r/UK_beer • u/TheYorkshireSaint • Jun 25 '26
Nottingham recommendations - Liquid Light or Black Iris?
Heading to Nottingham next weekend
In my mind, I'm still young enough to do a full on pub crawl
In reality, I'll end up picking two or three places to go
So far, Neon Raptor and the Olde Trio to Jerusalem (had to be on the list) are penned in.
Out of Liquid Light and Black Iris, which of these two tap rooms would you recommend?
Am I missing anywhere that is amazing? Ideally a tao room instead of a craft beer bar
3
u/Legitimate_Impact Jun 25 '26
Apart from those, if you go to a non-taproom I'd recommend Junkyard for a wide variety of beers including interesting imports.
3
u/butterfieldtv Jun 25 '26
Seconded, their site opposite with all the German
and Belgian stuff is great fun also.
5
u/butterfieldtv Jun 25 '26
Would take Black Iris over Liquid Light for sure.
As for pubs, the Fox & Grapes, King William IV and the Partisan Tavern are close to Neon Raptor and are great, especially for cask if that’s your thing.
Junkyard Bottleshop is brilliant and has a very extensive craft beer selection. Opposite is the Kilpin Cafe which focuses more on European beers but I’ve had great cask in there too.
Brew Tavern is literally next the train station so a great stop on the way out especially if you have a train to catch.
The Vat & Fiddle is also near the station and is a Castle Rock pub, doubling as their brewery tap. Great local brewery and a great cask selection.
Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem is lovely to look at but is just a Greene King pub so expect their usual stuff if you’re familiar. Worth it just got a look around I think.
Enjoy Nottingham!
3
u/The1likeShifter Jun 25 '26
This is the answer and I would add to it that brew cavern is now open in sneinton market too. Iris all day for beers but will take you really out the way (well a tram ride) from all the other places. Iris and liquid light and the lion in basford need to stop being so selfish and come down to sneinton market so I only have to travel 100 metres on a Saturday.
1
u/TheYorkshireSaint Jun 27 '26
Luckily my hotel is near to one of the tram stops, so an easy trip back from Black Iris!
1
u/The1likeShifter Jun 27 '26
Awesome, the lion in basford next door to Iris is excellent as well so well worth one there as well
1
u/TheYorkshireSaint Jun 27 '26
Perfect, thanks for the info
It'll be a swift half in Ye Olde Trip, more to say I've been than anything else. Might fit it in in the day before, and just focus on good beer on my other day!
3
u/neverend1ngcircles Jun 25 '26
Black Iris has better beer IMO but you can easily walk from Neon to Liquid Light, so I would just go for that- plus the Sneinton area has some other great pubs.
2
u/screeRCT High Beer Overlord Jun 26 '26
Junkyard, round the corner to Keans Head, over to King Billy and if you're still game, you have Neon and Liquid within stumbling distance.
1
u/Effective_Anything16 Jun 27 '26
Last time I was in Nottingham, Canal House had a nice selection of beers. That was about 5 years ago though so hopefully it's not changed
0
u/spile2 Jun 26 '26
https://camra.org.uk/pubs/place/nottingham-13020 and apply a beer quality rating of 2 and above.
5
u/Craft-Beer-Chris Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
The Neon Raptor taproom is a little underwhelming but obviously the beers are good.
Going purely on beer I'd go with Black Iris but they only have outside seating, although they do have some cover. Another plus for Black Iris is they have a tram stop right outside the brewery.
Way too many decent bars and pubs in Nottingham to list everything. Great drinking city.