The Shard edges it's way up London's skyline

Beneath the glinting facade of the half built Shard – a sharp glass stalactite stretching toward the smog-less skies – sits ones of London’s ugliest train stations. Brown corrugated shelters just about cover the platforms at London Bridge and the scruffy mustard floors are no welcome to weary travellers.

Beyond this minor aesthetic setback, arriving into London is always something to cherish. It’s a moment that makes me want to scold myself, such is the childlike exuberance that floods my brain as I step off the train and fumble for a tube map or travel card. No other city gives me this uncontrollable rush of blood to the head.

London is a city built on layers of history and generations of equal hardship and innovation. Every street offers a story, every borough a different surprise. London’s bounty can only really be revealed by walking (with a little help from the Tube).

On a cold November Friday this in exactly what we’re doing, four and a half excitable beer lovers braving the rasping wind and diving temperatures. Back in Leeds the first snowflakes are appearing and Britain’s biggest early winter freeze for 17 years is, unbeknown to many of us, about to bring the road and rail network to it’s knees.

Starting off from the striking  Old Fountain, a pub cum pie shop with a lively atmosphere but lacklustre beer, we walked from Old Street to Farringdon. Starting with the bright exterior of the Old Fountain we passed a smorgasbord of architectural styles: Edwardian terraces, Victorian churches and Tudor barricades. The Knights Hospitallers once walked these streets, maybe even visited these pubs.

At the Gunmakers Arms, hidden inconspicuously down a strangely empty side street, landlord Jeff greets us and serves pints of Mad Goose, Town Crier and Harvest Moon. From the beautiful façade to the all wooden interior The Gunmakers oozes retro chic, an image tarnished only by the market-town-circa-1750 feel to the beer list. Is this the middle of modern London or middle earth? In a surreal twist of fate conversation turns to social security, the cultural identity of Africa and the Millennium Bug. I shit you not.

Imbibed and refreshed we march down Leather Lane, London’s jewellery quarter and it doesn’t disappoint. The only two non-jewellery establishments are a couple of bookmakers. Presumably for winning back the money you’ve just reluctantly spent on your loved one.

Sam Smith's pubs are going strong in the City of London

Turning the corner the glass behemoth of the Sainsbury’s Customer Support Centre dominates Holburn Circus where once the statue of England’s only official Prince Consort stole the show. Only a stones throw away is Cittie of York, a typically London-style Sam Smith’s pub. Wooden clad across every available surface, the cosy upright booths are a far cry from The Fountain in Morley, and the Cittie of York deserves its place in CAMRA’s inventory of historic pub interiors. Cheeky jokes about the price of beer in London are greeted with a crafty smile and a pint and a half only just breaks a £2 coin. Weirdly Sam Smith’s seem to have more of a heritage in the capital than Yorkshire sometimes and for a Thursday afternoon trade is as lively as the Angel of Briggate in Leeds (a pub where two pints of bitter leaves you change from £2.50).

Lubricated, the vaguely south-westerly march to Embankment continues, via a stop at The Harp in Covent Garden. The area is cosmopolitan and cultured; shoppers, tourists and office skivers scurrying around, in and out of shops, eateries and festively-lit alleyways. The Harp is the perfect drinking hole: narrow and busily decorated; and so it’s no surprise that it’s on the short-list for CAMRA pub of the year. Space for four is found upstairs in the B&B style living room and lively Friday afternoon banter ensues. Thornstar takes us over the threshold of tipsy and I make the mistake of a pint not a half. But outside it’s freezing and getting dark so a beer jacket is required.

The winter night draws in fast and we beat the commuter rush by hiding in a McDonald’s queue, cardboard meat filling a hole  just long enough for us to get to The White Horse at Parson’s Green, a standing tube ride through throngs of Londoners desperate to get home to warm meals and a weekend away from the office. Our journey west takes us to a haven of dark, strong beers: scores of half pints litter a long evening drinking whiskey-aged, barrel-aged, imperial-esque stouts, porters, barley wine and Christmas beers.

After much beer exploration and mingling with beer friends already well watered with 8%+ beer,  the night suddenly swallows us up, spitting  half of us out on trains homeward bound and the other half of us at a late night burrito bar. Memories fade in and out; a French couple sharing enchiladas; people on their way out, people on their way home; theatres spilling happy revellers into inapprorpriatelysmall streets; galloping through vaguely familiar roads towards the train with the thrill of not knowing exactly where you are. My travelcard is weathered and worn as we enter countless metal barriers and Whipping Picaddilly is racing through my head ( I’m nearly drunk enough to sing along out loud).

We finish where we started, under the now dark presence of the clandestine Shard, and those ugly, plastic-looking platform shelters at London Bridge. Exuberance has kept me going all day and the god-awful design is merely a long forgotten hiccup in London’s ability to send me into a state of tongue-hanging wonder. The mix of buildings; the volume of things to see; the vast horizon stretching in every direction; the countless beers ready and waiting to be sunk tomorrow. If Brian Cox told me it was the centre of the universe I’d believe him.

These were the second and third Nicholsons Pubs we visited on our day out. Both followed the same theme of the Nicholsons brand, a traditional style pub with a good range of real ales on offer. The format is the same up and down the country as we can see in Leeds’ own Victoria and Commercial and Scarborough Hotels.

I’ll cut straight to the chase…..the beers on offer were…

The White Lion, Covent Garden –

Black Sheep Brewery – Golden Sheep – darker in appearance than I expected from the ‘golden’ cousin of the Black Sheep. The beer was remarkably smooth, not in a London Pride ‘I could drink this all day’ manner, but a fuller more satisfying way.

Shepherd Neame – Late red – a promising fruity nose is borne out in the initial flavour. This fruitiness falls away to a nutty aftertaste that lingers in the mouth.

Morrisey Fox – Brunette – slightly acidic and sharp in the first instance, there is some fruity flirtation but ultimately it fails to deliver in full.

Timothy Taylor Landlord

Fullers London Pride

The Three Greyhounds, Soho(ish) –

Daleside – Autumn Leaves – the flavour delivers what the name promises with a smoky, dark fruit flavour lingering through to a distinct note of Raspberry.

Abbot Ale – a strong punchy English wake-up call to the taste buds. Darker and stronger than anything else I’d tasted on the day

My last review of this bar shows that I wasn’t massively taken by my last visit. I had been on a sunny bank holiday weekend and had been disappointed by the lack of summer or pale ales available on draught.

People who know assured me that I should go back and take another look, focussing on the bottled selection rather than what they have available on draught. Firstly I should say that the bar is far larger than I realised on my first visit (we had sat outside last time) which is lucky as I’m told that it can get very busy on evenings through the week.

The range of bottled beers could easily keep a beer hound happy all evening. Naturally my instinct is to compare it to the places that I know and visit often and the ranges of beers available offers easy comparison with North Bar in Leeds. The range of bottles available is probably broadly similar to North although I would again mention that the range is pretty limited in Porterhouse if you actually want a pint. The other main difference between the  two is the decor and I have to say that, while I do find the rustic minimalism of North appealing, the strange copper (nautical themed) interior of the Porterhouse was ultimately far more comfortable.

On the day I opted for an Anchor Pale Ale and recommended a bottle of Orval for Jack but there was plenty of range on the beer menu so I’m sure most people wi’ll find something they like here.

This post does exactly what it says on the tin. A couple of weeks ago I had a day off work and thought a trip to sample the real ale houses of London was in order.

Some of the establishments warranted posts of their own but, unfortunately, some did not. Those that did not are only mentioned here and may include brief tasting notes of the beers we (my University housemate and East End friend Jack was helping me out for the day) came across during our travels.

The pubs that we felt warranted their own posts tended to have a number of quality real ales on which we made tasting notes and the full articles that will follow are as much about the beers as the pubs. The itinery for the  day was as follows…

We met at Tooting Bec tube station, luckily bumping into each other outside one of the four exits, to visit the first pub of the day…

The Kings Head, Tooting – This place had a classic style, with original Victorian tiling, but a modern touch with Sky Sports and an IT Box. Despite the appealing decor I have to say that it was ultimately at the lower end of what can be considered a ‘Real Ale’ pub. There are three regular ales, Old Speckled Hen, Greene King IPA and London Pride, as well a Guest Ale of Highland Davenport’s The Fall (which was off). Both Jack and myself decided to start the day with London Pride – I will not go over old ground with tasting notes but will say that the beer was well kept.

The Eagle Ale House, Clapham – unfortunately The Eagle did not open until three and we arrived at one thirty. As  we arrived the landlord was unfortunately on his way out. He said that if he had not been he would have opened for us. That would have got him a very very good review. In the event, having not been able to go into the bar I can say that, from the outside it looked absolute quality. A massive regret that we were not able to have a beer there but one to add to the list of good reasons not to leave it too long before heading South again.

The Prince of Wales, Clapham – a 20 minute walk from The Eagle and also closed! In all honesty this did not look to offer the same quality drinking environment as we just felt we had probably missed out on but it did carry Timmy Taylor’s on draught so would certainly be worth a visit if passing on that basis alone.

The Porterhouse, Covent Garden (revisited) – following my last visit to the Porterhouse, which left me slightly underwhelmed,  The Beer Boy had encouraged me to give it another go. Suffice to say that a a revisit proved a productive way to spend some time, full review and tasting notes to follow.

The Coal House, The Strand – the first of three Nicholson Pubs visited on the day, the rolling range of 12 autumnal guest ales, coupled with the regular stock offered us enough tasting opportunities to complete a full review.

The White Lion, Covent Garden & The Three Greyhounds, Soho (ish) -the other two Nicholson Pubs and the beers on offer again justified their own posts.

The Crown & Two Chairmen, Soho – this pub was probably the jewel in the crown for the day and will certainly be getting its own review in due course.

The Duke of Argyll, Soho – this was the last stop of the day (although the whole point of the midweek trip was to get to The Jerusalem which fell through due to our unproductive rambling around Clapham). We were both feeling the effects of a long, tiring day by this time so tasting notes are limited! What did stand out was the fact that I ordered two pints of bitter and was charged only £3.58…..IN THE CENTRE OF LONDON!!!!!! They were not individual bottles of craft beer but they were good honest pints and absolute value at that price!!!

Needless to say that the hops were kicking in and, I headed back for my train, I made sure I set my alarm so that I didn’t miss my stop!

Walking into the porterhouse it was immediately obvious that this was a ‘big name’ London pub. From the Nebuchadnezzar of Champagne just inside the door way to the hundreds of bottled drinks displayed around the walls, everything about this pub shouted that it was going to be a real treat for a beer lover.

I was wrong.

As it was only lunchtime and, knowing that I was going to be drinking well into the night, not wanting to be drinking anything too heavy too early, I asked the barman what Pale Ales or Golden Summer offerings they had (bearing in mind that this was a sunny bank holiday weekend). The answer was that they did not currently have any of these on draught, which, given the weather, to my mind seemed crazy. The barman then offered my a pint of porter, I’m not sure how he thought this would be good advice to someone looking for a pale or golden ale but there you go and he would have been doing his employer a better service by offering me bottled alternatives of what I actually wanted. Finally, after an admittedly unsolicited sample, I settled on a pint of the Porterhouse Red.

The beer is 4,4% abv and, while being deep red in colour and distinguishably hoppy in flavour, did not overpower. The beer was well kept and smooth, although the barman could have taken longer over the pouring and topped it up so that I didn’t need my snorkelling gear for the first mouthful.

I just could not get past the fact that they did not have a seasonal draft offering. It was not the light summer ale that I was looking for but I could well imagine it fitting well into the same situation in six month’s time. Perhaps stepping in from a Guy Fawkes celebration to sup in front of an open fire – that is where this beer would fit for me.

My conclusion on the Porterhouse I’m afraid is one of disappointment. To build up a catalogue of bottled beers and sell them to people attempting to show off to friends and colleagues takes no great skill. My own view is that bottled beers, now matter how varied, must be complimented by a full range of draught ales. To source and maintain these seasonal guest ales and keep them to the, admittedly very high, standards of the house beer takes the work of a real landlord This man will be recommended for all seasons, Porterhouse should only be visited when the house beers reflect the occasion.

Website: www.porterhousebrewco.com/index.html