local beer festivals and events - see page 20 - Nottingham CAMRA

page 10Caythorpe BreweryThe Caythorpe Brewery stands behind the Black Horse pub in the quiet village of Caythorpe.Geoff and Pam Slack have been brewing quality ales there since May 1997, such as their twosplendid bitters Cocker Beck and Dover Beck, both named after local streams.Geoff was a brewery engineer and worked at Home Brewery until its closure. His skills at thistrade were demonstrated by the clever way in which he fitted the two and a half barrel brewingplant into the tiny building attached to the rear of the pub, it really is a work of art.However, Pam and Geoff have now decided to take life a little easier, and are retiring fromthe brewery. They are going to be greatly missed, not only for the quality of their beers butalso for their friendly and helpful attitude. We at Nottingham CAMRA are particularlyappreciative of the help and support they have given us over the past eight years, particularlyin the supply of beer to our festivals. I am sure that everyone, customers and publicans alike,will join us in wishing them all the best for a longandenjoyable retirement.The Black Horse, CaythorpeThe CaythorpeBreweryAs we went to press, Geoff and Pam were quietly optimistic that thebrewery will continue under a new owner. Discussions were at anadvanced stage and if successful would mean that the brewery wouldremain at its present site with Geoff teaching the potential new ownerhow to brew on his lovingly constructed brewing kit. Let’s hope thattalks are successful as it would be a shame to lose this splendid littlebrewery.The Ravenous DrinkerIn common with the majority of beer drinkers I love spicy food,particularly after a few pints of decent ale. It is unfortunate thoughthat most restaurants only want to serve you overpriced bottles ofthin fizzy liquid, usually brewed in the UK but pretending it has comefrom somewhere more exotic, to accompany your meal. Theserestaurants wouldn’t dream of offering you a choice of justsupermarket liebfraumilch or lambrusco, instead they have anextensive (and expensive) wine list, so how come their choice ofbeers is so ruddy poor?But you don’t have to put up with it. How about a place where youcan choose from a range of around ten real ales to accompany anexcellent Thai meal? Not only that but how about if the pub actuallybrews the beer on the premises? You may now have guessed that Iam talking about the Fox and Crown brewpub, home of Alcazar ales,just a few minutes walk from the Basford tram stop. We have beeneating there about every six weeks or so for quite a time now and thefood has always been excellent.On our most recent visit in the middle of July we found that the menuhad been extended slightly and I was even more spoilt for choicethan I had been on previous visits. We started off by sharing two“Fox and Crown Platters” between four of us. At £5.50 they areexcellent value and offer a taster of several different starters includingthe excellent chicken satay, Tod Mun Pla (Thai fish cake) and PeekGai Laou Dang (chicken wing in red wine sauce). I can also highlyrecommend the Goon Yang, which are skewers of prawns servedwith peanut sauce. This is definitely one place not to skip the starterand move straight to the main course. The platter went downparticularly well with a pint of New Dawn that was on tiptop form.The main courses are divided up into Stir Fries, Curries, RiceSpeciality Dishes, Noodle Speciality Dishes and Salmon Dishes. Thedishes are marked as mild, medium or spicy on the menu, but it doessay that you can ask for them hotter or milder if youwish and in most cases you can choose betweenWe have heard from RichardCodd that regrettablyCommerzheim Köln whichwas covered in detail in thesecond article about Köln andDüsseldorf (issue 68) has nowclosed for good. ApparentlyLommi (landlord) retired atage 75(?) and under Germanlicensing rules the licenseautomatically lapses with hisretirement. Anyone takingover the place would have tospend vast sums to bring it toa state where a new licensecould be issued”The web site lives onwww.timmi-bonn.dewww.nottinghamcamra.orgVictoriaTavern40 Wilford Road, Ruddington0115 931 59114 Traditional Cask Ales*****Bass and Guests*****Meals servedMon - Thur 12-2.30 & 6-8Fri - Sat 12-2.30Sunday Lunch 12-3*****Steak night Tues 6-9Sir Charles NapierUnder New OwnershipGuest AlesQuality draught ciderHouse beer from MallardTuscany style beer gardenCAMRA friendlyWhite Lightning drinkersnot welcomeSouth Sherwood Street0115 9410420chicken, beef, pork, prawn or vegetarian versions. I selected Pad GraoPrao, which is a stir fry of spicy chicken, with fresh chillies, Thaiholy basil and mixed vegetables with a portion of Khao (steamedfragrant Thai rice). This proved to be an excellent choice, a subtleblend of fresh ingredients and spicy without being excessively so,and an excellent accompaniment to the pint of Alcazar ale I was nowsupping. At £5.95 for the stir fry and £1.75 for the rice it was alsoexcellent value.One of our group went for my favourite dish Pad Thai. Rice noodlesstir fried with beef, spring onions, egg, bean sprouts and crushedpeanuts in a spicy sauce. He confirmed my view that it is a very tastydish and extremely filling and again reasonably priced at £6.45. Mybetter half chose Khao Pad Na Gai a steam rice with sliced chicken,cashew nuts, mushroom, carrots and spring onions which she foundvery enjoyable and not too spicy. The other lady went for a salmondish, sweet and sour battered salmon with pineapple, tomatoes,peppers, cucumber and onions and a portion of Kho Pad Kai whichis egg fried rice which again was found to be most enjoyable.Our two friends had not been to the Fox and Crown before and werealready talking about a return visit before we left. An excellent eveningout with good food and good beer and you can prebook a table if youwish although it is not essential.