The Peacock and another sunny beer garden was our next stop which was fine (although we just missed the Oakham ale I wanted) and then we found a nice spot sat on the upstairs terrace of the swish , home of the Derby Brewing Company. Now this tap house is evidently very new but the brewery has been going for nearly 10 years and is the baby of Trevor Harris who had previously retired from The Brunswick before being tempted back. I enjoyed my Quint Essential which weighed in at 5.8% and had very upfront citrusy flavours; just the sort of complex ale I had been looking for!
By this point, Derby was getting busy with quite a few folk clearly suffering from the heat, or from an afternoon session at the Beer Festival! We didn`t disturb the chap sleeping in the Old Silk Mill as we fought our way to the busy bar but were disappointed by the offerings. To be fair, they were fine but the blackboards boasted so much more. Apparently the Mill was having its own beer fest a week later and was keen to show about the wares it would be offering. From there we crossed the road to The Olde Dolphin Inne which, as the extra e`s hint, is Derby`s oldest boozer dating back to 1530. The Nottingham ale I had was very average (as was the selection) but the pub must be a fantastic haven in the Winter months with its warren of little rooms. As it was we endured the dirge from the band outside as long as we could (about 7 minutes) before staggering on to .
Appropriately situated on King Street, the Flower Pot was certainly my top trump of a day`s drinking in Derby. There was lots of choice of a range of ales, many of which were from the innovative breweries that I favour. The Flower Pot is home of Black Iris Brewery but I was tempted by the Raw ale before spying one of my favourites this year which was What Would Jephers Do? by Huddersfield`s Hand Drawn Monkey. A red ale with complex flavours was not to everyone`s taste but it hit the note for me. If only HDM`s beers appeared more often in Sheffield. I wish we could have stayed longer but it was a dash to a taxi to catch the train to the Steel City, England`s real ale capital . . . .!?
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