If you're a cider fan, Hucknall is the place to drink. The town swept the board with pubs taking top spot and runner-up in CAMRA's annual Cider Pub of the Year competition.
Byron's Rest, a micro pub set in a former sewing shop in Baker Street, took the crown, closely followed by Beer Shack, in Derbyshire Lane, in second place. Byron's Rest sells nearly 20 different traditional ciders from cideries including Two Shires at Langley Mill, Blue Barrel, which started in Nottingham, and Somerset-based Rich's Cider.
It's the second award in six months for the Byron's Rest, which last year was named champion of Nottingham CAMRA's LocAle competition celebrating locally brewed beers and ciders.
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Nottingham CAMRA cider officer Heather Stretton said: "The competition was really close this year. We are so lucky to have so many good cider pubs around the area, particularly in Hucknall with them and Beer Shack, it's a fantastic place to go and drink cider.
"In all the pubs we visited the cider was absolutely delicious, well kept and well served. One of the few things that made the Byron stand out was the amount of publicity they give their cider. They have got a really impressive display as you walk along the length of the pub towards the bar.
"On the right is, a cider wall, with racking where the landlord has put all his cider boxes. You can't help but notice that they serve real ciders. Another thing they're doing that is really good, they're putting together a little booklet of information about the cider makers that they buy the cider from, so if anybody asks 'what's this one like?' or 'where is that one made?' you can hand them the relevant page from the booklet and they can read up about it.
"That was two things that made that one stand out amongst all the other remarkably good cider pubs we've got."
Ciders were judged on criteria such as taste, temperature it's served at, whether local ciders are sold, how well promoted it is, pub cleanliness and how polite and friendly the bar staff are. Last year's winner, the Partizan Tavern in Sneinton, and Round RobINN, in East Leake, were both highly commended.
Ten pubs across the branch's area were nominated by customers in the annual competition with the winner decided by an anonymous team of CAMRA cider drinkers.
"It's as anonymously as we can although most of us are known by the landlords of the really good cider pubs because we enjoy our cider and go in there quite often, so it's not as anonymous as in an ideal world but we do the best we can," said Heather.
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