York Tap
Forget HS2. The real revolution in British rail travel is already happening, and it's called Pivovar. This York-based company is behind sensational on-station bars at Sheffield, Euston and York itself. All 1920s stained glass, inlaid terrazzo floor and dark, woody authenticity, the Tap is, arguably, a mite gloomy as a space. However, its mighty range of 32 cask and craft keg beers is one big, rolling party. Northern breweries, such as Buxton, Revolutions, Ilkley and particularly Thornbridge (its new world pale, Lumford, was in superb, sherbet-y condition), feature prominently. In the guise of Tapped Brew Co, Pivovar is now brewing its own beers in Sheffield, too. Try its best bitter and, while you're at the bar, one of Tap's terrific pork pies from Robinson's of Knaresborough (£2.50).
The Tap is actually a spin-off from longstanding York bar Pivni (6 Patrick Pool, 01904 635464, pivni.co.uk, pint from £3), which, ordinarily, would get its own glowing entry here. Its entire range is first-rate, but do not miss the unfiltered Bernard Czech pils (half, £1.90). With its rich, bready, almost toffee-ish body and lemony, zesty top notes, it is a lager that even the most militant ale drinker would admit is a superb beer.
• York Train Station, 01904 659009, yorktap.com. Pint from £2.80
The Maltings
This squat, matt-black boozer off Lendal Bridge is easily mistaken for a goth or rockers' pub. In fact, this toasty bolthole (weathered beams, chunky no-nonsense furnishings, rusting tin-plate adverts for Gold Flake tobacco) is one of York's best beer houses. Maltings' seven cask ales include permanent Black Sheep, regular staples such as York Brewery's Guzzler and beers from newer, smaller breweries, such as Coxhoe's Sonnet 43 and Morpeth's Anarchy. Its cask ale is augmented by two craft keg lines (Quaffing Gravy's racy, spicy pale ale stood out: pint £4.80), four scrumpies and US bottles and cans such as Ska Brewing's remarkable Modus Hoperandi (£4.50). The Maltings also has several beers brewed exclusively for it. The sign outside says "A pub for grown-ups". Which is good, as those pubs for children are rubbish.
• Tanner's Moat, 01904 655387, maltings.co.uk. Pint from £3.20
Brigantes Bar & Brasserie
This bare, plain drinking space – stripped wooden floor, blue and cream colour scheme, Celtic cross logo – looks a bit like an O'Neill's, but the beer range is worlds away from the Oirish chain. Ten hand-pulls concentrate on Yorkshire and northern breweries, such as Isle of Man outfit Okells (owned by same people as Brigantes' parent company, Market Town Taverns), York Brewery (which Brigantes backs on to), and Great Heck Brewing, a micro much-loved in this part of the world, which produces Mo Hops (half, £1.78), a very interesting supercharged best bitter. Seven keg pumps deliver a mixture of classic continental and innovative craft beers, with a short, solid bottled menu (Nøgne Ø, Flying Dog) further ensuring that every drinker leaves happy.
• 114 Micklegate, 01904 675355, markettowntaverns.co.uk. Pint from £2.90
The Three-Legged Mare
One of three York Brewery pubs (the others are the Last Drop at 27 Colliergate and the Yorkshire Terrier at 10 Stonegate), the Mare is particularly handy, as it's almost on York Minster's doorstep. Normally there are four or five guest ales on at a time but, by chance on this visit, eight pumps were occupied by York Brewery beers. Its mainstay Guzzler (fresh as the proverbial daisy, a dry, easy-drinking pale), was joined by the likes of Wonkey Donkey and Black Bess. If you're after something more radical, the Mare also carries a small range of continental and US bottles, including Chimay, Magic Hat and Goose Island. It also sells four-pack presentation boxes (£8.95) of York beers, so you can do a spot of Christmas shopping while getting merry. Perfect. Chatty, well-informed staff add warmth to a slightly dour pub.
• 15 High Petergate, 01904 638246, york-brewery.co.uk. Pint from £2.90
The Duke Of York
With its smart greige interior, flagstone floor and extensive food menu (not tried), this newcomer feels like a gastropub. It's owned by Leeds Brewery, but there is no stinting on the beer. Eight cask pumps showcase Leeds beers (try the pale or the dark mild, Midnight Bell) and four guests, with keg lines, such as a craft lager from York micro Hop Studio, adding interest. You'll also like the dimpled half-pint mugs, the tiny tankards for tasters and the pub's monthly War of the Roses, a Lancashire-versus-Yorkshire brewery showdown.
Incidentally, if you are here at the right time – its hours are very limited, see website – do not miss the Attic above the neighbouring Harlequin cafe (2 King's Square, 01904 630631, harlequinyork.com). A simple lounge set-up with a small corner bar, the Attic is where award-winning barista Gordon Howell indulges his passion for coffee, gin and craft beer (bottles from £2.50). Assembled with guidance from beer writer Zac Avery, the Attic's list of US, German and UK beers (from breweries such as Bristol's Arbor, Kernel, Hardknott, Magic Rock, Thornbridge) will bring a tear of joy to the eye of any craft beer connoisseur.
• King's Square, 01904 676065, lbdukeofyork.co.uk. Pint from £3.10
Blue Bell
Thanks to an Edwardian interior as immaculately maintained as its seven real ales, the Blue Bell is a site of pilgrimage for pub fanatics. However it's tiny, so at weekends, when it threatens to get uncomfortably busy, landlord Jim Hardie often sticks a "private party" sign on the door. Regulars get away with ignoring it; you may not. Large groups are regularly turned away. This has led to much controversy, with Camra dropping the pub from its 2014 Good Beer Guide. The solution? Arrive early or midweek, to hunker down by the fire and drink in these wood-panelled rooms. It's a special place, worth the effort. While the Bell's ales are as traditional as its decor, it does stock a surprisingly hip list of Brooklyn, Flying Dog and continental beers.
• 53 Fossgate, 01904 654904. Pint from £3.20
The Hop
Traditionalists may balk at this swanky new venue. The fourth Ossett Brewery Hop site has a rather overdesigned bar (fancy, pump-clip print wallpaper, jazzy floor tiles and vintage mirrors, ornate art deco lights) opening out into a cavernous pizza restaurant and live music venue. If it feels a little plastic, you can't fault the beer across nine keg and 11 cask pumps. Ossett beers feature prominently of course, as do beers from its rather more buccaneer microbrewery offshoots, Rat and Fernandes. Rat Against The Machine, a fiercely bitter, 7% keg hop-bomb, was dangerously good (pint, £5).
• 11-12 Fossgate, 01904 541466, thehopyork.co.uk. Pint from £2.90
Golden Ball
A pub to gladden the heart of any Guardian reader, this. A community-owned co-op, it pays staff a living wage and focuses on Yorkshire beers, with super-local micros, such as Treboom and Brass Castle, to the fore. A grade-II-listed Victorian building, the main bar is a suitably plain space. There is original tile work around the bar, an open fire, copper-topped tables and a bottle-green banquette that sweeps around the room. Nattily, one wall is covered by a huge map of northern England. The back rooms, where reading and singing groups meet, are cosier. Within York's walls just, but off the beaten track, the Ball is a good place to swerve the tourist hordes. Open from 5pm on weeknights.
• 2 Cromwell Road, Bishophill, 01904 652211, goldenballyork.co.uk. Pint from £3.15
The House of Trembling Madness
Even if you stand in the ground-floor off-licence (its stock of over 600 beers will leave you slack-jawed), it is quite possible not to notice that upstairs lies one of Britain's most idiosyncratic beer bars. Tucked into the exposed eaves of a 12th-century Norman house, decorated with animal skins and ancient taxidermy, the House of Trembling Madness is a tight, friendly squeeze where hop-heads linger over two cask ales (both from the wonderful Wild Beer Co on this visit), specialist draft Belgian beers and an amazing, ever-changing selection of bottled brews (on top of which, you can drink anything that is for sale downstairs, paying £1.25 corkage). If the staff can't surprise you with something – say, a Japanese Hitachino Nest Classic Ale – you've officially exhausted the possibilities of beer. Braver drinkers can try a yard of ale (£9) or a 25ml shot (£8) of the Dutch brewer 't Koelschip's 70% strength beer. Luckily, HoTM also serves gutsy, good-value food to soak up all that alcohol.
If that all sounds a bit crusty for you, a bit Time Team, you may prefer the nearby Sotano (Little Stonegate, 01904 620230), a chic, subterranean, late-night drinking den, which majors on tapas, cocktails, and, mainly US and British, craft keg beers. Which are served in two-thirds of a pint schooners (from £3.80). Get them.
• 48 Stonegate, 01904 640009, tremblingmadness.co.uk. Pint from £3.50
Rook & Gaskill
Jointly owned by Nottingham's Castle Rock and Yorkshire's Wharfe Bank breweries, this beer haven just beyond the city walls is well worth the short detour (open from 5.30pm on weeknights). The pub itself is unremarkable – a neat but fairly spartan space. Its beer selection is anything but. Across eight cask pumps, seven keg lines and three hand-pulled ciders, the Rook runs the gamut from exotic European imports (Opat's self-explanatory orange and mandarin Czech pils) to beers from lesser-spotted UK micros, such as Grafters and Jurassic Brewhouse. Its new management has plans to expand the bottled selection, too. One of the fridges will be dedicated to Yorkshire beers.
• 12 Lawrence Street, 01904 674067, wharfebankbrewery.co.uk. Pint from £2.80
Travel between Manchester and York was provided by First TransPennine Express, tpexpress.co.uk
