I'm waving the white flag early on September pub ticking, knowing for certain that there will be no more BRAPA activity between now and 11:59pm on Wednesday. A useful analogy would be a cricket umpire calling time shortly before tea on the final day of the county championship season. The five wickets required for victory in the final session isn't an insurmountable ask But an ultimately pointless exercise for a beleaguered team finishing runners up in every competition ever

34 pre-emptives have come good for me in the 2027 Good Beer Guide. Triple my usual figure. Helping this year's #CruelChurn to be less #Cruel. My increased mindfulness around pre-emptives (particularly Wetherspoons, Black Country Ales pubs and those rating 3* on the CAMRA website) seems to have paid off. Could I have done more? Of course, but it gives me hope going into the 2026/27 ticking season. So let's look at the first twelve in question, with a photo I took at the ti

The 2027 Good Beer Guide is official out today. No more embargoed 'secret ticks', no more GBG heebie-jeebies (for the next twelve months anyway). The shackles are off and I can start the new pub ticking season with a positivity not experienced since 2023. Incognito at Manchester's Bulls Head last Thursday (didn't work, landlady thought I was on drugs) So what was the damage? Well, I'll be starting the 2027 Good Beer Guide on 3,323 (73.8% of the Guide completed). My final tick

33 Good Beer Guide ticks for the month of July is a typically modest return during this tricky month of zero holidays and a blank Saturday. Elaborate #ThirstyThursdays were required just to keep my often sweaty head above water. York Tap sweaty head above water It's that dangerous time of year where I feel like I'm making good progress, but lurking in the back of my mind is that a mere six weeks from now, the 2027 Good Beer Guide will arrive on my doorstep, and the #CruelChu

Thursday 2nd April 2026 Even the cash machine at York station was getting into the Easter spirit as I tootle down to sunny Oxon for a full week away, with the intention of mopping up (most of) my remaining 19 ticks, with a view to getting stuck into neighbouring counties when I run dry. I would've taken mini Jesus as a bonus pub mascot but Ivor Panda is famously atheist. It has taken me FAR too long in my pub-ticking life to realise you can do York-Oxford/Banbury directly by

Happy March from my default position, in front of a pint of Fullers ESB in King's Cross Parcel Yard. Not that I'm in there now, I've never got along with their WiFi. Up to £7.15 a pint by the way, how cruel is that? The answer you are looking for is 'very'. With Spring hopefully sprung, I'm hoping to break the shackles of a discontented winter with a more Idey March. 41 Good Beer Guide ticks completed for the month of February (plus 5 speculative pre-emptives). It feels

Saturday 14th February 2026 It was all change on the Grand Central from YRK-KX on this unusually dry, sunny Saturday as Welsh mascot Brekkie the Sheep makes a rare start. As usual, he made zero impact on proceedings. Another substitute came from Sainsbury's, my regular Arctic Coffee replaced by an evil Starbucks Tripleshot Espresso. Creamy mouthfeel. And didn't I need it? Slightly hungover from a Slip Inn / Costcutter bottles / Hull City v Chelsea on TV / Jenny's Fish &

Greetings from BRAPA Towers, where I'm pleased to report that the longest of long January's is finally behind us and hopefully February will bring some morale boosting green shoots. Like a pub crawl of Carshalton, you've gotta have Hope. 33 new Good Beer Guide ticks for me this month. Modest by recent standards but not bad for January, especially factoring in my self-imposed Thirsty Thursday winter break and lack of holidays. I managed 7 pre-emptives too. This pushes me ba

Happy New Year pub lovers! 2025 has been a record breaking year here at BRAPA towers. 664 Good Beer Guide ticks, bettering the 619 I managed in 2024. I'd never have believed I'd come close to that twelve months ago. The mascots are drunk, are you? You should be! Colin (retired), Ivor Panda, Pedro Plum, Oscar (suspended), Dudley T. Duck, Owlie McBurnie. So pour yourself a strong drink (ESB, red wine, whisky, I don't mind), or if this is hangover reading, an icy glass of

Greetings from December! 72 (SEVENTY TWO) new Good Beer Guide pubs ticked in the month of November, my third best ever monthly total, bringing me up to 631 for the year, already a BRAPA record even if I do diddly squat in December. My total is now 3,181, which represents 70.69% Guide completion. Clawing back that deficit one pub at a time! Back in credit by May? Let's have a look at the counties where I've made gains, with the pubs I enjoyed most (and least) ..... we'll hav

Friday 19th - Wednesday 24th September 2005 I found myself within the pub ticking corridor of uncertainty. After five quiet disciplined days at home, I'd finished cross-ticking the new 2026 Good Beer Guide ........ Somerset woz robbed .... but wasn't allowed to reveal any GBG contents until the following Thursday due to this exciting slip of paper ..... Embargoed to buggery ....so I had to spend six days pub-ticking 'under cover', where I managed a record breaking 17 ticks to

Happy Hallowe'en pub fans! I am breaking off from my 'terrifying' festivities to bring you the results for October, a great month with 65 Good Beer Guide ticks plus 9 pre & post-emptives, all of which could easily make the 2027 GBG. I have passed the 69% mark once again, and I'm on course for a record-breaking BRAPA year. November is all about passing the landmark 70% by next month end - 45 (1% of the Guide) is the bare minimum I'd hope to achieve. September's #CruelChurn

Thursday 4th September 2025 An anti-clockwise tour of Bristol was the plan for my penultimate day down here. Six pubs to go, and if you can work out what 1-6 are, or CS or SS or 'NB Pre-emp' without looking too far into the blog, congratulations, you are a Bristol pub king/queen. Yet again, I failed to reach McDonald's in time for a breakfast muffin. They must've changed the menu at literally the exact same time I arrived. Double cheeseburger and fries for breakfast it was

Tuesday 2nd September 2025 A chance comment from part 2 hero Maltmeister on seeing my photo of salubrious Cabot Circus last time out made...

Happy (belated) September .... the best (& worst) month in the pub ticking calendar. If you follow me on what the kids probably call...

10th May 2025 When I saw this peculiar mutt on the train to Nottingham, I say to Daddy BRAPA 'that's a good omen for one of our pubs...

Greetings pub lovers, 66 new Good Beer Guide pubs visited in the month of May, smashing the previous record of 55. It takes me up to...

Saturday 15th March 2025 Could 2025 finally be the year I complete Kent? Lord knows, I've been trying for long enough (well 2022 to be...

We march into March and hopefully some warmer spring weather (I'm sick of the dark and cold now) in a healthy position after a...

Cruellest month of the year is January, whether you are talking about pub ticking or just living your freezing life in general. So to...