Have a pint of the real stuff

To celebrate the Great British Beer Festival, it's time to slap that pint of Fosters back down on the bar down and have yourself a proper pint of the real stuff. We find the top five bars in London with a microbrewery on site so you can tantatlise your tastebuds with something altogether more tasty and original. Cheers!

The Porterhouse in Covent Garden is destined to impress with its range of exclusive stouts, lagers and ales imported direct from Dublin as well as its astounding selection of bottled beers from around the world. Barrister and publican Oliver Hughes started the chain when he became disappointed with the selection of beers available in Irish pubs.

The pub stocks the full range of the Dublin-brewed Porterhouse beers, which are brewed using no chemicals and include Plain Porter, Wrasslers 4x Stout, Oyster Stout, An Brainblasta and Hersbrucker. Whether beer buff or plain ol’ beer belly, you’re bound to love it.

Zero Degrees

The quality of the brewing is high, at this Blackheath venue, but the striking modern setting makes the place of interest to much more than CAMRA types. The place is very popular with a younger crowd at weekends, and the restaurant does a good line in wood-fired pizzas at any time.

Mash II

Mash II is a bar and restaurant where the beers are brewed in-house and on-site at the micro-brewery. It is wittily decked out in retro, '70s sci-fi style with large brewing vessels on display at the back. The home brew comes in four different varieties, but the cocktail menus here are also very well-thumbed.

Bierodrome

Located in Clapham and Islington, this smart, modernistic chain of beer halls (from the same stable as the Belgo restaurants) offers an impressive, all-Belgian range, from rare Trappist brews to fruit-flavoured varieties; and with up to 10 on tap at any time

The Bread & Roses

A nice relaxed environment with good value enjoyable food, serving local ales and cider with a pleasant, if small, enclosed garden at the back. It's also quite a 'pc' place: it stocks workers' ale as well as advertises and supports a number of fund-raising events.Children are welcome until 9pm and well catered for both food-wise and in entertainment (there are plenty of toys).