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Christmas at The Gunmakers
 A while ago, the editor of What's Brewing asked me to name my top ten beers for winter. I'd forgotten all about it. Opening up this month's issue, I see my choices have been published alongside lists from fellow beer writers Ben McFarland, Roger Protz and Melissa Cole. For those who aren't members of CAMRA and therefore don't get the paper, this was my list (in no particular order):
Come on, let's hear you slag that off. You know you want to. The photo is of Anchor Our Special Ale, taken by me outside The Evening Star in Brighton. I've been wanting to use it for ages. I like the bike in the background, the shadows cast by the bottle and the glass, and the sun playing on the beer's head. Sitting outside in high summer probably isn't the right time to take in a winter beer, but I enjoyed it. After we finished up there, we got the train to Lewes, home to Harvey's. Click here to read about that visit.
In a cab home last night I heard my first Christmas song of 2007, courtesy of Roy Wood and Wizzard. The wretched festive season is almost upon us. When the day comes, it's likely you'll be trapped in the company of people you were thrown together with by an accident of birth (family), as opposed to people forced upon you by cruel circumstance (friends). I always find the latter to be easier drinking companions than the former. That's because I don't care what my mates think of me, whereas you never know when you might need mum and dad's spare room.
On Christmas day itself, you'll need something with a kick to dull the pain. If you get nicely sozzled, you'll think Stacey really is fit when the Eastenders special comes on. I've already put bottles of Thomas Hardy's Ale, Eggenberg Samichlaus and Fullers Vintage Ale to one side.
If you need a helping hand to secure your own stash, site sponsor Livingbeer.com is offering free delivery on the Strong Box, a formidable collection of 12 bottle conditioned ales. See the banner at the top of the page for details. Also, you can still take advantage of Brew Dog's offer: a £5 discount on a case of their beer with personalised labels.
Just don't drink them all at once, as you might get banjaxed. Take it from me - being banjaxed is absolutely terrible.
 I've just been received the latest edition of Capital Pubcheck via email. The quarterly update on London pubs is normally published in CAMRA's London Drinker magazine, but missed the deadline for this issue.
It contained confirmation of some great news I'd already been tipped off about by blog readers: The Fox and Anchor is back. I was definitely a fan of this Smithfield boozer, and was sad to see it close last year. Rumours it was to re-open as a restaurant have proven false. It's great to see the place is operating as a pub once more, and it sounds like it's better than ever. I'll be checking it out soon (banjax notwithstanding).
Here's the relevant section from Capital Pubcheck:
EC1, FOX & ANCHOR, 115 Charterhouse Street (map). Reopened in early November. Fullers: London Pride, Nethergate: Umbel Ale, Old Growler; Shepherd Neame: Spitfire; 2 guest beers (e.g. Nethergate seasonal, Sharps Cornish Coaster); Aspall Draught Cider on tap. Grade II listed pub, abandoned to its fate by M&B a year ago along with several other historic Nicholson pubs and rescued by leading hotelier Richard Balfour-Lynn as an independently run, genuine Free House. Sympathetically refurbished in traditional style with original wood-panelled fixtures and fittings retained and enhanced with the addition of a pewter bar counter top. The four interconnected rooms at the rear remain and a small ‘oyster bar’ dispenses wholesome bar snacks (£1.50-£ 2.50) including pork scratchings, cockles, pickled eggs and pistachio nuts. Dark green décor and ornate ceiling, chandeliers, polished wooden floor, alcove seating with framed pictures of the Smithfield area adorning the walls. Black & white silent comedy films play on discreet TV screen. The ales are dispensed into pewter tankards (@£2.80 or £3/pint), bottled beers mainly from English micros (@£3.20-£3.70 except 75cl Meantime @ £9!). Extensive wine range (from £14.50) including Sparkling Rose from the Balfour vineyard in Kent. Food is described as the best of English fare with locally sourced ingredients including from Smithfield and Borough markets (starters from£4.50; mains from £10.95). A small, 6 room boutique hotel is due to open upstairs in January 2008, each room featuring central bathtubs! (£95/night at weekends and £165-225 weekdays). Open 7am (for breakfast) -11pm Mon-Sat, closed Sun. The owner is to be congratulated on rescuing this threatened pub and demonstrating that a traditional pub can operate successfully in London with all the right ingredients. Certainly a welcome addition to the London pub scene, albeit upmarket in style and price.
I've added the pub to The London Beer Map, making it the 65th entry.
 You'll have noticed there's been something of a hiatus in posting here on Stonch's Beer Blog. Various things have utterly banjaxed me these past few days, and I'm not out of the rough yet. Rest assured - I will return soon. Doubtless those of you who think I'm some sort of laddish rogue or beery charlatan will be enjoying the break.
Thanks to everyone who has submitted photos for our contest. I'll post them all up in the next couple of days. There have been some great entries so far, and it's still early days. Here's a taster: John Lewington of Suffolk sent in this unposed picture of two old boys enjoying Adnam's Bitter at their local. Right now, a contemplative pint and a cheeky crossword would do me nicely, thank you very much.
[To see a gallery of all entries to date, click here]
[To see a gallery of all entries to date, click here]
Some of you are quick off the mark. I only announced the photo competition yesterday, and already three readers have come forward with a clutch of entries. I'm planning to post a selection of the photos I receive every week on Friday. Here's the first batch. Remember, the competition closes on Monday 17 December. If you want a crack at those prizes, get your entries in to grinerine@gmail.com now.
   Andrew from Oxfordshire has taken two photos that pay homage to one of his favourite local breweries, Brakspear. He's also submitted a sombre image of spent beer barrels, lashed with rain late at night.
Olthwaite sent in this picture of the fireplace at his favourite pub: "Which 18th century former cottage sells an exclusive range of real ales and has Elmore James on the jukebox? It's The Sair in Linthwaite, near Huddersfield." Gazza Prescott submitted these images from Tamworth Beer Festival, 2002. The first is of a frothy spile. The second is of casks lined up on stillage (a welcome sight for any beer lover, particularly a "scooper" like Gazza). 
 Another couple from Gazza. He was enjoying Belgian beer in his front room, and looked down into his glass to see the mysterious image of a heart had appeared in the foam. If that's not a ringing endorsement for sitting on your arse drinking beer, I don't know what is. The second photo was taken in Croatia, where he was touring with mates. The lads are presenting their makeshift beer cooler. Happy days.
I'm pleased to announce the launch of the first competition on Stonch's Beer Blog. There are two prizes up for grabs:
  A mixed case of Brew Dog beers, donated by brewer James Watt.
A case of CAMRA award-winning bottled conditioned ales from Livingbeer.com. The subject is beer photography. I'll award the prizes to: (a) the best photograph of beer (beer porn, if you will) and (b) the best image that simply relates to beer in some way. The one I judge to be the very best will get first choice between the prizes. Start sending in your photographs now to grinerine@gmail.com.Information:- Entries should be submitted via email to grinerine@gmail.com. Entrants can submit as many photos as they like, within reason. Include your name, address and a bit of background on the image(s) you've submitted.
- The competition is open to all, but prizes can only be sent to addresses in the United Kingdom. Overseas readers need not despair: I'm running this in conjunction with Alan McLeod over at A Good Beer Blog, who is currently gathering a clutch of prizes to be dispatched to winners around the world. He's going to be keeping an eye on the photos I post here, and if he's suitably impressed may bestow his own rewards on entrants to this competition.
- The winners will be announced on Monday 17th December, so entries need to be received before then. The decision of the judge (i.e. me) is final.
[To see a gallery of all entries to date, click here]
 I've heard rumours that RIVA (a.k.a. Liefmans Brewery) may be on the brink of disaster. Apparently serious cash flow problems have resulted in a hiatus in production which may lead to permanent closure.
Readers who have been with this blog from the beginning will remember that I wrote about Liefmans of Oudenaarde in my very first post. I'd be terribly sad to see it go - I'm a big fan. Indeed, I was singing the praises of the brewery's Kriek to a neighbour just last night (a hazard of living next to me is being talked at about beer). Let's hope a white knight emerges.
Back in the 70s and 80s, Vaux of Sunderland used to own Liefmans. Unfortunately they're no longer with us either.
UPDATE 23/11/07: Gino Vantieghem of Liefmans has denied the company is heading toward bankruptcy. He claims the brewery will resolve its current distribution problems by 2008. I hope so.
UPDATE 21/12/07: Sadly, the company has now been declared bankrupt. Click here to read more.
...but if you read this story on BBC News Online yesterday, you might not think so. I was going to write a lengthy piece pointing out why we shouldn't worry about the British Beer & Pub Association's dismal report. However, after being forwarded an article from today's Guardian by reader Michael, I don't need to. Roger Protz has it covered:
"The BBPA, which reported that pubs are selling 14 million fewer pints a day than they were in 1979, doesn't speak for all Britain's brewers. Excluded from its ranks are the bulk of Britain's 500-plus microbreweries, most of whom are enjoying a boom in sales. They concentrate almost entirely on real ale: living, natural, cask-conditioned beer. It's the producers of global lager brands - Stella Artois, Carling, Carlsberg and so on - that are witnessing a catastrophic decline in demand." Here's the full article.Frankly, if people aren't going to choose quality beer, I don't care whether they choose Smirnoff Ice over Stella Artois. As far as I can see, that's the big shift in the market: people who'd otherwise drink bad lager are simply choosing other ways to get smashed. Meanwhile, the quality end of the beer market is growing stronger.
There's something big on the horizon for readers of Stonch's Beer Blog and A Good Beer Blog.
You'll need a camera and a keen eye for a brilliant, beer-related photo. You could win some brilliant prizes.
More tomorrow.
Love Lager? I already do, but some beer lovers still need convincing.
An appreciation that ale can offer a variety of flavours seems to have become embedded in the British psyche, whereas many people just think of fizzy yellow swill when lager is mentioned. The higher serving temperatures and lower carbonation levels of real ales are never going to appeal to everyone, particularly in the warmer months. Lager outsells ale comfortably, yet you're hard pushed to find really good lagers in most British boozers.
While scouring the net for information about SABMiller's takeover of Grolsch (don't worry, I won't be boring you with that) I came across an interesting ad-feature on Times Online. Love Lager seems to be a marketing effort, doubtless sponsored by a consortium of brewers, but the assembled articles are worth a read.
 I first visited Bruges two years ago. We stayed in Die Swaene, a lovely, canalside hotel that actually is romantic. The rooms centred around the old tailors' guildhall. My favourite place in Bruges has nothing to do with beer (it's the Bejinhof, if you're interested), but I've certainly had some memorable drinking experiences there.
't Brugs Beertje is the city's most celebrated bier café. During my first session there, I guzzled a gallon or more of strong brews, and discovered a few that have become friends for life. The owner Daisy Claeys suggested I try Hercule Stout. It comes from Ellezelles, a small village in Wallonia that has enjoyed some fame thanks to Agatha Christie. She imagined it as the birthplace of her famous Belgian detective. The beer is named after him.
I remember my joy at seeing the dimpled mug. It looked out of place amongst the more familiar Belgian goblets, yet was so fitting for a brew paying homage to my homeland. The beer announced itself with the pop of a swingtop lid, tearing through fragile brown paper, and a plume of vapour set free from the squat bottle. Even with my senses dulled by an evening's drinking, I appreciated every moment. Smoothly carbonated and dark brown, with a candy sugar aroma. Very dry, but with a sweeter finish. I love beers that pull off contortions like that. The strength of 9% abv would suggest an Imperial Stout, but I think this was inspired by something far more restrained.
Last night I revisited it for the first time in many months. Hercule is definitely still a favourite of mine, even though I've never read a word of Christie's. She wasn't known for her appreciation of beer, so I don't feel too bad.
Information:
- 't Brugs Beertje is at Kemelstraat 5, Bruges (website). It opens at 4pm and remains open until late.
- Brasserie Ellezelloise is online here. In London, Hercule Stout is sold at Lowlander in Covent Garden (36 Drury Lane, map) and at Quaffs.
 Another savage weekend, then. How I hang on to my boyish good looks is beyond me. Friday night's adventures at the BBC were followed by a long session at The Pembury Tavern beer festival on Saturday.
As with previous festivals, the selection was great, but it wasn't long before I immersed myself in an ocean of my favourite cask ale - Milton Mammon. I've written about the beer before. It's strong (7% abv) and dark with glorious sour notes. The cask we were drinking had been aged in the cellar for a year. Richard, the fabulously bewhiskered brewer (pictured left), was on hand with plates of aged stilton that complemented the beer perfectly. He's of the opinion it should only be served by the pint, as the full complexity of the beer can only be appreciated that way.
 Thanks to landlord Steve and everyone at The Pembury for yet another brilliant festival. The pub has really come into its own. It's busy most nights, popular as it is with Hackney locals and beer nuts from across the capital. The beer and food is as good as ever, and as an added bonus they've even got curtains up these days.
At about 10, five of us downed our last glasses of the strong stuff and jumped in a cab toward the bright lights of Shoreditch. Now, the bars and clubs we visit rarely get a look in on this blog, but Hoxton Square Bar deserves to be included for two reasons. First off, they were serving Brooklyn Lager, Anchor Liberty and Liefmans Kriek in bottles alongside more prosaic keg offerings. Good effort - it's great to drink good beer when you're hounding Polish girls on the dance floor. Second, someone headbutted Dr. Robbles for some minor infraction, but the little fella barely seemed put out. He's indestructible.
Information:
- The Pembury Tavern is at 90 Amhurst Road, E8 1JH (Tel: 020 8986 8597, website). It's well served by a number of bus routes, including my favourites the 38 and 55. I've written about it before a few times. The pub is supplied by Milton Brewery, Cambridgeshire.
- Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen is (unsurprisingly) on Hoxton Square, N1 6NU (Tel: 020 7613 0709, website). It's open until 2am on weekends. The bouncer was a bit of dick, to be honest. As was the bloke who nutted Robbles.
My mates aren't losers in the conventional sense. Yes, they all have crippling insecurities and several are uncomfortable with their sexuality, but on paper at least they're accomplished people.
Mentions of Jon on this blog have usually revolved around his choice of motor (a Renault Clio). When he's not driving a girl's car, he works for BBC News. Considerable blag potential comes with that, and last night we took advantage during Children in Need. This is a beer blog, so you probably don't want to hear about me boozing with the cast of Eastenders (Ian Beale's wife kissed me). I'll restrict myself to a mention of how surprisingly decent the selection at the BBC Club in Television Centre is.
Three cask ales is a good start - Young's Bitter, Special and Courage Director's. The Ordinary was surprisingly well kept, and ranked among the better pints of it I've had this year. In the fridges was another nice surprise: alongside bottles of Theakston's Old Peculier and Black Sheep Bitter was Titanic Stout (4.5% abv). You can't go wrong with this deliciously dark beer, laden with smoke, chocolate and coffee. A pronounced bitterness and hop aroma marks this out as a traditional brew. It deserves the awards bestowed upon it at CAMRA festivals.
I've always liked the BBC, left wing bias and all. Clearly there's money left to provide decent ales for the staff, even after paying Jonathan Ross's salary.
Information:
- Titanic Brewery is in Stoke-on-Trent (website). Their bottle conditioned stout is available from lager Sainsbury's supermarkets.
- The BBC Club is on the 4th Floor of Television Centre in Shepherd's Bush and is open to BBC employees and their guests.
I tried to chat up the girls who play Dawn and Carly but they weren't interested. I did snog someone off Holby City though. I'm not sure how long ago her 40th birthday was but she was no spring chicken. My standards slip year on year. I'll be tucking into grannies next.
 The more you expose yourself to the world's very best, the more you eschew the merely ordinary. Pause for a moment, because when you concentrate only on what's sloshing around in your glass, you end up missing out on a lot. A wonderful setting and good company can mean less and less. You stop being a beer lover, and you become a beer geek. Not good.
Now I'll admit that after three or four years of going at it hammer and tongs, I've tired of seeking out new flavours just for the sake of it. Some of my best beer moments have involved ordinary - and often positively ropey - brewing. Many of them happened before I began to take beer so seriously. Looking back through the holiday snaps, there are a few that I captured in a photograph.
Here's the first. A few years ago, I was with my friend Kieron in Morocco. I'd just grown my first full beard. We poked around Marrakech for a couple of days, before grabbing a grand taxi and heading across the Atlas mountains to distant Ouarzazate. It's a 20th century town built by the French Foreign Legion, not too far from the first sand dunes that give way to the Sahara. We checked into a hotel with a stunning swimming pool in a courtyard.
For our first day and night we were the only guests, before a truckload of Parisians crowded us out. We were happy to stay by that pool all day, drifting between the baking sun and the shade of the palms, just soaking it in. A gent with a bowtie and a gap-toothed smile kept bringing us beers. Local beer for us, please; Casablanca. The photo was taken on our table by the poolside.
That simple Moroccan lager tasted amazing, and the next few were even better. I neither know nor care what I'd make of it now.
 Less than a week after launch, The London Beer Map is now populated with almost 50 pubs, bars, breweries and beer shops. Thanks for all your suggestions. To keep it from getting too cluttered, I've resisted adding my own and others' favourite locals unless they offer something extraordinary on the beer front.
What's emerged is that Borough and the Holborn/Clerkenwell area enjoy the greatest concentrations of quality venues. It seems there isn't much to shout about in West London, aside from a few notable exceptions. Perhaps the map needs a little more work. If you think I've missed somewhere off, speak up. Just make sure your suggestion isn't Brew Wharf - I can't stand the bloody place.
This week the mundanities of the Great Unmentionable are preventing me from blogging. It's a nightmare. Thankfully Canadian-born reader Topdog Andy is on hand to fill in. He's just returned from a very special trip to North America:
 Honeymoons - to many, the ideal time to lay on a beach, float around a pool, or generally share a romantic time together. To me, the ideal time to tour a brewery or two. We decided to tour the Old Brewery in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Alexander Keith's India Pale Ale is an inexplicably popular beer in Canada, which bears absolutely no resemblance to an India Pale Ale - it's a golden ale that looks and tastes like a factory lager. Nevertheless, it sells very well on its image of being a traditional, maritime brew, despite being part of Inbev's portfolio.
I haven't toured many breweries, but I can only imagine this was the worst in the world. For approximately £8 each, we were given a tour by a poor young woman dressed in Victorian garbs. It seems that the tour guides are instructed to speak in faux-Irish/maritime accents and pretend it's 1820, so we were greeted with "Y'all lovely little darlings and fellers here to meet Alexander Keith?", and instructed to "turn off all jingly-janglies" (mobile phones), as "once we pass through that door, we will be transported back to my time of the 1800s".
Once we went through the door we were sat at a table and told that Alexander Keith is running late, but she would go fetch him. The "informational" video shown to us was peppered with hokey slogans: "Those who like it, like it a lot", "True quality", "Taking the time to get it right". Once brainwashed, we were then greeted by another student actor pretending to be a brewmaster, who showed us what hops and barley looked like. Wow. He then opened a book alleging to hold Alexander Keith's secret recipe, before closing it quickly, as if we'd start replicating mass-produced lager (sorry ... "IPA" ) in our bathtubs had we snuck a peek.
Finally, it was off to the brewery tap to meet the original tour girl, joined by two others who taught us to sing traditional maritime ballads while kindly allowing us to drink two halves of beer. While singing, the girls appeared to have a competition on who could look the most depressed about what their lives have become. In retrospect, I'd advise anyone visiting Halifax not to waste their time visiting Alexander Keith's brewery, and instead, check out the Garrison Brewery in the docklands. Their Irish Ale was one of the better beers I tried on the trip.
 Unless you're a truly banal person, buying Christmas presents is a task you'll be dreading. I'm a past master at making poor purchasing decisions. I once got my mum Ronnie Corbett's autobiography as part of her Christmas box.
This year, Brew Dog have come to the rescue, with BrandedBeer.com. How about gifting a loved one a case of personalised, top quality beer? Choose your brew, then design your label by uploading a graphic and adding messages. Your order will then be delivered in 3-5 working days. Now for the best bit. Stonch's readers get an exclusive discount. If you order 12 bottles of Hop Rocker (a heavily-hopped lager) or The Physics (an amber ale) and use the promotional code " blog" at the checkout, you'll get £5 off. There's no delivery charge added on, so that's just £25 all in. Definitely a bargain. I'm pleased to see the ever-entrepreneurial Brew Dog coming up with an idea like this, and happy to lend it support. There's no reason why small, craft brewers should leave innovative marketing to the big brands. PS. Obviously, just like a real dog, Brew Dog's new site isn't just for Christmas.
In the next few weeks, there are three London beer festivals that you shouldn't miss.
First off, The Pembury Tavern's winter bash kicks off on Wednesday, and will be on until Sunday. Don't miss it. You can see the results of our visit to their last festival here if you need convincing. The pub is at 90 Amhurst Road, Hackney, E8 1JH (Tel: 020 8986 8597, map, website).
Second, save some part of your battered liver for the 25th Old Ale Festival at The White Horse in Parson's Green, which will commence on Friday 23rd at 5pm and run throughout that weekend. The pub has been holding the event annually for quarter of a century, and it's nothing short of legendary. I was there last time, and you can read my match report here. The "Sloaney Pony" is at 1-3 Parson's Green, SW6 4UL (Tel: 020 7736 2115, website).
Finally, The Pig's Ear (cockney rhyming slang for the subject of this blog) is on in Hackney between Tuesday 4th and Saturday 8th December. It's to be held at the Ocean centre, 270 Mare Street, E8 1HE (opposite the Town Hall).
There's been no blogging from me for three days - but plenty of beer.
 Friday night drinks consisted of far too much Fullers London Porter, followed by pints of Meantime London Stout at Smith's of Smithfield. We then moved on to a club where I surprised the lads - and myself - by rejecting my taste buds and sensibilities, uttering the words "go on then, I suppose I'll have a pint of Stella".
The same team kicked off Saturday night in Bierodrome on Upper Street. We started nice and easy, with glasses of draught Delirium Tremens. After a while we relocated to The White Swan, a Wetherspoons participating in the chain's current real ale festival. As soon as I spotted a pump clip for Robinson's Old Tom I should have insisted we go somewhere else. It was all downhill from there on in.
Old Tom is a strong English ale with many devoted fans. In the glass it's dark brown with a tan head. The touches of port wine, sourness and toffee apple are immensely satisfying and perilously moreish. At 8.5% abv, it needs to be treated with respect. I failed to do so. The landlord would only serve it in half pint measures. That sounds sensible, but didn't really help - I downed seven glasses with indecent haste. I reasoned that they were only 90p each, and it isn't often a beer like this is available from a freshly-tapped cask. Needless to say, it was a mistake. Afterward we made for a private party. Put it this way - I didn't make any new friends there.
It's been a good weekend, but I am left feeling that single life can wear a man down. I think I might contact every girlfriend I've had since university and propose to them all. Hopefully one will accept and I can break this cycle. Should I start with the most recent, or work through them in chronological order?
Information:
Old Tom is brewed at the Unicorn Brewery in Stockport, Cheshire. Robinson's is currently owned and operated by the fifth and sixth generations of the family that founded the brewery in 1838. A filtered and pasteurised version of Old Tom is widely available in 330ml bottles. Try Sainsbury's, who seem to have listed it nationally.
Last updated on Sunday, 15 December 2008. If you have any suggestions for places to be included on the map, please leave a comment below.View Larger Map
Between us, we've got centuries of accumulated boozing knowledge. If there's anything worth knowing about beer in London, we've got it nailed down. With that in mind, it's time to make sense of it all.
Today, I've made a start on what hopefully will become a useful tool. It's a map of key haunts for the capital's beer lovers. You can zoom and move around London using the control buttons. Clicking on a blue placemarker brings up an information box, containing basic details of the venue and appropriate links.
To kick things off I've added 20-odd of the best pubs, bars, shops and breweries. That's just the beginning. What I'd like you to do is to suggest other places that should be added. Just leave a comment below. If I deem the suggestion worthy, I'll add it to the map. Let's set the bar high - everywhere that's included should have something exceptional about it. London deserves it.
UPDATE (15/11/07): One week on, and more than 50 locations are now included. The flags have been colour coded. Blue flags are pubs and bars. Green flags are breweries (including brewpubs). Red flags are beer shops.
UPDATE (27/08/08): After nine months, we've got around 100 entries.
 Here's a quick post on the hop for London readers. I got wind of the reopening of a Holborn pub, The Castle, via Stonch's Beer Group on Facebook. I'm there now for a quick butcher's, enjoying a well kept half of Brewsters VPA.
I've never been here before, so can't comment on how extensive a refurb the new owners, The Red Car Pub Company, have carried out. It's a perfectly ordinary corner boozer on Furnival Street (map), a narrow lane off High Holborn. Next door there's the HQ of the Jewish Chronicle, protected with bullet proof glass and police signs warning motorists not to stop outside.
The draw here is the promise to be the best real ale pub in the City. Sure enough, there are no less than eight handpumps. One is devoted to Young's Bitter, but all the others dispense microbrews, among them a house beer from Nethergate. Sadly, all the beer on offer tonight is bog standard bitter - what's with that? For example, there are no milds, stouts or porters, nothing over 4.5% 5% abv and no award winning beers.
The Castle is a very welcome addition to the London scene, and the location couldn't be better. However, if they want to build up a following they need to be a bit more savvy with the beer orders. Still, it's early days. I wish them the best of luck.
Popular lager Wifebeater is also known as Stella Artois - but not for much longer, thanks to the latest sleight of hand from the marketing bods. Today's Daily Telegraph has this:
"It is the beer which has gone from being 'reassuringly expensive' to being referred to in pubs by the unflattering soubriquet 'wife beater'. Now, in an effort to restore its respectability, Stella Artois is to become simply Artois." The brand certainly has taken a battering. There have been several unflattering stories in the last few months alone. In June, it was linked to binge-drinking by a judge in Brighton Crown Court. The Advertising Standards Authority rapped InBev for implying Stella had been brewed by the same family for 600 years, proving yet again that marketing based on its supposed heritage is misleading (it was first brewed in 1926). A contamination scandal in Canada hasn't helped either. You can buy 20 cans of it for as little as £8.99 in supermarkets - hardly "reassuringingly expensive", and a sure sign that the product that has lost any claim to premium status. If you look back over the last few decades, poor-quality beers that once enjoyed massive sales in Britain have sunk without trace. If there was a graveyard for defunct and discredited brands, you'd see headstones for the likes of Red Barrel, Double Diamond and Hofmeister. Stella Artois will join them one day, and a simple name change won't prevent its eventual demise.
 Oh, to think what could have been. Wood-panelled altbier brewhouses. The bracing air of a Baltic capital. The graceful boulevards of a Lombard powerhouse. Canalside bier cafés and the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb. Tiny beisl overshadowed by Imperial Habsburg opulence.
Instead, you're sending us to Norwich. An East Anglian city made famous by a fictional BBC presenter and web-footed locals - that's our lot for the next beer tour.
We put together a shortlist of cities across Europe, and promised to go on a beer tour to whichever one topped a readers' poll. To fly the flag for dear old Blighty, we included one option that's just two hours by train from London. We didn't really expect it to win - but it did, and by a country mile. Here are those results in full:  Stonch's Survey #3: Where next for the beer hunters? You decide!
- Milan 8 (2%)
- Vienna 18 (5%)
- Ghent 85 (27%)
- Düsseldorf 55 (17%)
- Vilnius 28 (9%)
- Norwich 116 (37%)
Cheers to everyone who voted, especially to Alan McLeod at A Good Beer Blog for making his preference clear. We'll make the journey in a couple of weeks time. Pub gen from those who've been to Norfolk's gleaming metropolis is most welcome - just leave a comment below. Pictured right is the The Ribs of Beef, a tasty looking boozer on the River Wensum, right in the centre of Norwich. It claims to offer 10+ real ales at a time, always including a mild. I hear it gets heaving on a Saturday night. See you there, then.
 If I reviewed every new beer I tried, this blog would be little more than a collection of tasting notes. However, when something really grabs me, I tell you about it.
On Sunday I enjoyed a session at The Harp, the best pub in Covent Garden (47 Chandos Place, WC2 4HS, map). The chalkboard outside advertised the usual range of beers (Harvey's Best, Timothy Taylor Landlord, Shepherd Neame Spitfire and Black Sheep Bitter). It was the promise of two guests - including a stout - from Wooden Hand Brewery in Truro, Cornwall, that drew me in.
Pubs that offer a constantly changing range of guest aless sometimes get caught on the hop when it comes to pumpclips. The Harp is no exception: the availability of the 4.5% abv stout was advertised only by a hand scrawled note attached to the handpump. I had to contact the brewery to find out it's actual name: Black Pearl.
The beer was delivered with an enormous head that called for a Cadbury's Flake, but instead was quickly demolished as I took my first gulps of a truly memorable pint. Uncompromising. burnt charcoal flavours are at the forefront, giving way to a satisfying blend of dark, winter fruit, espresso and cocoa. This is without doubt one of the finest session-strength cask stouts I've come across.
Information:
Wooden Hand are online here. They supply pubs and shops across Cornwall with cask and filtered bottled beers. They're also expanding into markets elsewhere, including London. If you see their beers at your local, I'd urge you to give them a try.
 5th November is here already. It's time to celebrate centuries-old sedition, then embrace the inevitable onset of Christmas tat. For beer lovers, this time of year has it's compensations. The dark days of winter are the cue for brewers to roll out their most toothsome seasonal ales.
Young's Winter Warmer slipped the leash last week, appearing in that brewery's tied houses across the capital. Last year's first batch from Bedford left a lot to be desired. Thankfully, they seem to have got their act together this time: the depth of flavour has returned, with last year's cloying sweetness banished in favour of a subtly bitter finish. This is great news, as Winter Warmer represents an almost extinct genus of draught beer - dark Burton ale. In the last few days, I've enjoyed pints of it at Dirty Dick's in the City (202 Bishopsgate, EC2M 4NR, map) and The Bunch of Grapes by Borough Market (2 St. Thomas St, SE1 9RS, map). Young's aren't the only brewery to offer a winter ale in its London pub estate. As of today, Fullers London Porter from the cask is replacing Mr. Harry as the Chiswick brewer's guest brew, and Shepherd Neame Original Porter will be available soon. Take a look outside, and make for your nearest boozer. There's never been a better time to adopt the habits of an old soak.
It's been months since I first posted about Hamish Howitt, an angry little man with a big pub in Blackpool. He's the twerp who vowed to "fight" the ban on smoking in confined workplaces, describing it as a "government incited hate crime".
Howitt was fined £500 today by Blackpool Magistrates' Court. He admitted allowing people to smoke is his pub on 12 separate occasions. The Judge chose not to impose a higher sentence, so as not to "make a martyr" out of the attention-seeking landlord.
It's now been six months since the smoking ban was put in place in England and Wales. I believe it's been a great success and has made pubs far more welcoming for those of us who don't want to drink in a fug of smoke.
 If you're living in the Czech Republic and want to drown in cheap domestic beer, head to Tesco. The British supermarket chain has two huge branches in the city centre.
In among the usual suspects and 10p bottles of unsexy cooking lager, we spotted something you certainly wouldn't see in the UK: 20L kegs of Staropramen for just £18. Mental. As you can see, the Goon was keen to grab a couple for his suitcase.
Perhaps it's unsurprising, when you consider that Czechs consume about 160 litres of beer per person, per year, making them world leaders. They don't do things by halves over there.
Information:
The figures on beer consumption per capita are from a 2005 Euromonitor report. Ireland (127l) came in second after the Czechs, followed by Germany (110l), Austria (106l), Belgium (99l) and the UK (96l). The USA (82l) just missed out on the top ten thanks to naughty Venezuela (83l).
The poll has only been running for 24 hours, and already over 160 of you have told us where to go.
  Last night four of the key conspirators met up in The Jerusalem Tavern to chew the fat. Early results had indicated Ghent (pictured left) was the favourite. We discussed staying at The Boatel, a floating hotel in the centre of town. Beer-wise, we'd be visiting bars like Het Waterhuis ann de Bierkant, Belga Queen and De Hopduvel. We'll certainly need our drinking boots on.
However, this morning it seems you're more likely to send us to Norwich. I've been told by Gazza Prescott that it's "one of the best cities in the UK for a pub crawl". It does seem to be awash with good pubs. We'll doubtless prop up the bar at The Fat Cat (pictured right), the city's leading freehouse. It's the only boozer in Britain to be named CAMRA's nationwide pub of the year twice.
Could one of the other cities still make a comeback, or is it already a two horse race? Remember - this is your decision. Send us where you will.
PS. To save this from being a long drawn out affair, I've shortened the polling period. The poll will now close at midday on Tuesday.
The lads are on my case. I promised to start a new poll last night to find out where you're going to send us on the next beer tour. Instead, I posted "some boring guff about the foregone conclusion that was the sparklers poll" (Chadders' words). I'm keen to make amends.
So here's the deal - you vote in this poll and we'll go on a beer tour to the city that wins. That's a promise. The following shortlist of six was decided between us, based on your suggestions. We haven't included places we've been to before, so this will be a true adventure for those of us who've already signed up.
Düsseldorf - home to altbier, a rare top-fermenting style of German beer. It's renowned as one of the country's best cities for pub crawling. Vilnius - of the three Baltic capitals, Lithuania's is considered the best for beer. We'll need to dress up like eskimos for this one. Ghent - the biggest city in East Flanders. It's home to a large student population and a smattering of top notch Belgian beer venues. Thanks to Eurostar, we won't even need to fly. Vienna - the Austrian capital boasts 10 or more microbreweries. It was ranked third in the world for quality of life in a recent survey. If we go there, we're confident of dragging that down for the duration of our stay. Milan - the stylish capital of Lombardy is another hub for the growing Italian artisanal beer scene. We won't waste time on culture and shopping, trust me. Norwich - the British, real ale option. Alan Partridge lived there. It's got some excellent pubs apparently. It's only a couple of hours from London. Doubtless we'll end up hiring a car, which always leads to grief.
Get voting. The poll will be open for a week five days. We've all laid our balls on the table and shared our personal preferences. I won't tell you what they are, but suffice to say - no-one's really keen on Norwich.
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A while ago, the editor of What's Brewing asked me to name my top ten beers for winter. I'd forgotten all about it. Opening up this month's issue, I see my choices have been published alongside lists from fellow beer writers Ben McFarland, Roger Protz and Melissa Cole. For those who aren't members of CAMRA and therefore don't get the paper, this was my list (in no particular order): 
