The Ale Trail: The Dog & Bone, Lincoln

The Batemans Brewery website declares, with some pride, that their Dog & Bone is in the top 15 pubs in Lincoln, as reported here. It's hard to imagine there are another 15 as good as this one. I did visit another boozer in this top 15 - The Cardinal's Hat - which was also well worth its place, but it can't match this one on at least three counts: the sheet warmth of a backstreet alehouse, six Batemans ales on handpump and a friendly pub dog.

The six ales would have been enough on their own. Batemans has long been one of my favourite breweries so to find a place with half a dozen of them - including the masterful XXXB - had me close to beer heaven. Wandering outside with a Dark Fruits Porter had me in it: it's a small beer garden to the rear of the pub, beautifully manicured, the hot Lincolnshire sun beaming down, the pub dog sitting on the seat next for me hoping for a crisp. Or was it the beer?

The Dark Fruits Porter was sumptuous: purple/black with cherries, blackcurrants and blackberries that fortify a mildly sweet aftertaste. I stayed for another - the more familiar Dark M Mild - before stroking the dog and leaving, telling the landlady I'll be back next time I'm in the area. Now I've got to figure out a good reason to be in Lincoln again.