Pints of View Summer 2026 - the branch magazine of Mansfield & Ashfield CAMRA.
UnusuAle
Highlighting unusual, rare or one-off ales and the pubs that serve them...
RATHER HAVE A PINT OF This quarter seems to have been very hit-and-miss when it comes to unusual brews, some of which I'm blaming on spending most of it working rotating shifts in Peterborough - but it's still good to shout out the pubs that have featured something out of the ordinary, even if I didn't actually get to try it...
On my last visit to Moody Squires, one of their 'coming soon' ales was Wadworth Swordfish, a rum-infused ale. The barman assured me it's on now and again, so hopefully I'll get to try it on a future visit.
Pheasantry 80/- made an appearance at a few pubs around the branch, including the Horse & Jockey, Railway Inn and Picture House. I missed it at all three, and it seems it might have been by minutes at the latter, as it was still showing as available when I went. I suspect the Scotch export-style ale should have been on the bars for Burn's Night but ended up appearing slightly later than planned.
A few Black Forest Gateau-inspired stouts made an appearance at various venues across the branch. Joss, our Young Members Coordinator, enjoyed a pint of Lakedown Gateau at the Brown Cow. I happened across Frith by Trig Brewery at The Barrel Micropub, which went down well.
The Inkpot had Durham Turkish Delight on the bar in February - a flavour I've never seen in an ale before... Did you get to try it?
The Market Tavern in South Normanton featured one of Dungeon Brewing's small-batch ales - called simply Small Batch 7. It didn't last a day!
Trig Brew 'Frith'
Hucknall Beer Festival seemed like a good opportunity to try a few unusual brews. However, it appeared that they had been so popular on Thursday and Friday that they had run out by the Saturday afternoon session I attended. One of these was I'd Rather Have a Pint of... from Bang the Elephant. Luckily, after catching the bus back to Sutton, it was on the bar in FireRock! If you didn't make the connection from the old advertisement, the recipe included the addition of 60 boxes of Coco Pops. I'm glad I wasn't cleaning the kit!
UNE BREW
LAUNCH cremea
I finally got to try Blue Monkey Cinder Toffee in Little Roosevelt during our March social in Ripley, and then again two days later at the Brown Cow, during their Pub of the Year presentation. Like a liquid Crunchie! It was excellent at both pubs.
DA The last beer to make the feature this quarter, and another brew imitating a well-known type of confectionery, was Cremed by Lune Brew, which I tried at the Brown Cow. Despite being only 3.4%, it gave a nice initial chocolate hit before the creme flavour came through in the long finish - a really good way to round off my unusual ales this quarter.
So, despite a few misses, I did enjoy a few unusual ales this spring... What unusual brews have you seen around the branch?
28 | Pints of View Summer 2026
- Kirsten
ON TAP NEAR YOU