The Rising Sun, Berkhamsted

I had heard of this pub on many occasions before I darkened it's door. It was originally an Allied Brewery pub, probably Benskin's or ABC. I'm not sure if it has an entrance in George Street as I approached it from the patio of the Boat a few yards away and left via a passageway that runs between the canal and George Street. It's hard to imagine that this peaceful canal side location is only a short walk from Berkhampstead Station. The inside is small and well described below and was fairly quiet on my Friday afternoon visit. The five beers consisted of the house Riser bitter brewed by Tring, two by the XT brewery XPA and One, RCH Pitchfork and a new beer from a St Alban's brewery that I can't pin down from my scrawled note. I went for the XT XPA (£3.60) which was a superb American Pale Ale. That doesn't sound cheap but this was a 5.9% beer and the 20p CAMRA discount reduced it to £3.40. The cider choice was overwhelming including alarmingly one of an unknown ABV. This pub was a real antidote to having visited all four Milton Keynes Spoons earlier in the day. It is more than just the best pub in Berkhampstead but one of the top pubs in Southern England and beats just about everything I've seen in London.

An incredibly picturesque canal-side (Grand Union) pub that makes many a seasoned pub-goer weak at the knees. You need to climb a few steps to enter and the bar is in the first small room, which also has a couple of bay windows that afford lovely views over the lock and are ideal for watching the world go by. There are two other rooms that lead off this one but the capacity of the pub isn’t that big. Bare-board flooring throughout and plenty of character. Five ales were available during my visit (a couple from Red Squirrel, their American IPA and Mild, St Austell Trewlawny, Oakham Macaw and a house beer from Tring). The two beers I had were in fair condition. There’s a bigger emphasis on cider/perry with more available than I could count (at least 25) including a few interesting ones in bottle too, so an ideal place for those who like to grapple with the apple. As mentioned elsewhere, cigars and snuff are offered at the bar and daily papers are also available. So far, so good. Unfortunately on my visit the two lads behind the bar left a lot to be desired, one especially was painfully slow, not paying attention (too busy mooing and showing off to his cronies) and overcharging for drinks despite the CAMRA cards being waved around (they offer a discount, supposedly). I also found a number of the other punters rather irritating. It was a spectacular sunny day so perhaps it was overrun by tourists but in combination it really got under my skin. I really wanted to like it here…judging by the comments left by some of my other peers on PuG I may well have just hit the place at a very bad time. I guess I’ll be back at some point and I’ll reassess…I’ll be generous with a 7.

The cover star of the 2012 edition of the Good Beer Guide, and rightly so, for not only is it a source of fine ale, it is also a wonderfully picturesque little pub with its idyllic canal side setting. You enter up a short flight of steps into the main bar – a small, compact bare boarded room with half paneled walls. There’s not a great deal of room for seating here, with a single table in the front bay window and a row of bar stools being the most you can squeeze in. A doorway takes you through into a similarly styled second room with a lot more space for seating, mainly in the form of pews and low stools. There is all manner of stuff on display here, including a cabinet full of interesting brewerania, a display of knots, old posters and adverts for all sorts of things, a tankard rack and the day’s papers. I initially thought this was the full extent of the interior, but further investigation uncovered a cosy rear room with padded benches, large button backed chairs and some standard seating. This room has a fireplace on the back wall, more old adverts on display, including an impressive Anheuser Busch mirror, and a collection of board games. There was also a small TV set in the room, but it’s not clear if it gets much use. A few benches can be found outside and I imagine it would be very nice to take your pint outside in warmer weather, given the pleasant surroundings. There were five ales on the bar when I arrived – Tring Up ‘n’ Under and Riser Bitter, York Centurion’s Ghost, Scottish Borders Holy Cow and Allendale North Sheep. I tried the last two and found them both in good condition, with the North Sheep being a very pleasant pint. Weston’s Cider and Perry were on hand pull and a board listed a total of twelve ciders and perries, which should cover most tastes. At the right hand end of the servery there was a display case full of tobacco type products, including cigars and snuff I believe. This is a classic canalside pub with a wonderfully preserved traditional interior that makes it well worth a look in its own right. Factor in a great range of beers and ciders and you’ve got a destination pub in a fine location. This pub was both the reason for, and the end to, my pub crawl in Berkhamsted and it didn’t let me down.