Tracking down the best of England's alehouses

April and May's epic beer-hunting trip evolved after I received an invitation to judge at the World Beer Cup in San Diego. The decision to go to California was a complete no-brainer and it then seemed equally obvious that I should take the opportunity to head on to the UK to catch up with friends and family - and, of course, check out a few English breweries and pubs. As you might remember if you read any of the columns, it turned out to be a wonderful seven weeks.

This latest trip has come about for less pleasant reasons.

As a result of ill health in the family, my mother needed to return to the UK urgently and it was agreed that I would be her chaperone. Thus I now find myself back in Suffolk, near Lowestoft, not a million miles from the wonderful Adnams Brewery.

But I have a confession to make.

It is now Monday lunchtime and, having flown into Heathrow on Saturday afternoon, I still haven't managed to sample a pint of the good stuff. Although that's a shameful admission, I can assure you the situation won't remain unresolved for long. I have come to England armed with a copy of the brand new 2009 CAMRA (Campaign For Real Ale) Good Beer Guide!

Recommending some 5000 of the UK's best `real ale' pubs, The Good Beer Guide - or "GBG" as it is affectionately known - is one of the country's best-selling annual publications. An invaluable tool for locating the best pubs, many British beer lovers keep a well-thumbed copy handy, often in the glove box of the car.

Recognising this fact, earlier this year CAMRA published the GBG in a new digital format. The GBG's recommended hostelries were made available online to Java and internet-equipped cellphones, or as a downloadable POI (Points Of Interest) file that could be used in conjunction with popular in-car satellite navigation systems (such as Garmin, Navman and TomTom). The service is available for a small fee from CAMRA (www.camra.org.uk), money which should be easily recouped in fuel savings.

Having purchased a TomTom satnav system last time I was in England (Pip's map-reading skills turned out to be somewhat dubious!), I have since uploaded the latest GBG POI file, so now I can be directed automatically, by a charming English female voice, to the country's best pubs. Heaven!

Now all I have to do is find a willing sober driver and stump up best part of 3 for each pint.

Cheers!

- The Marlborough Express