Roeg's Pick for 2013: Best English Pub

I love beer (surprise), but I also love travelling and meeting new people, and there is no better way of doing that than in an English pub.  This isn’t the like the loud and often crowded bars of the US, but a place that is quiet, encourages conversation, allows a person to relax and has great beer and food to make an evening of it.  And since I was fortunate enough to travel to the UK three times last year, I had lots of fine pubs to choose from.

Gold: Victoria House, Beeston, UK – I went to the Vic (http://www.victoriabeeston.co.uk/) 3 times in 2013, and loved each visit.  The first was bitter cold, and my friend Ross and I chose to spend an evening rather than walk around frigid Nottingham.  Great food (try the steak and ale pie) and great beer, this free house is close to the train stop.  Jenn and I enjoyed hummus, olives and a cheese plat while sipping Stongbow cider.  The place has their professional drinkers, nearby neighbors, and families out for the evening, and we got to chat and make friends all evening long. 

Silver: Great Western Arms, Aynho, UK - The Great Western Arms (http://www.great-westernarms.co.uk/) is located in Aynho, a town in the Cotswolds.  A Hook Norton pub, the pub has a biergarten in the back with a pergola (Jenn would love it), and is located along side a canal.  A great place to eat and drink long into the evening.

Bronze: The Harrington Arms, Thulston, UK – A perennial favorite, the Harrington Arms is a beautiful pub with a large garden area in the back where the whole town could be found on a weekday night.  Boasting the best pint of Bass in the UK (try it from the jug) this is a great pub to spend the evening with friends.

Honorable Mention: Raven, Bath, UK – I got to make a side trip to Bath this past year, and even though there were many outstanding pubs in town, my favorite was the Raven (http://www.theravenofbath.co.uk/).  My buddy Dave and I shared a decent Ploughman’s, and two Bitters on cask; Blindman’s Raven and Hopback’s Dragon’s Breath (the way I felt after the raw onion in the ploughman’s), and great conversation with the locals. – 15116
 
“Ere’s to English women an’ a quart of English beer.” – Rudyard Kipling