GAVIN AITCHISON is back at the Pivní bar again, and again.

PATRICK Pool, in the centre of York, is a very short lane with a very long history. It runs only from Church Street to Newgate Market, 30 yards if you’re lucky, but it stretches back hundreds of years into the murky depths of York’s past.

To say it wasn’t always the nicest spot would be putting it mildly. Way back in the 13th century, when York was beset by poverty and grime, the street was one big cesspit. It was, say documents from 1249, “so deep in mire that no one could pass along it”.

Times, thankfully, have changed – so much so, that some of us are now faced with quite the opposite problem. Today, you almost feel compelled to seek out this place and to stop and stay a while.

That appeal is overwhelmingly thanks to Pivní, a five-year-old bar in a stunning 16th-century building, and something of a beer lovers’ paradise.

Pints of View has been here before, two and a half years ago, but a lot of things have since changed.

Back then, under its original name of Pivo, it was the only pub run by Pivovar Ltd, but the company has since opened railway station outposts in Sheffield, Euston and most recently York itself, gaining national acclaim.

If those younger bars have generated more attention however, they have certainly not left Pivní trailing. This, the original project, continues to excel, offering one of the finest beer ranges in Yorkshire from a range of taps and fonts on its simple but sublime bar.

On Wednesday night, after a long day at the office, I could almost feel myself unwinding into my glass of Citra, an American-style pale ale from Tempest Brewery, and when I followed that with a pint of Dark Star’s spectacularly-good Espresso beer, I may well have been the most content man in York.

A few days earlier, and having found a fiver in an old jacket pocket, I had pushed the boat out for a half of Yellow Snow IPA by Rogue Brewery, possibly the nicest beer I’ve ever had on tap in York.

Climbing in the Scottish mountains as a lad, I was always told not to eat the yellow snow – but drinking it in the lowlands of York, I can safely now say, is highly advisable.

A week or so before that, I had swapped my grubby change for a radiant Silver Dollar, one of four ales on that night from Tyne Bank Brewery in Newcastle, a young outfit producing some excellent beers.

On nights like that, when they’re showcasing a varied selection from one impressive brewery, Pivní can seem the hardest place in the world to leave.

In some ways, it’s hard to believe Pivní has been part of York’s beer scene for only five years, but its reputation has snowballed for good reason. The drinks range is exquisite and the Tudoresque building, impressively restored in the 1960s, lends the bar a gravitas and grandeur that few can rival.

The downstairs bar area is vibrant and fun, while the second floor – with its timber beams, low-hanging lights and simple furnishings – is ideal for whiling away a relaxing evening.

All of which is why, on my day off on Thursday, I found myself back on this little lane once again, enjoying a fraction of the vast range of bottled beers, and pondering away the afternoon.

Patrick, whoever he was, can rest easy now. His pool, once impassable, has become nothing less than irresistible.

Follow Gav on Twitter: @pintsofview