It is yet to be decided on the format but currently the choice seems to be between the traditional and well known monopoly board challenge and an alternative idea of visiting all the central London Wetherspoon’s pubs (currently over 20 are ear-marked).

The first could present ale issues as many London pubs don’t have good ale. The second would allow us to explore the range of ales in many Wetherspoons on one given day.

The logistics of the event are to be finalised but the date is set.

By the way, if ever there was a time to go to a Wetherspoons it is now. The have an ale festival on at the moment and Brad is very impressed with the standard so far. I’ll be there at the weekend.

See ya.

The great thing about this pub is you get pewter tankard if you get there early enough. On the offside you can taste the pewter so a glass is a better choice.

They have lovely pork pies too.

If you’re well off you can even stay in one of their rooms – but that’ll cost you over a hundred quid.

I love this pub. You will too.

The interior is very standard with exposed wooden floorboards and there’s mostly only standing room. Being in the City, it gets packed on Thursday and Friday nights.

Having enjoyed quite a few bottled ales from the St. Peter’s brewery, I thought that we’d try their only pub – The Jerusalem Tavern. The building dates back to 1720, was a clock shop, and has been cleverly restored so that you wouldn’t know you were in 21st century if it wasn’t for the patrons. The ales they sell were in great condition – as you’d expect. We tried: Cream Stout, Ruby Red ale and the Organic Best Bitter. The cream stout was lovely but a definite one-pinter as it’s such full flavour, the Ruby red ale was my favourite. Prices were a bit high @ £3.10 per pint, but probably the going rate for the nicer pubs in Farringdon. 

We managed to get a table (as you can see from the picture), but the pub did get very busy outside at around 6pm to the point where it might put me off. I would highly recommend this pub for it’s ambience and the excellent rare ales on offer.

This my favourite pub for finding ales. They usually have 9 ales on (8 guests and Harvey’s) that they shift pretty quickly, so I’ve never had a bad pint in there either. If you head there for ales, you won’t be alone, there’s always someone in there taking notes and sampling a selection. The place gets bombed out in the summer evenings and because it’s right next to Borough Market, so my favourite time to go is Sunday afternoons. The interior is pretty average, although they have an impressive selection of pump clips.  There’s very little in the way of seating, but well worth putting up with for the fantastic beers they have on all the time. Sadly, if you find something you really like, you’ll probably never see it again in there.

Thankfully this isn’t really an Irish pub – as the name would imply. The Harp is definitely a great find for central London, it’s pretty quiet and has plenty of ales. They usually have Harvey’s Sussex Bitter (ABV: 4.0%) and several other guest beers. There’s also suicide door for you as you exit the gents toilets.

Last weekend saw Brad and me taking a trip into Cambridge with our other halves. There are myriad pubs in Cambridge (note the correct use of the word myriad) and one that has constantly overlooked us is ‘The Pickerel’.

Located by the canal, opposite Maudlin College, this pub offers at least 6 ales at any given time.

I tried out ‘Headcracker’ – a Very Strong Pale Norfolk Ale. It was 7% and was unbearably sweet. I’m just glad I only had a half.

We weren’t in there long – but I’ll definitely be giving it another go sometime in the very near future.

This is either the best pub in the world, or just not for you. Every time we’ve been there, the whole pub talks together and is definitely one of the friendliest public places I’ve ever been. So, if you want a place to have a quiet drink and to be anonymous, the Brockett Arms isn’t a great choice. There’s a huge open fireplace that’s clearly been around for hundred’s of years which even has seats if you are feeling cold and brave enough. Getting to the pub is quite an effort, where you feel like you are going to end up in the middle of farmland up to your knees in crap, but at the last minute a tiny village appears. The ales are always perfect, and on the last occasion I was there, I had a fantastic pint of Ridley’s Old Bob (ABV 5.1%). Old Bob is now doomed after the brewery was bought by Green King which means that all the beers will be coming from their Bury St. Edmunds factory instead of Hartford End in essex.

Update: I have it on good authority, that the Brocket Arms is has closed (probably to reopen), but never to be the same. The landlord that had been running the pub for more than 25 years has moved on and the pub is boarded up.