Firkin Alehouse, Folkestone

I missed this one at first as the building was covered in scaffolding. The barman told me that it had been like this for months but no work had gone on. It's a micropub with no guideline transgressions. This means no spirits, music and the very welcome mobile phone embargo. It's a basic rectangular room with just tall tables & chairs and an enormous barrel in the middle. Four beers are available which on my visit were Ilkley Summer, Kent Green Giant, Mallinson's Raku and Long Man Golden Tipple. I went for the Green Giant (£4.00) which was superb. It wasn't cheap but it is a 6% ABV beer and the two weaker ones were around three quid. I thought this was another excellent micropub. It's GBG 2017 listed.

Basic micro-pub 'ale house', with just four tables set around a large wooden cask in the centre (although there are also a couple of small tables out on the pavement for the better weather). Decor limited to a few small pictures, so the eye is immediately drawn to the large board listing the current and future beers, ciders and wines. The toilet, however, does have a fine display of pump clips. With no counter or handpumps, the ale comes directly from the casks on the stillage housed in a room at the back. On this visit, the choice came from Blue Monkey, Anarchy, Arbour and Gadd's (She Sells Sea Shells, £3.20, and in fine form). Well worth finding.

Very small pub with a drinking area at the front with beer on stillage at the back which you can see through a window. There is no bar with the beer being brought from the back by the very friendly and helpful staff. 3 real ales on my visit with the Salford Ipa being in very good form. Cider also available.

An old style alehouse without a bar. It's a former shop front with tables and chairs, and a large barrel centrepiece for vertical imbibers. The barstaff – very pleasant, knowledgeable and professional - greet you, show you the beer list, take your order than pour it from the gravity-fed casks on stillage you can see in the cellar through the inner window. Your pint arrives, you pay, you drink. Repeat the process as required. What could be simpler? There were four ales and two ciders on. I had a pint of Caveman Mesolithic which was in perfect condition. An excellent place to be, a real must for a town crawl and somewhere to which I shall certainly return.

I strolled into the Firkin Alehouse on Monday evening and became a little disorientated as there is no bar, just a hole in the wall that was covered with a transparent hatch. The small drinking area was busy so I decided to ask a punter, who was sitting at one of the handful of high tables, if the bar was down a corridor to the right of the hatch. He oozed smugness as he said “you can go down there if you need the toilet” before informing me that I had walked into a private party. As I left I noticed that opening times on the exterior and realised that this pub is closed on Mondays… DOH!!! The restricted opening times are on their website. My impression with this micropub was that it felt like a shed that someone had decided to sell their hooch (sorry, cask ale) from. It should go down very well with the congregation of PuG as they are noted shed dwellers. If I find myself in the area again within opening times I will make a point of visiting to get a proper feel of the place.