We're only here for the beer

There is a common thread to male friendships. Beer. Mine are no exception. The recent discovery that Mountain Goat guides has started a bus tour of Cumbria's many microbreweries, was all the beer magnet my mates and I needed to set off on a full-on drinking weekend.

But how to choose the breweries? Cumbria now has 27 micros – most of which have been set up in the past seven years, since they began to enjoy greater tax breaks – and they produce more than 200 different beers annually. It's a fascinating destination for those wanting to try a variety of tastes within a short distance.

Mountain Goat can provide an itinerary (or you can build your own, within reason) and run you around in a private minibus – so no need for a designated driver. You spend the days talking to brewers and tasting their wares, interspersed with a bit of walking, if you feel so inclined.

Our first stop was the Hawkshead Brewery, in Staveley. The van negotiated its way through some of the most picturesque views of the Lake District to get to the barn-like bar with 24 pumps. Owner Alex Brodie brews nearly 18,000 pints a week, which would mean nothing without his range being good to drink – and they are. The most popular is the bitter (3.7 per cent) with a nose of elderflower, but my favourite was Lakeland Gold (4.4 per cent), a really big, hoppy beer.

Our next stop was Coniston, an attractive town but sadly more famous for Donald Campbell's ill-fated attempt in 1967 to break the water speed record. Descriptions of this and his resulting death cover the walls of the 16th-century Black Bull Inn. The son of the owners, Ian Bradley, runs the Coniston Brewery and named his fine session ale Bluebird Bitter (3.6 per cent) after Campbell's boat. It is a highly regarded pint – named by the Campaign for Real Ale as supreme champion beer of Great Britain in 1998 – and goes very well with a Cumberland sausage.

The next morning, after a mighty fry-up, we marched towards the Old Man of Coniston. Its 2,633 feet doesn't seem that daunting, but after only a few steps the lure of the breweries got the better of us and we jumped on the minibus bound for the Loweswater Brewery at the Kirkstile Inn.

This was my favourite brewpub. The 16th-century interior has low-beamed rooms with open fires. Outside, drinkers enjoy dramatic views over the fell of Melbreak, an isolated triangle of rock which rises like a tooth.

To top it all, the beers are brilliant. I loved the Kirkstile Gold, while the lads enjoyed Melbreak Bitter and Grasmoor Dark Ale. Landlord Roger Humphreys and his brewers, Matt Webster and Hayley Barton, are passionate about brewing and serving a good pint.

"It's a traditional thing for pubs to brew for themselves," says Humphreys. "This is the way it was when this pub began four centuries ago. Every major farm around would have brewed up and we want to bring that taste of the landscape back to visitors and locals."

Recently, Humphreys took over another local micro, Cumbrian Legendary Ales, housed in a huddle of traditional barns at Esthwaite Old Hall, near Hawkshead, where he is cleverly retaining two of their best beers, Dickie Doodle, a golden bitter, and the Buttermere Beauty, a pilsner.

We found another revival on our next stop, in Foxfield's The Prince of Wales. This pub is the most highly regarded in Cumbria by real-ale drinkers. It offers six real ale pumps and regular events. "There's one guy," says landlord Stewart Johnson, "who commutes from Peterborough to have a few pints here." Cumbria might be a long way to go for a pint but we all thought it was worth it, too.

Compact facts

How to get there

Kieran Falconer travelled with Virgin Trains (08457 222 333; virgintrains .co.uk), which offers fares from London to Oxenholme from £22 return. Mountain Goat (015394 45161; mountain- goat.com) has an eight-hour Pint to Pint Real Ale Trail bus tour for £250 in an eight-seater bus or £400 in a 16-seater. Coppermines Cottages (015394-41765; coppermines.co.uk) offers three- or four-night breaks in a cottage from £215.

Further information

Hawkshead Brewery (hawkshead brewery.co.uk); Coniston Brewery (conistonbrewery.com); Kirkstile Inn (kirkstile.com); Cumbrian Legendary Ales (cumbrianlegendaryales.com); The Prince of Wales (princeofwales foxfield.org); Real Ale Guide, Jim Chapple (Camra, £4.95).

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