Burton Pub Crawl

Second Time Lucky for the Oxford Beer Festival Helpers Trip...

Back in February the weather beat us and the Oxford CAMRA bus couldn't make the trip up the snowy M40.  We weren't exactly basking in glorious Spring conditions this time around, but just after midday the coach disgorged 50 beer festival helpers and associates, armed with maps, lists of pubs and eager to explore this iconic Staffordshire brewing town.

First port of call on my list was the Coopers Tavern (43 Cross Street, DE14 1EG).
This is a Heritage Listed pub, attractive both inside and out and serving a cracking choice of ales to start the day.
I so wanted to be sat on the great high bench seating in the serving room at the back of the pub, but being slow off the bus saw us well and truly beaten - best seats taken and a queue to be served.

The pubs near the station were proving popular with football fans as Bolton Wanderers arrived to play Burton Albion in a relegation six-pointer.  We declared the Last Heretic micro-pub as being far too busy and called in, a few doors up the road, to the Roebuck Inn (101 Station Street, DE14 1BT).
This was effectively the Ind Coope brewery tap for many a year and Draught Bass was launched here in 1976.  So only fit and proper, I thought, to sample the Bass here - I guess reading the blog of Retired Martin has affected me and I've being unwittingly lured to the red triangle.
The Roebuck is a single-roomed locals pub, busy with folks watching a dull 0-0 Liverpool-Stoke draw on several TVs and a good 'proper' town pub.

The next destination involved doubling-back upon ourselves and skirting the shopping area to get to The Fuggle and Nugget (81 High Street, DE14 1LD). 

The last incarnation of this terraced shop unit was a hairdressers, before it was converted to a micro-pub in 2015.
With no bar, the beer choice is on a blackboard and the friendly owners will take your order and pour the beers from the stillage in a small side room.
I opted for 'Easy', red ale from Derbyshire brewer Abstrakt Jungle, from a choice of four beers.
Kudos for one of the smartest displays of pump-clips decorating the walls that I've seen - impeccably grouped by brewery by someone who's possibly got too much time on their hands.

We called into the bar of The National Brewery Centre (Horninglow Street, DE14 1NG) - due to it being one of the few pubs on our list that served food.
Rather disconcertingly there was a wedding party in attendance who were all packing the bar on our arrival.  Now, I don't begrudge people getting married, but a wedding party in a pub is possibly worse than a gaggle of children over-energised by one-too-many Robinson's fruit shoots.  Too many smartly dressed people making me feel like I'd somehow crept in in my scruffy attire, breaching the dress-code.  
We had to stay as I was lectured that a pint of Bass was not a suitable substitute for lunch and if I didn't eat I'd make myself poorly.  Which is, of course, absolutely true.

The bar is housed in what were once the engineering, craft and maintenance workshops of the Bass Brewery.  Beers here come from the Heritage Brewing Company, a 25 barrel brewery built within the National Brewery Museum and recreating beers from the past.  I tried a 5.6% IPA called 'Masterpiece' which was fantastic.

Next up was the Alfred (51 Derby Street, DE14 2LD) for some Burton Bridge Brewery ales.

The mid-terrace pub dates back to the 1860s.  A central bar serves two separate rooms, plus there is an interesting little room behind the bar, but I'm guessing the cardboard boxes stacked on the seats back there meant the landlord didn't want us sitting there.  A tasty 'Festival Ale', a 5.5% XL mild was my chosen tipple in the Alfred.

The Old Cottage Tavern (36 Byrkley Street, DE14 2EG) was, in my humble opinion, a bit of a back-street gem.  It consisted of three rooms - a front bar busy with dogs, a cosy snug to the side and a basic wood-panelled lounge to the rear.  We settled in the latter, watching the football scores come in on the TV, where the landlady joined us for updates on the fate of Burton Albion.  They achieved a cracking 2-0 win over Bolton, but a Barnsley victory meant relegation places would be decided on the final day of the season a week later.

Four beers on the bar came from Burton Old Cottage brewery - I plumped for the 'Oak', a 4% copper ale before being drawn towards  'Dual Diamond', a recreation of a fearsome brew from the past.  The 3.6% keg Ind Coope 'Double Diamond' represented everything that CAMRA was founded to fight against.  But this is brewed to the stronger, full-bodied bottle receipe that preceded the keg version.  I'm still not sure I actually liked it, but it was good for novelty value and historical intrigue.

Two more 'micro's' to try then.  The first of these was the Weighbridge Inn (Grain Warehouse Yard, Derby Street, DE14 2JJ).

The pub is in what was once the coal yard offices and has been serving up drinks since 2015.  It doesn't fit into my definition of a micro.  Rather, it's a small bar.  They have lager drinking regulars, a spirits shelf and 'prosecco for £4.20'.  The location is full of quirky character, with two small rooms to drink in.
I had a nice pale ale brewed by Old Sawley from Long Eaton, across in Nottinghamshire.  Skipped the prosecco this time.

Next up was a visit to the Last Heretic (95 Station Street, DE14 1BT).  It was still busy, with a few football fans back from the ground proclaiming today's match to be the best of the season.  Beers and ciders are served from a small tap room, through a glass door behind the bar.

Troublesome characters heading into the Last Heretic micro

We put £1 in the charity tin for a Habanero and Scotch Bonnet pickled onion, which came with an animated, enthusiastic warning from the barman that they're hot as hell.  As half the bar heard that, I found myself the unwanted centre of attention for a brief moment as I tackled it.  Lovely.  No  embarrassment of it being too hot in front of an audience.  And all for charity.  

Micropub life in Burton-on-Trent

Just time before the end of the day for a swift couple of halves in the Devonshire Arms (86 Station Street, DE14 1BT).  It was a bit of a flying visit here, with two final beers from Burton Bridge and Morton Brewery to set me up for the trip home.  

Burton was great.  It's got more good pubs than I could get around in a day.  I want to come back and drink more Bass.

Best of luck for Burton Albion staying in the Championship.  And a big thank you to the important folk at Oxford CAMRA who arranged this trip (twice!).