Dr Phil's Real Ale House, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough

Fair play to Dr Phil - he was obviously something of a visionary when he opened this place back in August 2013 in a suburb to the South of the town centre, as Middlesbrough has since gone micro pub crazy, leaving this place as the father figure to around half a dozen venues around the town. Of all these micros, this one adheres the closest to the Micro Pub Association's definition, offering a compact, single room venue with no distractions and no mainstream brands. The shop converted unit has a small square floorplan with the tiny servery in the rear right corner. The room is bare boarded and has whitewashed walls and a large frosted front window with the pub's name picked out on it, which makes it considerably easier to locate. One wall is dominated by a large blackboard which I presume is designed to list all of the available beer options, but it was blank on this visit. The servery is a simple wooden plank affair with a decorative dado rail in the rear right corner. Seating is limited to two tables with standard chairs under the front windows, two more tables with a fixed bench and low stools down the left hand wall and a drinking ledge with high stools to the right. Elsewhere, there is a bookcase, a boars head on the end wall and loads of pump clips covering the majority of the ceiling. There was a good crowd in early on a Saturday evening, creating quite a nice, buzzy atmosphere, with various local's popping in to say hello in passing. I got a cheery goodbye from the table nearest the door when I left, which is always the sign of a friendly pub. There were four beers on the bar - Abbeydale Deception (£2.80), Daleside Bitter, Captain Cook Botany Bay and one other that I couldn't read properly. Keg beers were limited to just the two taps that I could see and there was a wide selection of bottled and canned craft beers. The Deception was not only great value, but a fine pint too - perhaps the best drop of this beer I've yet to encounter. This pub is a fair walk from the town centre and therefore doesn't really lend itself to easy inclusion on a pub crawl, especially when you consider the clustering of the town's other micro pubs, but it certainly has its merits. I enjoyed the good beer and chatty atmosphere and admire what this place has done for Middlesbrough's previously rather poor ale and pub scene. Worth checking out, especially if you consider yourself a micro pub purist.

A small square room in a row of 30's shops, the beer is served from a cupboard by the eponymous Dr Phil from one of the four pulls tucked away in his lair. There's a collection of Formica topped tables with an eclectic collection of stools, chairs and a settle. Light and airy the decor is pump clip poster and press cutting based with black boards detailing the cask and bottle choices. True to the original aims of the micro pub movement there's no keg beer (too much trouble) wine , spirits or electronic entertainment. There is a vibrant community feeling as the regulars tried to finish the crossword on the local paper to much banter about the intellectual prowess of the gathered company and their spelling skills. Naturally the usual beer powered bull is also much in evidence. It's a bit of a walk out from the centre but buses run to and from Linthorpe Rd and The Cresent, the fare is £1.40 each way.

Official site of Dr Phil's Real Ale House - www.drphilsrealalehouse.co.uk

Official site of Dr Phil's Real Ale House - www.drphilsrealalehouse.co.uk

Opening times are Tuesday - Friday 1500 - 2130, Saturday 1300 - 2200 and closed Sunday - Monday.