The Redemption Ale House, Heanor

Seven hand pumps in this one. Seating to front and a beer garden to rear. Not as good a selection of ales compared to the other two micros but worth a revisit.

This newish pub has been well described by Ray and Alan. It may not be very small, but the ethos seems to fit in with the micropub movement, with six real ales (see photos) and some ciders. I didn't see any notices about a discount for Camra members, but then I rarely do; beer was reasonably priced at £1.50 for a half. There's a window behind the bar from which people in the back yard were able to obtain their drinks without having to come back into the pub. There was a decent sized crowd here at the time of my Friday afternoon visit, with a good atmosphere and a bit of banter between staff and customers. I imagine I'll be back before long.

Situated at the top of Ray Street, so it must be good and it was. This large Micro consists of a wallpapered front seating area, with large 1950's style standing lamps with big shades. The middle section had a log burning stove and petrol blue painted walls and further seating. A good sized bar with six handpulled ales was positioned at the rear of the pub with all their casks stored on view in a chill cabinet behind the bar. This Micro is slightly more upmarket, compared to the Angry Bee and attracts the more conservative drinker.

The Redemption Ale House is situated on a side street just off Heanor's market place. Once inside this place seems far too big to be a micro pub,the main room is quite big and oblong shaped with the bar to the rear,the floor is tiled and has rugs on it,the seating is mainly normal tables and chairs,plus some tall chairs which face a drinking shelf,the is a smaller room upstairs which has some settees and chairs. There were six real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Bowland Buster which was a decent enough drink,the other beers were First Hop Chop,Titanic Anchor,Dancing Duck Dark Drake,Woods Red Biscuit and Leadmill Blue Morph. The bar person was friendly but sadly the pub was empty on my Friday afternoon visit. Pub visited 4/11/2016