for anyone looking for great beer.