Seeking Out the Ales in Lager Land

Last Friday, in a moment of what I can only assume was passing madness, I decided to make a long overdue journey along the length of the Narborough Road and Braunstone Gate, Leicester, to see whether any of the bars along the route are quietly selling real ale…

The Narborough Road area is very much the social hub for students from the DeMonfort University, and has a prolific spread of trendy bars catering to the young and the cool; it also has a reputation as something of an ale desert (with the exception of the Black Horse, reviewed in my “Leicester Missions” entry, and the Pump & Tap – more on that later).

I kicked off with a visit to Loaf Bar & Restaurant, a pleasant venue with bar upstairs and restaurant downstairs, situated on the corner of Braunstone Gate and Western Boulevard.

The focus here is primarily on food and cocktails – though the wine list is pretty decent too. The bar has a solitary handpump dispensing Marston’s Pedigree, which I sampled and found to be in pretty good condition, though I suspect they may have lost their hop filter given the bits of hop flower floating around in my half!

Upon enquiring I was informed that the Pedigree is their permanent ale, which is a bit of a shame but perhaps not surprising – it makes sense for them to go with something they know will sell consistently and that most people will recognise … mind you, at £2.80 a pint it’s not somewhere I’d be keen to drink unless I happened to be out for a meal.

This is a pleasant little place, with a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. The decor is pleasant and suits the ambience of the place – it’s easy to see why it’s so popular.

It had been my intention to move on from here to the George Mason, a two-tiered bar and restaurant next door to Loaf with a reputation for decent, contemporary live music, however since losing their chef the place has been closed for the last week or so.

This place started selling real ale from 2 handpumps in October last year – originally dispensing Grainstore Cooking and Timothy Taylor Landlord, however peering through the barred doors revealed only one handpump with a pump clip, and that sadly turned out to be Hardy & Hanson (GK) Best Bitter.

I will be popping in here the next time I’m down the Narb’ and will reserve judgement until then…

With the George Mason out of the picture I decided to cross the road and see what the O Bar had to offer.

This 2 storey pub, part of the small Orange Tree chain (pubs in Leicester, Loughborough and Nottingham), is another with a strong cocktail focus – however they also offer a selection of the more commercial draught continental beers (Becks Vier, Starapromen, Leffe etc) plus a draught

kriek (Belle Vue), one real cider and one guest ale, both of which are on rotation.

On my visit the ale option was Caledonian Deuchars IPA, and although the dispense was a little warm the beer itself was on good form, nice and clear and served without a sparkler – something of a rarity in this part of town!

The pub itself is open plan on the ground floor, with comfortable seating and the kind of décor that the younger, student set seem to go for. Upstairs are the (rather nice) toilet facilities and more comfortable seating. The upper floor is divided into two rooms with the usual sofas, seats and tables that have become de rigeur for places like this.

The pub has Happy Hour prices on their cocktails every day from open ‘til 8pm, and if that’s not enough to get the students tanked up they can apply for a free loyalty card which extends this pricing strategy to cover all hours of business – so nice to see another place doing its bit to encourage responsible drinking eh?!

From the O bar I decided it was time to move off the Braunstone Gate and venture further up the Narborough, into the territory which I had always regarded as a real ale wasteland.

As it stands, “wasteland” is perhaps a little strong – there are actually a couple of places up here offering options for the ale drinker, but don’t expect anything too exciting and be prepared to run away if necessary...

First on the list was the Nine Bar, perhaps the dodgiest name for a pub that I’ve come across in a long time. Situated on the Narborough Road itself, this place used to have a slightly dubious reputation, although I believe that things have been turned around somewhat.

The building comprises a ground floor bar with seating area looking on to the street, decorated with urban art by local artists – plenty of graffiti and ghetto influence here – with the bar done out quite strikingly in a matt silver, a theme followed on the swan neck clips; no instant brand recognition here, you actually have to look and read.

As with most of the bars in this area there are some of the “trendier” common lagers available (Becks, Kronenbourg and San Miguel) plus a range of cocktails and selected continental bottled beers.

There is also an underground area accessible from the bar via stairs. This houses pool tables and plays host to dj’s and the like at weekends. Outside is a cordoned area with covered seating for the smoking community.

Sadly the only ale on offer here is Pedigree again, and this is a permanent fixture. I sampled a swift half, dispensed through a sparkler, and found the condition to be average and a little warm.

At £2.60 a pint this place is a fair bit cheaper than Loaf, but the beer condition isn’t as good and the surroundings are somewhat less conducive to a pleasant drinking session. Of the two I know where I’d sooner be.

Leaving Nine Bar I made my way up to the outermost pub on my itinerary, the Huntsman, situated a fair way up the Narborough.

Part of the Trust Inns chain, this managed house is a very traditional boozer frequented primarily by the more rough and ready lager drinking blokes in the area – think petty criminals and tattoos basically. The pub sits on a slight rise, set back from the road. This gives it a similar aspect to the Bates Motel in Psycho – only somewhat more menacing...

The décor is very sparse and a little tired; I don’t think there’s been a refurbishment here in a long time. The interior layout hasn’t been messed around with anywhere near as much as so many other pubs – if it wasn’t such a rough place there’d be massive potential here. Naturally there’s a pool table, darts, gambling machines and Sky Sports, plus the usual commercial lager options – everything that the typical drinker in here could possibly want!

It’s certainly not somewhere I’d feel comfortable drinking in the evening, or over a weekend - it’s easy to imagine the icy silence that would descend on the place if I walked in on a busy night; we’ve all seen those classic moments in the western movies – however fortunately this was the middle of a Friday afternoon and, although there was a contingent of loud and rather unsavoury looking types drinking here, they were all sat outside while I had gone with the indoor option.

Although this really isn’t my kind of drinking establishment the bar man proved a very friendly, chatty individual and I had a very pleasant conversation with him.

Beer options were limited to Tetley Bitter and Theakston’s Mild, both of which are from keg rather than cask. Despite my strong reservations on the keg ale subject, I nevertheless sampled the Theakston’s and found it drinkable enough – for all it’s faults, this pub does at least keep clean lines.

Finishing my beer I decided it was time to head back down and finish my roaming with a visit to the Pump & Tap, situated just off Braunstone Gate on Duns Lane.

This is a pleasant little place, set on its own and backing onto the arches of the Great Central Railway. The pub is split into 2 rooms which run parallel to one another, with a small, central bar serving both sides.

Refurbished a couple of years ago, the interior décor is tasteful and quite modern, with flat screen tv’s showing sports as required or pleasant screen savers (tropical fish for example). The ubiquitous sofas make an appearance here too.

To the rear is a well sized beer garden, partially set beneath the arches, which ensures you can stay dry even in the rain. The beer garden is laid out on wooden decking, with a large fish tank containing gold fish set in the middle. Suspended from the ceiling of the arch is brewing equipment – a nice touch.

As with the other pubs in the area, the range here is not overly exciting and sourced from the bigger breweries. Four handpumps are available, with three “core” beers and a rotating guest. On my visit I found the core range (Greene King IPA and Abbot plus St. Austell Tribute) with the guest taking the form of Deuchars IPA.

Faced with this uninspiring selection I opted for the St. Austell, which I found to be in reasonable condition albeit rather on the warm side. Prices were again a little on the high side at £2.60, although a large glass of pepsi (best part of a pint) set me back a mere £1.35.

The Pump enjoys a very strong following amongst the more mature live music fans, both for the music nights that it hosts itself and as a pre-gig venue for events at the Music Café across the road.

Sadly the future of the pub, and the railway bridge behind it, are under serious threat due to planned demolition and redevelopment. Despite an ongoing petition it appears pretty much a certainty that the pub will soon close.

Finishing my beer I shouldered my rucksack and set off for home, reflecting on my findings during the course of the afternoon.

It had certainly been an interesting little foray, and reasonably productive; one thing is for certain though: there may be a couple of places on and around the Narborough Road dispensing real ales but, frankly, if you’re either a serious ale fan or a scooper there’s nothing to tempt you. Why bother wasting your money on overpriced, mass produced commercial rubbish when we have so many truly fine ale houses within the city centre?

Pan-C

Taking it Up the Brum

Upon being offered a thirteen quid return to Birmingham from Peterborough with the only condition being that the day was to be spent in various drinking establishments I developed a rather broad grin. You see I am not built as other women; and although the shiny plate glass windows of Selfridges hold much allure they cannot compete with a tour of those fine midlands pubs which I hold in my heart so dear.

And so it was; off I went with a provisional list of watering holes composed from the GBG and various websites of up and coming delights coupled with a fire in my loins that only the promise of good ale can ignite…

Once we had fought our way out of the concrete horror that is New Street Station we emerged into glorious sunshine which only served to increase our by now mad thirst, and it was decided that the first port of call had to be the recently refurbished Lord Cliften in the Jewellery Quarter.

Now I have only heard amazingly good things said about this place, and the way it shot directly into the top five on Beer In The Evening got my senses prickling but I was rather suspicious about how genuine some of these reviews actually were. The only way to clarify how hot this pub actually is was to give it a shot which we duly did, and boy was it worth seeing.

The tone is set right from the outset – modern artworks mixed with faux pub tradition – large solid wooden tables sit alongside small coppertops, stools are upholstered in alternative patterns of tapestry and cowhide, and above the bar in the larger second room are shelves heaving with assorted vinyl records. The works displayed on the walls (and floor!) are as political and thought provoking as you’d expect, and time does really need to be taken to appreciate the whole venue.

On our visit it was nice and bustling, not too packed and seats were readily available to our party. More importantly we had four handpumps giving us the selection of Wye Valley Butty Bach, HPA, Rapid Ale and Bathams Best Bitter.

I heartily supped down two pints of the Rapid and found the condition to be absolutely superb, coupled with friendly smiling staff whom proffered copies of their CAMRA publication Out Inn Brum and upon our time to depart helpfully called us a taxi which arrived in minutes.

It appears that everything being said about this place is spot on – I really cannot think of a single fault to bring them down in my opinion. All in all an absolute must do for anybody imbibing in the city, trust me!

Next on our itinerary was a pub I have had the good fortune to visit on several previous occasions, and a well known tickers paradise – The Anchor Inn, Digbeth.

A ten minute cab ride took us to this National Inventory pub which had just finished what appeared to be a rather fabulous beer festival two weeks ago. After perusing the list and checking out what I had missed I settled on two halves – Great Newsome Anniversary Ale and Ironbridge Coracle Bitter, the latter brewery I believe to be quite a new edition to the micro scene.

Although this is a lovely traditional boozer in every sense, I have to admit I wasn’t all too convinced on the condition of some of the ales sampled during our visit; one of mine was just a little tired and was almost certainly past its best, and hazy glasses and clumpy heads were a bit of a recurrence unfortunately.


I’m guessing that we were literally clearing up the dregs left from the fest – checking the beer menu against the blackboard seemed to confirm this – but that said, the atmosphere and beer selection was agreeable enough to keep us here for well over an hour and a half, and once more a taxi arrived promptly after a swift call from a member of the bar staff.

Overall I’m pretty certain that we just hit this place at the wrong time and that the problems we encountered were only a minor blip in what I believe to be a proper ale house. Worth adding to your list.

At this point my belly was beginning to develop that full-of-liquid sloshy feeling and seeking out food became the order of the hour. Needless to say the cheapest, most effective way for us to get some nosh on board and continue our sampling was to hit the nearest McSpoons for some carb-based ballast, hence our next stop off point – The Briar Rose, city centre.

I don’t intend to dwell too much on this place as it is just your usual basic JD Wetherspoon affair; always heaving, tables being cleared at a snails pace and a three mile trek upstairs/downstairs to visit the toilets.

Maybe the competition from the Welly a few doors up had influenced the ale range a little (a tadge more adventurous than the usual nationals/token local micro setup), but really the sort of pub you can experience in any town or city up and down the country.

I tried the Original Plum brewed by Browar Namyslow, Poland.

By this point I was seriously slowing up on the consumption front and the last Brum pub for the day lay a few steps up the hill ahead of me…

Ah, The Wellington; I have a confession to make - I really dislike this place. I just don’t get it. Nice stone exterior – good. Basic internal décor combined with ample seating – average. Fifteen handpumps and beers available clearly displayed on a flatscreen above the bar area – genius….. So why do I feel nothing but gloomy when I enter this public house?

I think it’s a combination of the fact that unless you are a proper bona fide regular you will be served in the most cold icy manner possible, coupled with ordering your beer by number (conveyor belt imbibing, anyone?) and the overall unfriendliness that hangs in the air. Even the bloody cat was aloof and ignored me!

We stood uncomfortably for almost an hour watching the suits pile in for their first pints of the weekend as we supped our halves and made our scratchy notes. I avoided the Fullers London Pride (!) and needless to say opted for beers by Derby Brewing Co. and Tower instead.

At this point our time in the big city was coming to an end and we shipped out and weaved our way through the shoppers and office workers back to the concrete confusion of the station and our East Midlands tiny train.

Chatter en route home revealed that all in all everyone in our party had had an exceedingly enjoyable jaunt out; and on the whole the beers had proved exceptional. I just wish we had done the crawl the opposite way around – we did visit the best pub first, and the Welly was a bit of a soul sapping experience to end on I have to say.

I still love Birmingham; always have done, always will…

Beer Monster

Far from the Madding Crowd – Sojourns in Stamford

For any lover of Real Ale there can be few places in the country more attractive than the area around Stamford, Lincolnshire. Over the weekend I had the pleasure of visiting this beautiful, historic town and checking out several of its excellent ale houses; what follows is a far from complete survey – there are many more pubs I’ve yet to get to!

Accompanied by the Beer Monster we kicked off with a swift half in the Toreador, a cellar bar situated on Broad Street, beneath the Stamford Corn Exchange.

This is an odd little place, primarily catering to the younger generation and popular as a pre-club venue from Wednesday night onwards, and a glance at the bar reveals the usual suspects of lagers / ciders / alcopops / spirits - however the bar also sports 4 handpumps dispensing real ale.

Sadly on our visit (a Friday afternoon) only two were in use, offering a choice of Courage Directors or John Smiths Bitter. Needless to say we both opted for the Directors, and found the condition and dispense to be good – despite the fact that we were both served in Kronenbourg 1664 glasses!

For those who enjoy such amenities the Toreador also offers a pool table and fruit machines, and on Friday and Saturday night the venue also boasts dj’s playing a mixture of chart, house and r&b.

This is a bar with a lot of potential – the open plan layout works well, the place is well lit and tastefully furnished with leather seats and tables … it’s just a shame the ale range was so limited!

From the Toreador it was onwards to the Otters Pocket on All Saint’s Street, a slightly more down to earth establishment popular primarily with sports – and particularly rugby – fans.

Aside from the dodgy name (google it for a giggle if you’re not too easily offended!), this really isn’t my kind of venue – the wall sports a large mosaic Union Jack, every conceivable surface is adorned with sport related material and they even have flat screen televisions installed by the urinal in the gents!

Determined not to be put off by the less than congenial surroundings we nevertheless sat down to sample the beer quality, inspired by the six (albeit not overly exciting) real ales available at the bar.

Of the 2 halves we tried I found the Oakham Bishops Farewell to be in reasonable condition, though a little on the tired side. Unfortunately I had opted for Hop Back Summer Lightning which was very much past its prime; as a result well over a quarter pint was chucked away.

I’d have to say, of all the Stamford pubs I’ve been to, the ‘Pocket is by far and away the poorest for atmosphere and beer quality; having said that, the pub does a roaring trade with the sports contingent and probably couldn’t care less what I think.

It’s just a shame that with six real ales on offer they don’t take more care of their cellar…

Feeling the need for a change of scenery we set off for our next destination, the White Swan on Scotgate.

Formerly the Punch Bowl, this place used to have a mixed reputation for its ale quality. The pub has now changed hands, and the current licensee seems to be keeping a good cellar and offering some brews from micros as well as the nationals.

The pub itself is a fairly traditional affair, well lit and comfortable with stripped floors, neutral colour scheme and a general air of tastefulness. The small bar is situated to the front of the building, while the rear is taken up with seating and a separate area with a pool table.

We found 5 handpumps on the bar, of which one was dedicated to Weston’s Old Rosie cider. The remainder comprised Springhead Bitter, Oakham Bishops Farewell, Greene King Abbot Ale and Milestone's North Rock. Sadly the North Rock had just gone, so we both opted for the Springhead which we found to be in excellent condition and well dispensed.

It’s also worth mentioning the very friendly and outgoing chap who served us – the son of the current licensee – who was happy to talk to us about the pub and the changes that they’ve introduced to the place.

I wish the team here every success with the pub, and hope to watch the place go from strength to strength over future visits.

Thanking our host for his time we polished off our ale and made our way to the next port of call, the Tobie Norris on St. Paul’s Street – the real gem at the heart of Stamford’s real ale scene in my opinion.

An Ufford house (one of five in their estate), the Tobie Norris is an excellent example of a restoration project undertaken properly.

From the moment you enter the wonderful stone building you get a real sense of history and would be forgiven for thinking that the pub has been open for centuries - it hasn't, in fact it's just coming up on two years since the doors opened to the public.

Comprising three floors, each historically restored and furnished in keeping with the character of the building, it's easy to see why owner Michael Thurlby has just received the CAMRA award for Best Conversion to Pub Use.

In addition to the beautiful building, the Tobie also has a strong focus on micro beers, and has recently held a very successful beer festival which I was fortunate enough to attend. The condition of the beers available from the bar has always been tip top in my experience.

There has been some criticism of the pricing of the beer here, with some locals feeling that around £3 a pint is too high; all I can say is I have no objection to paying a small premium for the privilege of drinking in such a wonderful environment - especially as it discourages the less salubrious end of the market from frequenting the pub!

Finally a comment about the staff and management; on every visit I have found them to be genuinely friendly, courteous and helpful - always a bonus!

After some discussion (and several halves) we decided that our next target would be the Jolly Brewer, located on Foundry Road.

A fairly basic pub in terms of decor, though nicely light and spacious, with pool and darts facilities, this unassuming establishment has a lot to offer the serious ale drinker; up to 4 draught ales from some great breweries kept in tip top condition and served with a smile by the friendly staff.

I'm informed that the pub is tied to Admiral, which makes the achievement of the current licensees and their dedication to Real Ale all the more admirable (no pun intended!).

On our visit we sampled Black Abbott and Sod, both from Idle, along with Milestone's Classic Dark Mild; condition and dispense were excellent for them all.

The pub also held their first Beer Festival in May, which the Beer Monster reliably informs me proved to be a great success with 15 micro ales on stillage and another 4 on the handpumps.

In addition to the beer, the pub also offers a range of hearty meals which I’m told combine quality food with real value for money.

The current licensees deserve real credit for what they’re doing with the pub, and it is to be hoped they will continue to receive the loyal support of the discerning Stamford drinkers.

As the day was drawing to a close and we were reliant upon public transport we decided that we had time for one more pub. Our choice seemed fairly obvious, the Green Man – by reputation the finest Real Ale pub in Stamford, and a place which I hoped would impress me rather more on this occasion than it had previously.

A traditional boozer, the Man offers up to 8 real ales on handpull, with microbreweries being very much the order of the day. Effectively L-shaped, there is a long narrow bar to the front of the building with additional seating / bar running up the side. To the rear is a large beer garden which also plays host to the regular beer festivals which the pub holds.

Although held in high esteem locally for its range and quality of ales, I have visited this place 3 times now and have yet to be wowed; on my previous visits I have found only limited micro options, with the condition of what has been available at best passable and at worst unfit for sale.

Sadly on this occasion things didn’t go much better; 4 ales were available – Fullers ESB and Summer Ale, Fernandes Triple O and Wentworth XII Challenge. Opting for the Wentworth, I was dismayed to find that the beer had turned and was undrinkable. My dismay only deepened when, having replaced it with an ESB, the barmaid left the beer on with the clear intention of selling it.

As on previous occasions we stayed for one drink and left, disappointed.

Though the Man had proved a let down once more, we boarded the bus home in high spirits and well satisfied with our day - and planning our itinerary for the following afternoon!

All things considered, Stamford is a fantastic place for a real ale odyssey; as I mentioned at the start of this entry, I’ve only begun to scratch the surface of the pubs the town has to offer and I’m looking forward eagerly to my next visit…

Pan-C

Leicester Missions - Four Hours, Six Pubs

I'd been looking forward to the Dark Star tour myself until recently, however a change in the date of the visit meant that I was sadly unable to attend thanks to the very inconvenient timing of my sister's wedding - seriously, some people just have no consideration!

Finding myself thus encumbered with the role of Usher while my cohorts were merrily quaffing it off, I set to work planning some small personal compensation in the form of a mini crawl around my native Leicester. Fortunately I had the Beer Monster with me, so quality company was not going to be an issue...

Having made it through the pre-wedding dinner on Friday night, the wedding and subsequent reception on Saturday - a delightful affair despite the fact that the hotel had run out of their only ale (Theakston's Best Bitter) and no one had been down to the cellar to replace it, with the result that we ended up consuming a truly vast quantity of Hardy's Stamp Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon - and the post-wedding barbeque the following day, we returned to Leicester late on the Sunday afternoon and decided that, realistically, any attempt at hitting the town that night was likely to result in two people falling asleep in their beer. Accordingly we decided to get some solid shut eye and gird ourselves for the following day.

As it transpired, the weekend's emotional and physical excesses had drained the pair of us more than we'd realised. As a result a large chunk of Monday had elapsed before we roused ourselves from our slumber and we ventured out, bleary eyed, to greet the rather grey and overcast world...

After lining our stomachs with burgers from my local TJ's Burgers & Kebabs (damn fine chilli sauce!) we finally reached our first pub, the Black Horse on Braunstone Gate at approximately 6pm - rather unfortunate since we needed to back home for 10.45 and the start of the Apprentice special!

This Everards pub is a classic victorian boozer, divided by the bar into two seperate drinking areas; from the front door you enter the lounge area, with comfortable seating and tables. This area is also used for live bands at weekends, the pub being a haven for blues-based bands. The rear bar, which is much more of a traditional drinking area, can be accessed from the lounge or directly from the street via a side entrance. This bar is popular with the older regulars, is much smaller than the lounge and generally has more of an atmosphere.

Although a managed house, the licensee has a strong commitment to real ale and offers up to four guest ales on handpump selected from the Everard's Old English Ale Club in addition to the usual Everards range, plus guests sourced from Brunswick Brewery, which was bought out by Everards in 2002. The pub also offers Carling and Kronenbourg 1664 for the lager massive and Westons Old Rosie from handpump for the battery acid heads.

On our visit we found Gold from the Purity brewery alongside Marston's Merrie Monk and Brunswick Gaffer's Gold on offer; all three were sampled, and the condition was found to be good but let down slightly by temperature. Both the Monk and the Gaffer's were rather warmer than one would hope, while the Gold suffered the reverse and was rather to cold - evidently there are some problems with the ambient temperature in the cellar here.

Nevertheless, the Black Horse is well worth a visit; the commitment of the landlord to real ale can only be applauded, and temperature issues aside you are always guaranteed a decent pint of something worth drinking in here. The bar maid is very friendly and helpful, and this is now the only traditional pub in an area overrun by soulless modern bars.

Departing from the Black Horse we made our way a short distance up the road to the Western on Western Boulevard - formerly one of the more rough and ready inclusions within the Everards portfolio, recently bought up by the Steamin' Billy Brewing Co. and now a fully renovated and refurbished up market establishment.

Situated on the corner of Western Boulevard, this imposing red brick pub is divided into two large rooms, both accessible from the front door. Turning right takes you into the main bar, which itself comprises two distinct areas. This area is furnished with comfortable seating and tables, and is light, airy and spacious.

Turning left through the front door takes you into the larger of the two rooms, comprising a bar and dining area furnished with dark wood tables and chairs. The pub offers a tempting menu of bar snacks, light bites and pub grub along with traditional Italian style pizzas, although we didn't dine there on this occasion.

Both rooms are decorated with eye catching breweriana, though for my taste the layout is a little too clinical - I like things a little more organic in their arrangement, but that's just nit-picking really!

We decided to do our drinking in the front bar, and were pleased with the selection of four ales on offer - two Steamin' Billys, a Leeds Brewery and a Leatherbritches; after brief deliberation we opted to sample the Leatherbritches Dr. Johnson's and the Steamin' Billy Billy Porter. Both were found to be in very good condition, although the dispense was a litlle on the cold side.

The transformation which the Steamin' Billy team have worked on this place is quite remarkable - in its former days it was very much a pub of ill reputation, and it is quite unrecognisable now; the hilariously ghetto car on the other side of the street gives a fairly good idea of the kind of area it is!

I was delighted to learn that there will be a beer festival taking place at the pub over the weekend, commencing Thursday and ending on Sunday ... needless to say, I will be there and will post on it shortly afterwards.

After finishing our drinks at the Western we made our way up through the DeMontfort University to the Leicester Gateway, part of the Castle Rock estate situated on Gateway Street.

If you can get past the less than inspiring exterior the inside of the pub is quite pleasant; formerly a hosiery factory, this single room, open plan drinking establishment with its pool table, jukebox, low cost food and range of draught continental lagers now caters primarily to the student market. Luckily for us though this was a Monday night and, as a reult, we were able to enjoy the place in relative peace and quiet.

An impressively long bar offers nine handpumps, of which one is dedicated to Westons Old Rosie; of the remaining eight we found the ale range a little limited on our visit, though I'm given to understand that there are usually more micro brews on offer.

Faced with a choice of seven nationals inluding Banks's Bitter, Caledonian Deuchars IPA, Shepherd Neame Spitfire and Marston's Pedigree with one micro option in the form of Overture from Spire Brewery it wasn't a difficult choice - we bought in the Spire and took a seat.

As we were feeling a little peckish by this point we opted for a £2 bowl of chips, which I have to say were very good and a generous portion to boot. It being a rather quiet evening the bar man charged up the jukebox and then informed us there were fifteen free plays and to help ourselves - he may have come to regret this given that I found a tasty selection of early 90's Old Skool to get my teeth into!

Although we spent only a short time in here, and despite the lack of excitement ale-wise, I still found myself pleasantly surprised by the Gateway; the ale was well kept and the dispense good - the bar man had no qualms about removing the sparkler, and the atmosphere was very pleasant.

I'd certainly recommend a stop here for anyone doing a real ale crawl around the city - and if you can time it when the students aren't around so much the better!

From the Gateway it was a short stroll around the corner to the Swan & Rushes on the corner of Infirmary Square, and a pub for which I have a great deal of admiration.

Divided into two distinct rooms, the Swan comprises a main 'L' shaped bar area and smaller lounge, with both rooms served from the same central bar. The lounge is used to host live music

on Saturday nights (usually blues-based) and is also frequented by the Leicester Ultimate Frisbee team. To the rear of the building is a small courtyard / beer garden which also houses the stillage and external bar at the beer festivals which the pub regularly holds.

The Swan is held in high regard by local ale afficionados on two counts, firstly for it's consistently excellent quality of real ale and secondly for its extensive range of bottled foreign beers, which includes german kolsches, bocks, dunkels, rauchbieres and the occasional altbiere alongside Belgian Abbaye and Trappiste brews and a good range of lambics. The pub also stocks a selection of American bottled craft beers, Czech Budvar, Polish Tyskie and Thatchers single varietal bottled ciders.

Those with an eye for breweriana will notice that the emphasis here is on Belgian material, particularly lambic and Orval, for which the owner is one of the UK ambassadors - there's certainly a lot in here to take in!

Complementing the extensive bottled range the Swan also offers twelve handpumps dedicated to real ale, although some of these share the same barrel. In addition to pub stalwarts JHB and Bishops Farewell from Oakham Ales you will usually find either Bateman's XB or Samuel Smiths Old Brewery Bitter and up to six guest ales - strictly no nationals.

For those with a taste for draught lager there is a choice of Amstel or Heineken Export or, for those of a more adventurous palate Het Anker's Margriet and a choice of Lefebvre's Blanche de Bruxelles or Babar is also available from the tap. Draught cider lovers have a choice too with either Samuel Smiths Cider Reserve or a 6-8% battery acid option available from the cellar.

During our visit we sampled Newton's Drop from Oldershaw and Inclined Plane from the Langton Brewery. As anticipated both were in tip top condition and served at optimum temperature.

Unlike most city pubs, the Swan & Rushes has no jukebox, fruit machines or pool table - although there is a much loved and well used bar billiards table. It's a measure of the care and attention given to the beer that vinegar is not used or permitted in the pub!

Finishing our ales we left the Swan and walked the short distance up the road to her former sister pub the Criterion, situated on the corner of Millstone Lane.

You might be forgiven for thinking, based on outside appearance, that this is a rather rough and ready pub; the reality however could not be further from the truth, and a trip inside is well worth the effort.

Divided into two rooms, each with its own bar, the Cretin as it's affectionately known draws a broad mix of people from all walks of life. The basic, wooden floored front bar contains a dart board, hosts regular live (and quite heavy) music and is often closed to the public for private bookings, monthly CAMRA meetings and suchlike.

The carpeted and more comfortable lounge bar is popular with students and professionals alike and houses the pub's jukebox; a tendency towards rock and alternative within the playlist reflects the establishments strong ties to this demographic - the pub is just around the corner from Leicester's leading alternative venue The Charlotte and is a popular pre-gig venue. In terms of decor and fittings, the pub offers traditional dark wood tables, cushioned pew-type seats and stools and is pleasantly decked out with a similar range of breweriana to the Swan - a legacy of the former owner.

On our visit we found a selection of seven real ales on offer - two from the Rugby Brewing Co. who now own the pub, two from Oakham Ales and one apiece from Dark Star, Rudgate and Coastal. In addition to the real ales there are ever changing draught german and belgian beers, a draught cider and usually a real cider to boot - plus a solid selection of bottled foreign beers which almost rivals that of the Swan & Rushes.

The Criterion also hosts regular, themed beer festivals which are usually well worth a visit.

We decided to stay for a couple here, sampling Rugby Cement, Dark Star Mild for May and Oakham Inferno. All were found to be in good form and served at the correct temperature, which I was pleased to find; there have been some problems with conditioning here recently, however it looks as though these may have been resolved.

Food is served at the Criterion, however the pub is best known for its stonebaked Italian style pizzas; sadly these are not available on Monday evenings, but from previous experience they're certainly well worth trying and are exceedingly well priced.

Having finished our beers off we decided there was just enough time remaining for us to hit one more pub, so it was up and off again, this time roughly twenty five yards down the road to the Rutland & Derby - one the new school of Everards pubs.

Until a couple of years ago the Rutland was a very seedy boozer, catering to the less salubrious town centre drinkers; a massive refit and refurbishment has transformed the place into a very trendy drinking establishment. The large, heated courtyard to the rear has seating for a sizeable number of people and makes the pub a popular destination in winter and summer alike.

As a rule this is a venue I tend to avoid, catering as it does primarily to the younger crowd of Up Fer It types - a fact reflected by the strong range of chilled continental lagers and fruit beers available on draught (including krieks and frambozens). There's also a very impressive selection of spirits on the backbar counter - the pub offers cocktails, shooters and all those blended concoctions the kids go crazy for, and as a result is usually heaving from Wednesday night onwards.

On my previous visits I've found the range of real ale rather limited - the usual Everards brews and a selection of nationals such as Greene King IPA and Old Speckled Hen; on this occassion however there were two offerings from the Titanic brewery available and a special, one off ale, brewed by the licensee himself (I'm assuming this was brewed at the Brunswick brewery, though I can't be sure).

Time was very much against us by this point, however we stayed long enough to try this interesting little find (David's Coppernob, 4.5%) and found the beer to be in surprisingly good condition - in my previous experience line cleanliness and beer conditioning has left a fair bit to be desired, however it seems that the current licensee knows how to run a cellar.

I'll certainly be popping back in here again, though as with the Gateway, serious real ale fans may find it better to visit during the day or early in the week.

All in all then a successful mission ... and we made it back in time for the Apprentice!

Pan-C