Corby Pub Scrawl

You wait and you wait for another cool, informative Art feature to appear on the Corby Pub Safari blog, then almost inevitably a massive craft beer story drops, the editorial team pull rank, and yet another boring beer story grabs all the column inches.

What can I say, I've tried my best to diversify the offering on this blog, but Corby's great pubs and cutting edge craft beer scene keep dragging it back, literally spoiling the fun for everyone.

The beer news is down there at the bottom by the way, cultural philistines and beer enthusiasts can scroll past the fabulous art if they wish. Please don't though, make this the day culture wins out...

Our recent visit to Corby's Rooftop Arts for the Steel Nerve Exhibition left me wanting more. So much so that I was inspired to explore some of Corby's lesser known homegrown (left) Urban Art. In fact I was so inspired I did it on the way home the same day, via a swift pint in the terrific Domino natch'. The Domino is a truly great pub, one of Corby's finest in fact, and I have a breaking news story about it! But for reasons I've already explained that will have to wait for another day...

Of course any visit to The Dom' is not complete without a gander at the nearby Cottingham Road Low-Level Art Gallery (which itself gives safe* and easy access to the Beanfield Avenue Mid-Century Architecture Trail). There's always something fresh and thought-provoking to gawp at, a rolling review of current affairs and artistic trends, something for most of the family in fact (under 16's must be accompanied by a parent or guardian, or ideally some more under 16's).

(*this blog accepts no liability whatsoever for anyone's safety at any time, day or night)

Now I don't pretend to know what most of this Urban Art means, and apologies if anything offensive has slipped past the blog's Profanity Algorithms. The truth is my massively underpaid IT dept are getting a bit long in the tooth and just can't keep up with trends in modern filth. Lord knows I’ve they’ve spent enough late nights, and sometimes early mornings trying to get a grip on it, more research is clearly required!

I take it as I see it though, which in practice means at some speed, this being a dimly-lit subway after all. PPE might be appropriate, just go for it though, what's the worst that can happen!...

Of course anarchic UK traditions such as this come with some hard and fast rules. Photography is ok, but on no account take a hammer and chisel to the walls, this is transient art, only to be defaced by other artists, and certainly never to be removed by anyone other than a council worker with a clipboard and a bucket of whitewash. Please respect the art!

Art is of course just one of your five-a-day, the basic essentials of the Good Life. Pubs and Beer are two others, which leads me nicely to the biggest news in pubs and beer to hit Corby since my last post on pubs and beer in Corby. Now I'm sure you all know that in pubbing circles, one good beer on the bar is plenty. Two beers and we're in serious Beer Enthusiast territory, which surely makes Posh Paddys bar Corby's first official Specialist Craft Beer Venue and elevates Corby itself to the Premier League of Beer Towns, rubbing shoulders with famous beer destinations like Norwich, Sheffield, and Coalville.

A recent change of management at Posh Paddys has led to a substantial refresh of the bar’s First XI beer squad. Out with the Carlsberg (though controversially not the goal-hanging mediocrity of Madri!), in with top quality craft murk from Yorkshire legends SALT Beer Factory. Choice-choice-choice are the watchwords at Posh Paddys, and there can be no better example of this than offering two (yes! 2) pale cloudy hop-monsters of very similar strength from quite literally the same brewery.

A Huckaback NEIPA, recently.

Similar, yes! But certainly different. The Jute is already a longstanding Corby favourite (June 2022 - May 2023, White Hart, Corby Village), the kind of sessionable pale'n'hoppy brew that local Corby folk are known to crave. All the citrussy hops but with none of the flavour-defying clarity that so many lesser beers suffer from (yes, I'm looking at you Madri!). Jute is now as 'Corby' as Pineapple Tarts and Hadden Square Sausage, you read it here first!

It doesn't end there though! Corby's growing legion of craft beer fans and acronym enthusiasts are now extremely well catered for with the stronger, somewhat sweeter SALT Beer Factory Huckaback NEIPA beer. An entirely new beer style (to Corby), and at only 20p a pint dearer than the Jute, it's my top-tip for 2025. I tried both a Half-Pint and a Pint of the new brew, and can reveal that they're quite similar, though for my taste I think the Pint measure just shaded it so another top tip then. Three cheers for Posh Paddys!

Coming Soon...