Hopping on

PERHAPS this is how it will end up. Perhaps this is a glimpse into the future of drinking, once the anti-beer lobby, the politicians and the health totalitarians have finally won the day.

When pubs have gone the way of police boxes and post offices, and when ordering a beer in public draws widespread disdain, this is where we diehards will be – driven underground, into small cellar bars, enjoying our guilty pleasures where busybodies won’t think to look. It will be like the States during prohibition, but we’ll have the last laugh because we’ll be enjoying the best beer our dirty money can buy. Demonised but spoilt rotten.

Sotano, down a flight of stairs off Little Stonegate in York city centre, is as far from your stereotypical York pub as you could imagine. There is no history here; no vintage photographs or hackneyed ghost stories on the walls; no traditional pub grub; no falsified past. And no real ale.

The place feels more modern, more unusual and more continental than almost anywhere in York. It wouldn’t be out of place in a capital like Prague or Tallinn. The lights are low, the décor minimalist and the bar sleek and chic, the beer lines carried into position in a vast pipeline that hangs from above. The ambience is unique, the service is excellent and, best of all, the beer is extraordinary.

If you don’t believe me, go. Try Twin Peaks, a 5 per cent ABV, pale ale brewed in collaboration between Thornbridge in Derbyshire and Sierra Nevada in California and bursting with delicious, tropical fruit flavours and a fresh hop finish.

Or try the bottled beers from Wild Beer Co in Somerset, a young brewery with big ideas and an attitude to match. Their website talks of “transcontinental fusion” and “artisanal brewing wizardry” and almost buckles under its own ego.

If you heard someone talk like that in a pub you’d move to the other end of the bar, but behind the Narcissistic gobbledegook is an excellent brewing team. Their beers are superb and, in fairness, they are innovative. We tried Epic Saison, (spicy, fruity, Belgianstyle) and Fresh (punchy, refreshing and pale) and both were spectacular Menabrea, an Italian lager by the country’s oldest brewery, was another hit. So too was Anchor Bock, a dark, smoky, treacly beer from San Francisco. So too was Camden’s stunning Pale Ale from closer to home, London.

In fact, everything here was a hit – and it doesn’t cost the earth. When we were given a free tray of nuts and nibbles, we feared they may be compensatory rather than complementary – to soften the blow of a bill that we feared must be high. But no. Six beers and a cider came to £26.65 – more than you may want to pay on an average night out at the pub, but very reasonable for drinks rarely seen and rarely bettered in York.

The area around Little Stonegate and Swinegate boasts an increasing array of impressive ‘non-pub’ drinking venues and more are due to open later this year.

But this one takes some beating, especially when it comes to the sheer quality of the beer. If this is indeed the future for beer-lovers, then count me in.

SHORTS

• The Blue Boar in Castlegate has gained Cask Marque accreditation.

• Collingham Real Ale Festival is in the village memorial hall on June 8. Tickets are £5, including a glass and half-pint.

There are £25 tickets for the preview night on the Friday, including a supper and beer-tasting.

Twitter: @pintsofview