Latest reviews from Ripley

“Tom Said is a relative newcomer to the Ripley beer scene, and a very welcome one it must be, erm, said. It's teeny tiny, but smart use of space allows 15-20 people seated here. The beer list is on the small side but no less impressive for it: Northern Alchemy, Mad Squirrel and North Riding on cask, Wild Beer and Bad Seed on keg, and a fridge full of Cloudwater, Wilde Child, Vibrant Forest and North. Occasional tap takeovers (Neepsend is coming up at time of writing). Certainly the 'craftiest' pub in Ripley. Brilliant place where you can try some great beer in friendly and quiet surroundings.“

jjsint 1131 days ago

“Ripley has it's share of good boozers, and this micropub certainly adds to the choice in the town. Five cask beers are complemented by a keg selection which is less exciting. There are a few bottles, but this pub is all about the cask really. The breweries seem to be mostly Midlands-based and traditional. Not a bad place, but lacks the cosmopolitan choice of many micropubs.“

jjsint 1132 days ago

“The Talbot is a lovely, beer-led pub. Going in, the smell of fresh hoppy beer hits me almost instantly. They offer about six or seven cask, one thing that struck me was that there were three casks over 6%. The keg list has a few craft beers but is given over mostly to lagers. There's an extensive bottle/can list but to be honest there isn't a whole lot you can't find elsewhere. Has the feel of a great beer pub that is struggling to keep up with the times but still offers most anything you may want. Cash only.“

jjsint 1132 days ago

“Always difficult to add to Fin's wonderfully thorough reviews. I enjoyed the Thorn Tree well enough. It's a modern-ish open plan pub with about five cask ales from Pheasantry, Bradfield and Shiny. Some decent beers here, could've bagged a handful of ticks if I'd have wanted to. No interesting keg/bottled beer. Heart Radio blasting in the background, which I didn't care for because I am not 11. It is outstanding value, I paid only £3.10 for my pint.“

jjsint 1132 days ago

“Friendly community locals music free pub with a good selection of ales available from Neepsend, Brass Castle, Brinkburn, Bottlebrook, Wild Beer, Whim and Shiny breweries. We enjoyed our Brass Castle Rhubarb and Custard.“

gillhalfpint 1760 days ago

“Very popular micro pub with comfortable seating and a decent range of ales. They also have a good cider and gin selection. Beers available from Navigation, Tiny Rebel and 2 from Beermats breweries, and we enjoyed our Navigation Black IPA.“

gillhalfpint 1760 days ago

“The Thorn Tree, Market Place, Ripley (not to be confused with at least two other pubs of the same name nearby) was stop number 6 on our Derbyshire public transport excursion by bus. Our trip today cost only £10 for me and Loz with a joint Zig Zag ticket. Up until now we’d been taking in micro bars in Langley Mill, Ilkeston and Heanor but was now back in Ripley at the end of the evening. We (me, Loz Dad and Pauline) visited on Saturday 22nd April 2017. The Thorn Tree is is at one end of the market place so pretty much slap bang in the middle of the town, there are bus stops to the side of the market place.

The Thorn Tree is a large brick building with a flag of St George shield on the wall outside, though perhaps this was a temporary fixture for St George’s day the following day. It’s a nice looking pub both inside and out. The bar is ahead as you enter and there is plenty of seating all around. We sat near one of the front windows and whilst I’d not been here before it looked like some money had been spent on this place.

The beer choice was good here though I have to say I was getting a little jaded on the beer front, I liked the Pentrich Pines beer that I had though. I would like to re-visit this place and do it earlier on a pub crawl as I felt like I never really had a good nose about, however it sat well with the rest of the pubs visited today and in Ripley alone I can now think of at least two decent pubs and a JDW. “

Fin 2150 days ago

“Since The Talbot was taken over in October 2016 the transformation of this cosy pub was remarkable. 5+ real ales, changing weekly, all of great quality. Always low, medium and high strength ales available to satisfy everyone’s taste including a dark. Craft beer always on keg as well as a couple of continental lagers... Fridge full of various craft beers. Wines n spirts as well.... The addition of pork pies and cobs tops it off perfectly... A must visit for all ale fans. Camra discount too“

Slates71 2186 days ago

“

The Red Lion in Ripley was our breakfast stop this morning Saturday 17th December 2016 we were en route to Shirebrook to see relations and eventually Warsop to see Ferocious Dog at their Festival Dogfest. The Red Lion is pretty much bang in the centre of town, it sits behind what appears to be a council building on the Market Place.

Inside it is pretty much identical to many other JDWs up and down the country, so expect garish carpet in abundance, plenty of seating, a bank of fruit machines, a preference for dark and gloomy, toilets upstairs and a few little private seating alcoves oh...and a lack of staffing when it gets busy. It’s a good sized JDW, and was pretty popular, we were one of the first in here and had come for breakfast, however by the time we’d left which was probably about 10:30 it had become pretty busy. The bar is on the left after you enter and seating is pretty much all over, we sat in one of the little alcove/booth thingies. .

The beer choice looked pretty good, there was the usual focus on small local producers amongst the offerings which was good to see and if I’d have fancied a beer with my breakfast I’d have had no problem finding something that I’d not had amongst the 10-12 cask offerings. All in all it was absolutely fine and did an admiral job of what we tend to use a Spoons for i.e. to get a cheap, consistently reliable and decent breakfast. .“

Fin 2289 days ago

“Excellent Tap House for the Amber Brewery 6 of there beers on plus a Guest Ale and Cider...“

Wirralbeerveg 2440 days ago

“

We visited The Honeypot on Friday 19th February 2016, we being me and Dad. I am not quite sure how the Honeypot would be officially recognised as it is a bar (albeit totally separate) at the end of the Car Park of the Beehive pub, however it seems to operate as a separate entity. Despite my dad living close by I am not overly familiar with exactly where this sits in Ripley, suffice to say it appears to be in a residential area. Mike the brewer from Landlocked brewery brews on this site in an area between both the Honeypot and the Beehive.

It is a small brick built square shaped cozy affair which you enter through a small outbuilding which looks like a temporary type wooden structure. There is a small table and chairs on the LH side which sits in front of the bar and further seating and 2-3 small tables that hug the RH wall and continue just beyond the bar to meet the rear wall. It is simply furnished and if you had over ten people in here I am sure it would appear packed.

Beer choice concentrated on the local and very local with Landlocked, joined by Falstaff and Coppiceside, I had two Landlocked Winter Islands and one Coppiceside Gold and along with my dad spent a good hour or more chatting to Mike from Landlocked, a great chap, really interesting to talk to and extremely knowledgeable about beer. This is yet another pub up by my dad that I would gladly have as my local, how is he so lucky.

“

Fin 2580 days ago

“I’ve visited here before in the past but my most recent visit was on Saturday 27th July 2013 whilst attending the Indietracks music festival, nr Ripley, Derbyshire. A really nice pub situated on a slight hill just down from a LIDL supermarket. I like the building both inside and out, from the outside it is a ckassuc ’flatiron’ shape with a small parking area to the side. Inside the shape of the pub means that the bar is straight in front of you as you enter with a seating area to the left (pointy end) and seating to the right (bigger end) we stood at the bar, there were 5-6 beers on tap incl one guest from Peakstones. The young barman was really pleasant, the beers were in very good nick. I really like this bar. I had the Amber Imperial IPA Loz had the Hop series NZ Pacifica both good, I also had the stout which was also v.good.“

Fin 3531 days ago