Drink and Ye Shall be Rewarded

Unless you live under a rock, you know what a pub crawl is. Until this past weekend, I always figured that the pub crawls of London were a way to see several of the city's finer watering holes. Little did I know London had 6 official Ale Trails ranging from 3 pubs in a night to one pub crawl which isn't for the feint of heart seeing as it includes 10 pubs. The best part of these official Ale Trials (aside from tasting all the amazing beers local pubs have to offer) is that upon completion of an Ale Trial you get a free t-shirt. That's right London rewards those who can pound back several pints in one night by bestowing upon them a cool t-shirt worth 10 pounds. Needless to say when my friends and I learned that we could drink and get rewarded with a shirt we were ready to go.

We decided to attempt the Historic Blackfriars Ale Trial, which includes 5 pubs that are all within a mile of our flats. So off we went on Saturday around 8 in the evening ready to tackle the task before us. However, to our dismay 2 of the 5 pubs on the list were already closed for the day! Rest assured though, our quest for a t-shirt and some beer would not be thwarted that easily. We made a pact that come Monday we would make our second attempt.

We began the night in good spirits and set off for Doggett's Coat & Badge pub, a 4 story pub with an amazing view of the Thames River. Here we enjoyed a tasty ale called Doom Bar.

Next we ventured to The Black Friar. While all the pubs on the trail were great, this was by far my favorite. The bar has amazing engravings all along the top of the pub and just as importantly the beer I had at Black Friars was my favorite of the evening, a Timothy Taylor Landlord... delicious!

After Blackfriars we simply crossed the street and went to The Old Bell. Another quaint pub; however, they ran out of their tasty IPA right before I ordered!

The walk from The Old Bell tower to the next pub on the list, Ye Olde Watling, was slightly longer than I would have wished, but sore feet and cold weather would not stop me from my goal. At Ye Olde Watling, I had yet another good beer. This beer was a seasonal brew called the Polar Beer.

Thankfully, the final stop on our list was within 100 feet of Ye Olde Watling. We had finally made it. We reached Williamson's Tavern with looks of triumph across each of our faces. We ordered our last pint of the evening and proclaimed to the bartender that we were triumphant ale trailers and wanted our free t-shirt. The response we were greeted with, "Sorry but we're out of t-shirts." Now don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the evening's frivolities but goshdangit I wanted my t-shirt. So after sampling one of Williamson's Tavern's finest beverages we went back to Ye Olde Watling and requested a t-shirt. Thankfully, this pub had what we were after. The bar tender opened a chest and there they were our shirts!