9 Stoney Street, London, SE1 9AA (map)

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.

47 Chandos Place, WC2 4HS, UK (map)

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.

For my 40th birthday Brad and I considered getting a barrel of ale from a local Free House. Brad had salvaged a proper Ale pump from a local skip and we reckoned it would be cool to rig one up.

After much faffing about we decided against it – mainly due to the short life of the stuff – and the effort involved.

Browsing the Internet we came across the Nethergate Brewery. They supply their own ales in Polypins (plastic containers much like a wine box) in 18 pint and 36 pint sizes.

Being a bit over zealous, I bought 4 barrels for the party, Old Growler, Umbel Magna, Essex Border and Augustinian.

This stuff keeps for up to a month (a barrel keeps for a few days)  – just as well really as less than half of the 90+ pints were consumed. It is hard to say which was the best – in my eyes it was the Umbel Magna, but others thought differently.

The 3 weeks after the party saw Brad, myself, Brad’s parents, my wife, and anyone who wanted any, necking the stuff before it went off. You don’t waste good ale.

Why am I telling you all this. Well – I don’t drink wine anymore. Think about it. £20 for a box of wine, or £27.50 for 18 pints of really good ale. You can’t lose really – it’s a no brainer. And they even deliver it to you.

We’ve been away for a long time – but now we’re back. We didn’t stop drinking – we just haven’t posted anything for a long long time.

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.

Finally, I’ve transitioned Alefinder from Blogger to the vastly superior Wordpress platform. The colour scheme is a bit funky for the moment, bit it will be changing. We’ll be blogging a lot more from now on.

Ayot St. Lawrence, Hertfordshire, AL6 9BT, UK (map)

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.

16 Tysoe Street, Clerkenwell, EC1R 4RQ, UK (map)

This was a surprise, and they had a couple of fantastic ales (Sharp’s Doom Bar (ABV: 4.0%) being the tastiest). It’s not your average looking pub, in fact the interior is relatively trendy and makes it seem like you are only going to be able to get generic euro-lagers. They actually had a really good selection of bottled beers, but the pumps were worth sticking to.

High Street, Sandridge, Hertfordshire, AL4 9DD, UK (map)

This is one of those pubs you would drive past without giving it a second look. In fact, I drive past it everyday after work and have never noticed it. This is definitely a working man’s pub, full of locals looking up from their games of cards and darts wondering who strangers are when they walk in. They had Bateman’s XXXB (ABV 4.8%) on as a fine guest ale which was a little bit gassy but went down nicely. We also had a nice pint of Abbott from their regular selection of Green King Abbott Ale (ABV 5.0%), Deuchars IPA (ABV 3.8%) and Green King IPA (ABV 3.6). We’ll probably go back for the Deuchars another time as they were out on this visit. If you like dark smokey pubs where people keep themselves to themselves, go here for a well kept pint. I wouldn’t go in here on your own though – unless you want to be stared at. Incidentally, this pub features in CAMRAs top 4500 pubs, although I would guess it isn’t too high in the rankings.

The Endway, Great Easton, Essex, CM6 2HG, UK (map)

A bit of an all-rounder – Good ales, comfy, and good food. It’s slightly hard to find, and you will probably have to drive – which is a shame. I had good pints of Nethergate, Old Peculiar, and Adnam’s bitter.

Globe Lane, Linslade, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire LU7 2TA, UK (map)

Now this is a real find. A canal-side pub that serves Abbot, Greene King Triumph, and Old Speckled Hen and always has two guest beers. This time they were Smile’s Heritage and Ridley’s Prospect. The Prospect was a great pint, and the Abbott was as good as I have had it anywhere else. This pub doubles as a restaurant and is accredited with the Cask Mark. It is definitely worth a trip — and in the summer you can make it part of a long canal-side walk.