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Who doesn’t love a list? From Schindler’s to Moses’ Commandments (which was technically more of a tablet) , we crave seeing things ranked, ideally in a top 10 format. Pints are a contentious thing, tricky to rank for the feint of heart , yet these were the best ones I had so it is literally impossible to argue. Spanning 2 whole continents and the full gamut of price ranges, here we go!

Honorable mentions to the Hercules,Holloway , The Sheephaven, Camden, Molly’s , LA, O’Gilins, Lisbon (and the Guinness hut in Cais do Sodre) KK McCool’s, Jono’s, Shepherd n Flock , Quinns and many more to be fair….

Worst Pint: 

Never pleasant to slam a pub abroad , sometimes you’re just lucky they have a pint on offer. Close to the Mexican-US border and on the edge of the Sonora desert, Tucson Arizona is one of the finest towns in the SouthWest. In the haze of the desert night, a neon shamrock suggests that you might be in luck. In the Shanty, the bar man clearly knows how to pull a pint, alas the desert is not the natural habitat of Guinness and so you receive a slightly warm coppery metallic delight that tastes like licking the pole on the Underground. Not in a good way. A fun place though- i enjoyed their no hand gun policy which goes well with the tequila slammers. 

10. The Dolphin; 

Creamy sups in a fantastic dimly lit room just by Kings Cross. One of those pints you down in minutes so creamy it is. Invaluable to have such a good spot hidden in plain sight next to Kings Cross. Bonus points for ensuring no one has to go to the Kings Cross O Neill’s ever again. 

9. Mc N Sons Vauxhall ; 

So much to like about this offering from their second coming , maintaining all that’s good about Mac (Irish for son ) & Sons . Lovely pints in a picturesque snug, with their delightful turf incense burner. Mighty. Look at it in all it’s splendor! Full review is here : https://publicanenemy.com/2024/07/13/irish-pub-of-the-week-777-return-of-the-mac/

8. The Cock Tavern, Euston; 

Taste the savings at Euston’s finest , doing their bit for the cost of living crisis with a sub £5 pint in Central London. Politically aligned to the left of Ho Chi Minh, this spot puts its money where its mouth is, valiantly for a pub that lionizes the ethos of that most altruistic club Glasgow Celtic. Nearby in a totally re-gentrified Coal Drops Yard, you can get a gillet for £150. Alternatively you can get 55 pints of the finest plain. Or you could wait for noted Scotch-Italiano crooner Paulo Nutini to buy everyone a round as he did when I was last there. Full review -https://publicanenemy.com/2024/04/13/irish-pub-of-the-week511-the-cock/

7. Kellys, Austin , Texas :

35 Irelands can fit into Texas, so if a place proudly shows the coveted Best Pint in Texas trophy, you best listen. Kelly’s is one of the Irish Pubs o’ the year, and is a very authentic Irish Hostelry. So their Guinness has to be up to Texan levels of braggadocio. And it does. Yee, and indeed, haw. 

(Not a Guinness , but #1 : Micheladas ; )

Not content with imbuing every corn based food stuff with a world of flavour, Mexico have repeated the trick with a plain old cerveza. While in the US this year, I didn’t dabble with the domestic “beer”, ( bar a Lone Star in Texas for authenticity). Just as Tex Mex is the cuisine of choice in the South West, then frosty Modelos on the porch are a godsend. How could you improve on a cool Mexican cerveza on a warm desert afternoon ? Add hot sauce, lemon juice, Tabasco and ice, then rim that glass in tajin spicy rim mix to coat the mouth of the glass and you got yourself one of the finest drinking experiences this side of the Rio Grande. I understand that these might not taste the same if you’re in an after party in a kitchen in Chingford, but micheladas are, after extensive experimentation , unhangoverable due to the fully rounded flavour . 

(Not a Guinness #2 , but : Super Bock stout ; )

Portugal has earned respect for its beverages. On any street corner, you can get a delicious shot in a medicine cup, a Ginjinha which is an incredibly civil thing to do.The whole bloody country is named after their trademark booze, Port. (* kind of). They’ve got hipsters choice of wine du jour , vinho verde . And now their own stout. Not a creamy , flat number but a fizzy boi, Super Bock stout is surprisingly delish provided you don’t go expecting a creamer. 

6. The Pineapple ; 

After ambling about the Imperial War Museum, seeing Doodle bugs and Saddam Murals , pop in for one of the finest pints you’re likely to have . 

5. The Crown and Cushion : 

Looking like an oversize ornate Dolls House , the Crown and Cushion lies just off Waterloo. If in need a pint, you’ve got the massive Brewdog with its traditional features like a podcast studio or industrial slide . Or you have the massive Wetherspoons, like an industrial battery chicken shed for commuters. Or just round the corner this salty boozer and its very very fine pints. The C&C is one of those unsocialmediable pubs that exist in their own time and space. 

4. Murphy’s, The Hope, Fitzrovia;

Having a safe haven so close to Oxford street is a godsend, like a watering hole in a dusty wasteland , in this case the endless scrub and brush replaced with American Sweet shops and knock off Harry Potter tat. Add in this Cork pubs signature dish , the pint of Murphy’s, the thinking man’s Guinness. If you see a Murphy’s, buy a Murphy’s is my credo. And The Hope has got you.

3. O’Luains, Cascais; 

“COME TO KRUTSKIS TRADITIONAL IRSKI PUBLIC TAVERN WHERE YOU FIND BEST GUINNESS IN ALL OF KAMCHATKA” 

Every pub abroad goes on about having the best pint in the region/ parish/ oblast with nowt to back it up except a staged photo of a CGI pint next to a photoshopped burger. But fair play to O’Luains, who rightly claim to have the best in all Iberia. Look at it there. 

2. Feeney’s 2 ; 

Winners of the coveted awards in 2023, Feeney’s has replicated their recipe for Pint perfection in their Mark Lane offering, showing their consistency and quality control and thus deservedly finishing high up again. When searching for the best pint in central London, any of the Feeney’s branches are up there: Feeney’s just does their stuff very well and you don’t have to queue outside on a Thursday afternoon. And they have a cool Guinness loading sign. And they bring the pint over. Which takes them up in my book.

1.The Florin; 

The best pint is essentially improvable, like who’s the better footballer Pele or Niall Quinn, or who was the sexiest member of the 1916 rising. There’s a a whole online milieu where certain big hitters loom large, backed by a sizable cadre of social media infuencer apparatchiks in a circle jerk of the damned. Many would suggest a certain overcrowded Piccadilly establishment as the top pint, caught up in all the self-mythologizing hype the algorithm is pumping us with; the constant talking heads , the vox pops, all the guffawing, the cloying , the shackets and shaky camera angles.Midst all of this hubbub, never mentioned in this conversation is the Floirin, Holloway. It is the only place where the molecular gastronomy of the pint matches those at home, the sheer cream of the head as it turns solid on hitting the wood of the table.This is the only metric I use . The best pint of 2024, and one of the best in all of London is this wonderful little pub . Please don’t tell anyone.