Ye Hole In Ye Wall, Liverpool 15/7/15

Ye Hole In Ye Wall the oldest pub in Liverpool.

Landlord Steve only gets beers from Micro Breweries and has six handpulls, always on.

Below is the current selection.

Tasters are not offered but "Taster Trays" of three thirds are sold for the price of a pint plus a small deposit.

The Excelsior, Liverpool 15/7/15

A short walk from the bus stop on Dale Street is my first stop, The Excelsior.

A large open-plan(ish) pub, The Excelsior is divided into three parts, a large bar area with two bars and a separate large dining / function room.

The bar sports six hand pumps (all on) and an extensive food menu is served 12-2

Below are the beers that are currently on.

The food was very nice, I had a Bacon and Brie Panini and skin-on chips.

The chips were the best I've tasted in a long time, they can with salt on and didn't even need vinegar or ketchup!

Charters Bar, Peterborough 25/6/15

As this is my final (regular) vist to Charters in Peterborough, here's the beer and cider boards.

The Liverpool Pigeon, Crosby

Returning to Freshfields station, I just miss my train and had 15 mins to wait for the next one.

I departed the train at Blundellsands And Crosby, then walked a mile, guided by Google Maps, to The Liverpool Pigeon micropub, currently Liverpool CAMRA Pub Of The Year.

The Liverpool Pigeon is one of many MicroPubs popping up around the Liverpool and Wirral area, and around the country!

Opening its doors in October 2013, landlord Pat has won Liverpool CAMRA Pub Of The Year two years running in 2014 and 2015.

Four real ales greeted me upon my arrival.  No food, but a selection of nuts from the Liverpool Nut Company.

After two halves, I walked another mile, this time in a straight line, to Waterloo.

The Freshfield, Formby

Getting the train from Spital, it's half and hour into Liverpool Central.  At Central I changed to the Northern Line for another half hour run to Freshfields.

A ten minute walk from the station brought me to The Freshfield pub.

A modern open plan pub, an ale lover's delight presents itself as you walk through the door!

14 hand pulls!

A good verity of local and national beers.

I didn't catch the barman's name, but he was very polite and helpful.

The current management have been there since 2012 and the pub was in the top three for national Pub Of The Year this year.

The beer was of good quality and reasonably priced.  CAMRA Discount offered.  Price varied depending on strength, discount varied depending on prices!

There is also an extensive food menu. 

I had firey chicken with blue cheese dip to start, 

and a pulled pork fajita and onion rings as my main.

The pub is dog friendly and even has a menu for them!

In addition to their regular range of 14 real ales The Freshfield is having a beer festival in July with upto 100 real and craft ales!

Liverpool Beer Festival 2015 (20/02/2015)

Today I am at Liverpool Beer Festival.

This festival is a ticket-only even and sells out several months before the event!  As with other pre-sale beer festivals CAMRA members get extra beer tokens.  Tickets for the session I attended were £7!

The event is held every February in the crypt of Liverpool's Metropolitan cathedral, known locally as "Paddy's Wigwam", so is nicknamed "Ales From The Crypt".

The event has been by advance ticket only for many years now, unfortunately the tickets sell out by November!

Electronic tickets are scanned up entry and a passout wristband issued.  Proceed down the stairs to collect your free glass (a half pint glass with no 3rd line on it!), proceed down again and into the crypt. Every similar beer festival I have ever been to has has beer tokens available on the door, not this one!  You are required to proceed all the way to the opposite end of the beer festival, where you must then buy sheets of beer tokens, minimum £10!  CAMRA members get an additional £3 of vouchers upon showing a current membership card.  Even though remaining tokens are refundable, this is one of the most expensive beer festivals I have ever atteneded with an initial cost of £17.

Once in and beer tokens bought, there was an initial range of 220 beers.  Not all were on,   The festival started at the sponsor bar, who this year were Liverpool Craft Beer Company.  The pricing wasn't too bad. Under 4% £1/half 4%-7% £1.50/half and over 7% £2.00/half.  The staff I delt with were nice and friendly and usually gave generous tasters!  I even got talking to a member of bar staff who was on a break.

It was busy, but not heaving.  Although there was room to move in at main hall, finding a table to sit at to eat at in the next hall was next to impossible.

The Place To (Ar)go in Peterborough

The Argo Lounge in Cathedral Square is the latest in “The Loungers” chain, owned by Bristol Beer Factory and will join 47 other “lounges” around the country and The Cozy Club in Stamford.

All Loungers pubs have a near identical layout.  They also have a specially brewed, pasteurized beer called Loungers available on tap as well as lager, tea and coffee.  When sister-lounge Otto Lounge opened in Heswall on The Wirral open in October 2013 they sold Bristol Beer Factory Toga Man ale, but the demand wasn't there for it.  Let’s hope that that failure in the north doesn't mean they don’t try and sell Toga Man to the residents of Peterborough.

Argo Lounge opens on December 17th.