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Beer of the Week (w/e 3rd May 2026) with Mobyduck
on the Pub Forum
Image posted by Quinno _
Submitted on Tuesday, 24th February 2026
With picture contributions to 5837 other pubs
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Detail Pages
The Vat and Fiddle, Nottingham
Nottingham
NG2 1NB
Served areas
VatandFiddle
Monday, Monday, Monday....noone likes Mondays, so how about something to make it a little better?
Drink in for take… https://t.co/2C98s3UdH8
2:04 PM Jan 30th 2023 from Twitter for Android
Reviews of The Vat and Fiddle (Average Rating: 8½ of 10) see review guidelines
Quinno _ left this review about The Vat and Fiddle
A ‘waiting for a train’ stop at the end of a rather boozy day. The classic alehouse interior remains, as does plenty of cask – maybe a little too many as my Bass was a bit flabby (NBSS 2.5) and the bar blockers were a bit annoying. Cheap and hearty pub grub available.
November 2011
The tap for the CAMRA award-winning Castle Rock (the beer is brewed next door and there’s an extension room in the pub that allows a partial view into the brewery), housed in a 1930’s brick building (which divides opinion; I quite like it), with very attractive interior doors. There’s been some sympathetic extension and modernisation inside such as the purple and white colour scheme but it retains the feel of a no-nonsense ale house with basic furnishings and a tiled floor. There are seven to eight Castle Rock beers available (the prices of which increase by abv) alongside a couple of guests plus a couple ciders/perry for the fruities and Belgian/German bottles for the upmarket. Condition of the beer on my visit was top-notch and the prices were wallet-pleasingly cheap though I found the staff somewhat dappy. Good to see bar billiards and a dart board ready to use. Has won plenty of awards and these are proudly displayed on the walls around the pub. Impressive cobs are available to soak up the beer. The back room hosts an unusual picture show of closed and derelict Nottingham pubs. The pub is less than five minutes’ walk from the mainline rail station which makes it an ideal place to start or end a pub crawl of the city. And well-worth missing a train for too. Rated 8
On 5th May 2026
- rating: 7
[User has posted 6018 recommendations about 5998 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about The Vat & Fiddle
A fairly large building fronting The Castle Rock Brewery, handily placed near the train station. There are thirteen handpumps of which the majority were serving Castle Rock beers of course but guest beers are also available, I tried Castle Rock Soft Focus which was fine. Forest were playing at home later in the day so there was a fair sprinkling of footie fans, there was still plenty of room early afternoon but maybe needs to be borne in mind. A decent place.
On 20th November 2024
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2308 recommendations about 2272 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Vat & Fiddle
With time to spare between trains, I decided to take the 3-4 minute stroll from Nottingham railway station to the Vat & Fiddle, which is Castle Rock's brewery tap.
It fronts the brewery, but even as a standalone pub, it is worthy of a visit in its own right. Drinking space curves its way around the long bar, which has around a dozen handpulls dispensing both Castle Rock beers and guests. Craft beers are also well represented. A Vault City takeover had recently been held and there was another one from Kernel looming large. Boxed ciders are also available.
With plenty of staff on hand, service was fairly quick in the main. Hot snacks were also being served on my lunchtime visit.
Standard Castle Rock beers on were Harvest Pale, Elsie Mo, Screech Owl, Preservation & Our House. Also from Castle Rock were Door of the Cosmos & Just Can't Get Enough. Guest ales were Loud Shirt Like Clockwork, Turning Point Swim To The Moon & Light of the Elder, Lenton Lane Pale Moonlights & Pentrich Crimes In Citra.
Ciders were Weston's Old Rosie, Snail's Bank Rhubarb Cider, Torkard Floppy Tabs, Sneinton Fifth Element & Newton Court Original Farmhouse Scrumpy, whilst craft beers all from Vault City were Raspberry Blueberry Bubblegum Bottles, Maple Vanilla Choc Chip Stout, Even Cloudier Double Dry Hopped & Strawberry Supernova.
My first visit here in just over 5 years, this is quite possibly Nottingham city centre's best pub. It is well worth missing a train for!
On 14th November 2023
- rating: 9
[User has posted 3459 recommendations about 3457 pubs]
View more reviews of The Vat and Fiddle (26)
Nottingham 11.11.11 by Gill Smith
Nottingham's Brewing Highlights by Mark Davey
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- Official site of The Vat & Fiddle - www.castlerockbrewery.co.uk
- Facebook - Vat and Fiddle
- Twitter - VatandFiddle
- CAMRA WhatPub :: The Vat and Fiddle - whatpub.com
Netherfield, 3.67 miles, 1 hr 10 min walk (show)
Beeston, 3.78 miles, 1 hr 12 min walk (show)
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 14 November 2013 by Pub SignMan
- Bar Billiards : Yes last updated 12 November 2011 by David McNally
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 08 September 2023 by Will Larter
- Beer Garden : Yes last updated 08 September 2023 by Will Larter
- CAMRA Discount : No last updated 08 September 2023 by Will Larter
- Car Park : No last updated 18 July 2013 by Alan Winfield
- Child Friendly : Yes - Until 21.00. - last updated 26 November 2020 by Tris C
- Darts : Yes last updated 14 November 2013 by Pub SignMan
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 26 November 2020 by Tris C
- Function Room : Yes last updated 26 November 2020 by Tris C
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 18 July 2013 by Alan Winfield
- Live Music : Yes last updated 14 November 2013 by Pub SignMan
- Micropub : No last updated 02 October 2015 by ROB Camra
- Pinball : No last updated 14 November 2013 by Pub SignMan
- Pool Table : No last updated 14 November 2013 by Pub SignMan
- Quiz Night : Yes last updated 14 November 2013 by Pub SignMan
- Real Ale : Yes - Castle Rock brewery tap. - last updated 26 November 2020 by Tris C
- Real Cider : Yes - Bags in boxes - last updated 07 June 2025 by Will Larter
- WiFi : Yes last updated 26 November 2020 by Tris C
