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Pub of the Month
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Last Updated : 09/06/10 |
The Beer of the Month pages are here...
If any of the winners actually wants a certificate commemorating this great event in their careers then let me know and I'll see what I can knock up in Paintshop Pro...
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had so much fun writing my beer of the month series I thought I'd add yet
another flavour to the pot, so to speak, in the form of this natural
progression to pub of the month! I do a lot of travelling and pub
visits so think that when I find a really exceptional pub (or bar, or
brewpub...) then I should tell you all about it. So, here they are...
Previous pub of the month pages for 2008 and 2009 are here.
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Pub of the Month - June 2010 |
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| Pub: Bartons Arms | Where: Birmingham |
| Address: High Street, Aston | |
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Details: Absolutely glorious example of Victorian pub architecture and, if more interest were needed, it's owned by Oakham... Citra and Thai food? Bliss... |
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I almost didn't give an award this month as nowhere really hit the spot as a top scooping pub but then, thinking about things, everything fell together and I realised that a pub doesn't have to have shed-loads of winners to be a great pub as long as it has interesting seasonals from the owning brewery, the odd guest, fantastic Thai food and a decor straight out of the Orient Express... of course, I'm rambling about the Bartons Arms in Aston, which is a classic pub in every sense although not exactly a scooping hotspot.
So, why have I chosen it? Basically because I have a huge soft spot for Oakham beer and, with half a dozen on sale including all seasonals, you'll probably need something unless you're really desperate in which case I'd simply decamp to the Anchor. I scooped two beers, Oakham Tranquility and Birds Back of the Net, and if Oakham Chinook had been stillaged we could have blagged that too. Add in Oakham's trademark excellent Thai food - which goes great with Citra let me tell you - and you're onto a good thing.
I hadn't realised just how easy it is to get to the Bartons by bus (57 from near Moor St) so I'll definitely be there more often and, if you like hops and Thai food, you should too; okay, it's not a scooperfest, but every now and again there's the need for sheer quality rather than yet another mid-brown crystal malt and fuggles clone.
See it on my Birmingham Google map here...
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Pub of the Month - May 2010 |
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| Pub: Green Dragon | Where: Portland, Oregon, USA |
| Address: 928 SE 9th Avenue (Just North of the junction with SE Yamhill). | |
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Details: Excellent scooping bar which has 50 changing beers on two bars and offers the best, if not widest, range of scoops in "Beervana". |
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Not for nothing is Portland tagged "Beervana" and, if you've been there, you'll know that craft beer is everywhere and has seemingly impregnated itself into the very fibre of existence out in the Pacific North-West with more craft beer being sold than industrial beer, one of the very few places in the world (at present) where this is the case. There are brewpubs everywhere, even in the most post-industrial and unpromising neighbourhoods, and overall the city exudes an air of being very at-ease with it's relationship with proper beer.
Not only are there over 40 brewpubs in Portland itself (in an area approximately the size of Sheffield) but the surrounding countryside offers up dozens of others giving Oregon a good claim to the title of "Beeriest place on the planet". I spent a mere four days there in May and was amazed by the amount of beer around and, consequently, we only managed to get to around half of the places I had listed on my mammoth three-page "hitlist" although we still scooped around 150 beers in that time! With time of the essence we concentrated on the brewpubs where the eight glass samplers provided an easy method of bumping up the scooping tally although we did manage two visits to this bizarre place and with very good reason - the amazing beer list.
Now I'm not going to say the Green Dragon is in a nice area, it's not, although the post-industrial shabby low-rise lockups all around do give it an interesting feel. It's not a dodgy area, though, and deceptively close to the city centre with a ride on bus 15 (this travels outbound along Belmont, one block north, and inbound along Morrison one block further north) taking a mere ten minutes from the transport mall in the city centre meaning there's no excuse not to take a ride out here and soak up some culture! (In addition, the Hair of the Dog and Lucky Labrador brewpubs are only five minutes' walk away and the same 15 bus will take you to Belmont Station and the Horse Brass pub in ten minutes).
So, what's the gen? The first thing you'll see is a big green Anderson shelter-esque construction then the bar next door situated in what looks to be, in common with many of Portland's beery places, in an old garage complete with large roll-up door. Inside is a bar with 19 beers on tap and one handpull; this seemed good enough on it's own to warrant a lengthy stay but, as we peered into the depths of the room, we saw another bar at the back with another 30 - yes, thirty - beers on tap, all different than those on the front bar! These beers were from micro brewers all over Oregon and the west coast and I was pleased to see that, despite the pub being owned by Rogue, there were only two of their beers on sale out of 50! (I don't really like Rogue beers and, anyhow, I've scooped most of 'em already!).
I must state that we didn't have many outstanding beers in the 16 we tried although this wasn't due to any fault of the bar's cellarmanship, it was simply due to the beers we chose being rare/new breweries/big scoops and, consequently, some were from less good brewers or were less good beers, but this does not in any way put me off recommending the bar to anyone looking for a good range of beers in Portland as, looking at the lists, there were plenty of good beers available it was just that we chose the "scooper's" beers and were unlucky! The beer range changes by the hour as beers run off and new ones come one and there's even an "on the plate" list chalked on the cellar door which shows those due to come on next!
A major bonus is that they serve "flights" or tasting trays of beer for reasonable prices; simply choose four beers and you'll be handed a tray of four modestly-sized glasses from which you can scoop away easily and, more importantly, without becoming too pissed to scoop as drinking pints of 7% beer isn't a recipe for a long and fruitful day's scooping! Prices are slightly above average for Portland which means around $5 to $6 a pint for most beers; note that it's common practice throughout the states to charge the same price for most beers but to serve stronger ones in smaller glasses. This will generally be shown on the list alongside the beer as "12oz" or suchlike, this tells you that you'll get a smaller glass if you choose to drink that way but, with scooping flights available and 50 beers to choose from, why would you want to do that?
A brewery is in process of being installed but, in the meantime, there's a tiny "testplant" which is used once a week to produce bizarre and different beers with, generally, one being available at a time until it runs off. On our visit the beer was King Ghidorah which, to be honest, wasn't pleasant at all, but they're just beginning so I'll let them off! There is also a distillery next door, Integrity Spirits, whose products are on sale in the bar; if you're a Simpsons fan I dare you not to snigger at Lovejoy Vodka! (A cursory glance at a Portland streetmap will show just how many characters Matt Groening, a Portlander himself, lifted from the city's streets... Lovejoy, Burns, Kearney, Flanders and Quimby are all there!).
So, all in all, this is a proper, hardcore scooping bar in the interesting Southeast of Portland with easy access to the city centre via bus 15 a mere block away (every 15 minutes or so), around 50 beers on tap with many being rare and/or new, and many other brewpubs within a short walking distance or bus ride of the front door. Yes, Henry's taphouse has more beers vom faß (100), but the range and rarity of those on sale at the Green Dragon more than make up for the numerical shortfall and I can pretty much guarantee that, unless you're a real top man on Pacific Northwest US beers, you'll find a decent amount of winners on the bars in the Green Dragon making a visit here pretty much a necessity when in Portland and, in a city with so many top-class beer destinations, this is high praise indeed.
Close but no cigar.
A rather close second comes the 4th Avenue Tavern in New York for it's extensive range of rare brews, sociable staff and locals plus free popcorn! Henry's in Portland had 100 beers on tap although they could in reality have sold 25 and scrapped most of the dross and I didn't really like the "trendy" feel to the place although the ice rink around the bartop was well bizarre! The Horse Brass in Portland also comes close with an excellent range of mainly local brews (although some craptacular UK beers made us laugh too!) and I enjoyed the Ginger Man in New York a lot more this time around and it's a shame the Blind Tiger had a Rogue Festival on else that might have come close.
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Pub of the Month - April 2010 |
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| Pub: Degustatornia | Where: Gdańsk and Gdynia, Poland |
| Address: Grodzka 16, Gdańsk and Świętojańska 130, Gdynia | |
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Details: Two branches of a new chain of bars in Northern Poland which aims to serve at least a dozen beers on tap and 100+ in bottle! See my map... |
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What a turnaround Northern Poland has experienced, craft beer-wise, during the last five years. We last visited Gdańsk in 2006 the beer scene there was, to put it mildly, almost non-existent with no brewpubs, no specialist beer bars, no beer shops and only the existence of adventurous local brewer Amber providing relief with their solid and, in some cases very good, beers.
Now the city - which must rate as one of the most under-appreciated and unknown classics of Europe - has it's very own brewpub in a pristinely renovated granary which serves pale, dark and wheat beers at tourist prices to wealthy locals and German day-trippers but this award isn't for them, it's for a new chain of bars which is striking out where no-one has been before and offering a dozen beers on tap plus anything from 100 to 150 in bottle and, amazingly, the majority of these are from smaller Polish brewers. The original bar opened in the industrial port city of Gdynia, a place very few tourists visit, and now a second has opened in the much more touristy city of Gdańsk. Both bars are quite different with the Gdynia one being a cellar bar which majors on draught beers with an amazing array of 20 or so pumps (the beers on sale are displayed on cards on the taps and above the bar) whilst the Gdańsk branch makes more of it's bottle range with large fridges containing beers from an impressively long list, although not all are available at all times.
We visited both bars and although I preferred the "pubbiness" of the Gdynia bar more - plus the tap selection was better - the Gdańsk bar is far easier to get to and therefore the one most scoopers will visit, although with the SKM train linking Gdańsk and Gdynia Wzgórze Św. Maksymiliana (the stop before Gdynia main station) every ten minutes and only taking half an hour it's not really that far off the beaten track to visit both. The only major issue with the bars is the lack of proper food, although nibbles such as nachos (in reality a pile of doritos with salsa) or cheese is the only option, but in a country full of cheap milk bars (bar mleczny) just about everywhere this isn't a big a problem as you'd expect. Okay, enough of the travel semantics, what are the bars like to drink in and, more importantly, what about scooping potential?
The answer is, in both cases, good and very good. Whilst both are very different bars both have - for Poland, especially - huge ranges of beer and, more importantly, these ranges don't include too much crap and very little multinational swill. Most draught beers are from Poland as is around half of the bottled range with the remainder from countries such as Slovakia, Ukraine, the Baltics, Germany and even the UK! For most scoopers, though, it's the Polish selection you'll be concentrating on and there are some absolute gems on the list including, for example, small-brewer beers such as Bartek jasne, Gościszewo Viva Hel and the rare Amber Żywe niefiltrowane (unfiltered and unpasteurised) on tap (if you're lucky!), and in bottle whoppers including beers from Cornelius, GAB, Koreb and Konstancin. If you're after Baltic Porters - and who isn't? - there's a good selection of those on offer plus a growing list of unpasteurised and/or unfiltered beer.
So, Degustatornia is a chain of bars with, by the looks of things and our experiences (packed out with young locals most nights), a great future in providing micro-brewed beer to those Poles who have had to make do with industrial swill for a long time. Not so many years ago it looked as if the Multinationals had the Polish beer market sewn up tight but now, as in almost every other country in the world, customers are demanding local, natural products and there is a new breed of small brewer ready to provide it. The only thing missing used to be a dedicated craft beer bar but, in my opinion, the two Degustatornia bars tick all the boxes for us Euroscoopers and those locals and tourists in search of craft beer and I hope they continue to expand and follow the same path in future.
A worthy mention must go to the Hole in the Wall at Southsea, Portsmouth, which would have walked it this month had I not gone to Poland...
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Pub of the Month - March 2010 |
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| Pub: BQ - Birra Artigianale di Qualitŕ | Where: Milan, Lombardia, Italy |
| Address: Via Losanna 36 | |
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Details: The best "scooping" pub in the North of Italy goes from strength to strength; 20 beers on tap plus others on handpull/cask too. Open 12:00-15:00 and 19:00-02:00 daily. |
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Just over a year after our chancing upon BQ the first time, we visited again and, if anything, it's now even better! Paolo Polli welcomed us again and his obvious pride and passion for the place is great to see. The 20 taps are still pouring forth superb artisanal beers from Italy and beyond - we scooped 15 beers that evening! - and now there is a handpull on the bar plus another cask beer from the back room in addition to Girardin oude lambic and kriekenlambic from their "bagbox" dispensers, plus a range of bottled beer from Italian micros which is rather impressive too!
So, how could this temple to beer get any better? Well, maybe some of the staff could be trained a little more and the changing of finished beers and the menu could be improved (how about a big TV or chalkboard of what's on like the Welly in Brum?) but these are minor niggles really and take nothing away from BQ's amazing commitment to craft beer and spreading the word about it to the masses. Prices are the same as last year, reasonable for Milano especially the "3x10cl for €4" deal, and overall I can't think of many places with as much love for beer (Popeye in Tokyo and Ma che siete venuti a fŕ in Rome are two which spring to mind) and such a huge, varied range as this place has.
The decor is still pretty much bare walls and striplights, not your cosy little bar by any means, but the huge expanse of wall now has large photos of the brewing process on it plus there are display cabinets of bottled beers opposite the bar which reminded me immediately of Porterhouse in Dublin. You can stand at the bar, just, where you get a better impression of what's on, although it's table service and this is what you're supposed to do! Paolo told us that this year the bar will be moved to the rear of the building, opening up the whole area into one (a big improvement IMO) and more taps / handpulls will be installed to cater for increased demand for beers. I imagine the bar will be closed for a while during these works so, if you're visiting, keep an eye on the website to check what's happening and what beers are currently on tap; I like to look at the beer list and slaver over my keyboard wishing I were there at least once a week...
So, here's to our next visit to one of my favourite beer bars I've visited thus far on my travels and, if you've not yet ventured to Italy, just go and experience a craft beer revolution in full ferment with Milan right at the centre of it all; see my guide to the city's beery delights here, so now just get yourself there and see how good it is for yourself... you won't go thirsty in Milan, let me put it that way!
I feel really unfair in not mentioning Hop, my second-favourite bar in Milan, which can't compete with BQ in number of beers but, even so, is a superb little bar and stocks ten draught Italian micro-brewed beers with most being from Lambrate (never a bad thing!) plus three or four guest beers. During our visit to Hop we visited during aperitivo and received, along with our cheaper medias of beer, delicious toasted bruschettas which we munched on happily. The beer, too, was superb with Lambrate's superb Ligera pale ale simply oozing raw CTZ hop oils and was so good I had to have another! You might not scoop as many beers in Hop as you will in BQ but it's an essential visit when in town.
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Pub of the Month - February 2010 |
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| Pub: Cask Pub & Kitchen | Where: Pimlico, London |
| Address: 6 Charlwood Street | |
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Details: Once a keg-only pub now an unashamedly upmarket one with eight cask ales plus a growing range of Foreign, especially German, beer on tap and in bottle; a huge gain for London. |
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I know, I know... London's all expensive beer, flat pints, pearly geezers, city twats and insufficient public transport, isn't it? The only decent pubs are in Borough Market and they charge the earth for their beer...
London has come a long way in the last few years. Yes, the old favourites such as the Wenlock and Market Porter are still there and as busy as ever, but a whole raft of new places is beginning to emerge and some of them are extremely good indeed, for example the Bree Louise at Euston, Edgar Wallace at Temple, Castle at Chancery Lane, Southampton Arms up by Crouch Hill and Old Fountain at Old Street. It seems as if Londoners are finally, after many false starts and years of indifference, waking up to the fact that a good pub serving craft-brewed ale is a thing to support not ignore.
My first visit to London for over two years was a chance for me to try out as many of the "shiny shiny" as possible within the constraints of my consumption and time limits! After visiting the Bree Louise, where four decent beers were supped, I made my way via the Victoria line down to Pimlico and trudged along in the drizzle until I found what looked to be a very unpromising-looking building tacked onto the end of some vaguely dubious-looking flats; was this really the place which was getting London's in-the-know beer people all excited?
Inside was dimly-lit and stripped-down modern although all I was really interested in, not being a critic of interior design, were the eight handpulls on the bar! Four, as I'd heard, dispensed Thornbridge beers (sadly no scoops) whilst the others hosted an eclectic range of vaguely local guest beers including Harwich Phoenix APA, Twickenham Sundancer and Two Bridges Golden Cygnet. I worked my way through the beers and all were in great condition, not always the case in London, whilst explaining to the barman that I was visiting on recommendation which he seemed surprised about! Well, I explained, when you make such an impact in such a short time tongues will begin to wag...
Okay, the beer was expensive (I think over Ł3 a pint), but so what? I'd much rather pay this for well-kept scoops than slightly less for Fullers or suchlike, besides when you've regularly paid €12 a bottle for craft beer in Italy Ł1.70 a half isn't likely to break the bank by comparison. With so much more to do I had to cut short my visit and, unfortunately, I didn't have time to get into the German bottled beers - which were far more interesting than your standard bottle list - but the next time I'm in London I'll be back at the Cask & Kitchen as it might just be the next big thing in town. Okay, it doesn't have the huge turnover of the Porter or eclectic range of the Wenlock, but it deserves supporting for making a stand for craft beer in an area not renowned for it and I hope they succeed - going on my experience on a wet Thursday afternoon they deserve to.
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Pub of the Month - January 2010 |
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| Pub: Pibar | Where: Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland |
| Address: Rue du Valentin 62. Map | |
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Details: Tiny bar out to the north of the city with the best range of locally-brewed beer for miles. Opens Tue-Thu 11:00-14:00 and 17:30-24:00, Fri & Sat 11:00-14:00 & 16:30-01:00, closed Sun and Mon. |
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Well, I never expected this. After a week in Basel where the beer scene was just about the same as during my previous visit 2 years back I was off to Lausanne with scant regard paid to beery research as, with it being in the French sector of the country, just how much beeriness could there possibly be? We'd visited the city's two brewpubs even further back in the prehistory of our European trips (during 2005 which, for us, is virtually Jurassic) and although there were a few micro-brewers mentioned on the net nothing else had shown itself during our time in town, so I steeled myself for nine days of drinking average (and very dud) Trois Brasseurs and Chateau beers.
After arriving into Geneva via Paris (which remains one of my least liked airports, if you've an hour or two I'll explain) a colleague and I took the train to Lausanne where I wasn't particularly surprised to see that the opposite bank of Lac Leman was shrouded in mist - which resolutely refused to budge during the following eight days - denying me some glorious photos of the lake from any number of vantage points around the city. To compensate, and utilising the amazingly sensible Swiss habit of a free city "all-line" travel pass given by every hotel, I scratched the city's extensive trolleybus system whilst watching out for possible beery bars although I saw only one, a small place with a Chimay sign outside, not my idea of craft beer but still I half-heartedly marked it on my map for checking out later in the week.
All went to plan for the first few days until I found myself at work with a few hours to spare and a wide-open internet just begging to be surfed. With the help of Bov's gen-packed site I began to trawl through the websites of the local micros and, to my shock, some bars were mentioned that stocked craft beer! One name in particular cropped up during my search, that of the intriguingly-named Pibar (pi as in the Greek letter and bar as in bar), and so armed with a hastily scribbled map off I went on trolleybus No.1 whereupon I realised that this bar was the one I'd seen on my very first evening and neglected to investigate thus far; well, now was the time for some proper beer-hunting!
The bar was tiny inside and very... well, red in decor and looked as if it was relatively new (apparently it used to be called Bar Boucanier which was also famous for it's beer) and, having just opened, empty apart from a few early-door customers. I perched myself at the bar and studied the fridges and beer menu whereupon I felt my pulse quicken; I'd only gone and found a scooping pub in Lausanne! The list contained well over a dozen Swiss craft beers including the mysterious local Dr Gabs, adventurous Faiseurs de Bičre, highly regarded Trois Dames, over-rated (in my opinion!) BFM plus, as a bonus, small chalkboards announced the arrival of yet another local brewer to the already packed fridges; Jorat! This was going to be a night to remember...
The barman, who I assume is also part-owner, spoke very little English but my French had, during the preceding few days, evolved to a level permitting me to order things so I worked my way through half a dozen brews plus a delicious plate of tapas, prepared fresh in the tiny kitchen by my new friend. As I scored my winners the bar slowly filled up (which, given it's size, didn't take long) and it was heartening to see that despite 99% of the clientele being under 30 - making me probably the oldest geezer in the place - they almost all seemed to be beer-lovers and pored over the menus with great deliberation before ordering their chosen beverage. Many went for the pretty decent Belgian range although the local Dr Gabs brews seemed to be popular, particularly the Ténébreuse stout, although Trois Dames topping the bill for me, in particular their IPA and Brown IPA, both of which oozed citrussy, fruity hops; not something I'd expected in Switzerland, I must admit...
Eventually it was time to leave and so, wishing the barstaff (who probably wondered when I was going to piss off and stop slurring away in atrocious schoolboy French at them) good night, I clumped off down the precipitous hill back to the centre of Lausanne and then on to my hotel where, over deliciously Beamish-esque (mid 90's, obviously) bottle of Trois Dames Black Stout, I reflected that I'd almost missed out on what must be one of the most beery places in the whole of Switzerland! You might expect in bar that small to find a couple of craft beers but Pibar seems to go all-out for the city's "beer destination" prize and, in my opinion, walks it; not many bars have that much love for beer, so many beery customers and all-round craft beer vibe as Pibar has and, for these reasons, it's dangerously close to my top-five bars of all time on the strength of just three visits in a week!
If you're in Lausanne, or anywhere near, do yourself a favour and get to Pibar, perch yourself at the bar and work your way through the impressive beer list. Some staff speak English, some don't, but love of beer overrides such unimportant matters and this place has that flowing out the door and down the hill. All they need to do is lose the bottles of Greede King IPA...
To get to this bastion of craft beer take trolleybus 1 from the station (northbound, direction Blécherette) to Druey College, 50 metres up the hill, although be aware the southbound stop is a little distance further up along Av. Druey (the left-hand fork). To be honest, the hill is so steep it's easy enough to walk back to Place Riponne in five minutes although walking up isn't advised...!
I've archived the previous entries off to here, but to save you wasting your valuable time looking at them I've surmised the gen thus;
January 2009 : BQ, Milan
February 2009 : Royal Blenheim, Oxford
March 2009 : Hops & Barley, Berlin
April 2009 : North Bar, Leeds
May 2009 : Bakusyu club Popeye, Tokyo
June 2009 : Monk’s Café Sveavägen, Stockholm
July 2009 : Star, Huddersfield
August 2009 : None awarded!
September 2009 : Bar La Pause, Genoa
October 2009 : Český Ráj, Wrocław
November 2009 : Wellington, Birmingham
December 2009 : Sheffield Tap, Sheffield
With the overall winning pub being the superb Popeye in Tokyo. The Harlequin was my favourite "scooping" pub of the year yet again!
