What makes a great boozer?

I shall shortly be starting a series of reviews of pubs that i've been to, so you know where the enjoy the beers you love out and about, without being blasted by nightclub noise levels of music, a crowd that makes a rush hour train journey seem serene or a drink selection that is about as exciting as drinking tap water all night. So what components make up a good pub. I've decided to look at 5 areas to come up with the ideal pub type. The outside appearance, the layout, the internal appearance, the ambience, and the drink selection/prices.

So first up, the appearance from the outside. Does it look like the kind of place you'd want to enter. I think the more a pub looks like a house and a the less it looks like a shop or a club, the better. Therefore brick walls and smaller windows rather than a large full windowed exterior. You want a place to go and shut out the outside world and either have a good night out or a quiet contemplative pint to while away some time. You don't want people looking in and you want a choice of whether you look out onto the outside world or not. A good old fashioned sign - no neon, something says this is an old and established establishment. The presence of some outside seating is another bonus for those 2 days of the year where its pleasant enough to sit outside for a pint.

The layout of the pub is important as to how you'll enjoy your visit. You want a good bar position and set up so that it i still possible to get served with ease even when there's a large number of barfly's its still not too difficult to get to the bar to be served. You also want the bar to be in a position where you no matter where you are sat you don't have to far to walk to get served. I also like a pub that has little corners to hide in and keep out of the way, rather than one conventional shaped room. This usually means a central bar with seating arranged around rather than the bar against a wall.

The internal appearance encompasses many decor choices that will decided if whether once you've come in - you want to stay. The first thing i notice is the lighting level - i think you want it to be a little bit darker, candlelight from some tables help and the flicker of flames from an open fire is also something that helps to make the pub cosy. The decor needs to be a bit old fashioned - lots of wooden tables and chairs, exposed internal brickwork and as mentioned above - an open fire place is always an added bonus. You want the feel of having entered a home, rather than a business. I like Scandinavian design and clean lines and all that but i don't feel it is right for a pub. and big bright open spaces just don't fit the pub ideal for me.

The ambience i find to be ideal is that of a quieter pub than your typical city centre chain pub with its loud music and screens everywhere. I like a jukebox to provide the music, so you can chose what you want to hear and i want the proprietor to set the volume of that jukebox at a level where you can hear it but also still hear your friends as well. In terms of the busy-ness of the pub. Those running the pub probably won't like it much but i don't want it to be heaving, you want to know that if you go in - you will probably get a seat and be able to enjoy the company of your friends in comfort. On the flipside though, you don't want it so quiet that you are the only people there - otherwise it feels like its no different from having jut stayed in for a few drinks. If sport is shown, you want one screen in one corner so you can choose to watch or not as well.

The drink selection and prices is right up there as the most important factor n making a pub great. You want a good range of guest ales on tap for when you want to try something different and a decent range of continental bottles (one on tap too would be nice also) as well. You don't always fancy the same thing so a choice is always good. You don't them to be too pretentious with it though. Pretentiousness gives too much scope to price you out of spending too long in the pub. The pricing structure should be such that the average punter can easily afford to drink there compared to other places, but not be so dirt cheap that it encourages the wrong crowd. The drink selection normally dictates the prices.