Well, speaking as one who learned to drink the stuff 30 years ago in Nottingham...

There is a song by a guy called Dave Brindley called "Nottingham Ale" which sings its praise (it was written a long time ago in the days of the big local breweries). It also alludes to the Trip to Jerusalem pub built into the castle rock, which was a watering hole for crusaders in the 12th century, and claims to be the oldest pub in the country. It is next to where the beer for the castle was brewed (Brewhouse Yard).

There are many good pubs in Nottingham, and it's refreshing to see that over the years the Salutation Inn has turned away from Whitbread and become a real ale pub, not unlike the Tap & Spile type.

Unfortunately, and I may be wrong as I don't live in the area any more, there aren't that many micro breweries (and I hope I am wrong - there used to at least be Fellowes, Morton & Clayton) and the big local ones have either closed, or moved their brewing elsewhere, having been taken over. It beats me how Shipstone's Ale can now be brewed in Burton-Upon-Trent when everyone knows that to give it that certain "something" which meant it was either good when kept right, or bloody awful, it needed Nottingham water. It certainly isn't Shipstone's that comes out of the pump these days! It's an acceptable "cooking beer", but it has no character.

Andrea