Ipanema Pale Ale at the Briar Rose, Birmingham

The Briar Rose is the place to go to see all of Birmingham’s die-hard alcoholics. It’s a Wetherspoon hotel, so it’s one of the few places where you can get a cooked breakfast in the morning. It also serves beer from 8am, and has Birmingham’s biggest whiskey bar. We were there to get a quick bite before our trip down to London, and many of our fellow trippers had the same idea. After word got round that our coach would be delayed for half an hour, we decided to get stuck into the beer. This IPA was brewed as a seasonal special for the world cup, and was very flavoursome. It was also quite fitting to drink a London beer at a non-capital price. The pub itself is found on a hill nestled between Birmingham’s train stations, and it’s hidden behind a row of shops. Inside, it’s a typical open-plan corridor pub with a long bar in the middle and a larger seating area at the rear.