The following correction was printed in the Observer's For the record column, Sunday August 17 2008
The article below said the Boat Inn, Penallt, Monmouthshire, could be accessed 'only by walking over an iron bridge from the Monmouthshire village of Redbrook, meaning you have to cross from Britain to Wales ... '. Not only is Wales part of Britain, Redbrook is in Gloucestershire and anyway you can get to the inn by road.
The Boat Inn, Penallt, Monmouthshire
This gloriously quaint pub is accessible only by walking over an iron bridge from the Monmouthshire village of Redbrook, meaning you have to cross from Britain to Wales before you can order a pint. A natural spring cools the walls enough to allow for all eight beers and 18 ciders and perries to be served straight from the cask. There are also 20 fruit wines, and home-cooked food (01600 712615; www.theboatpenallt.co.uk).
Don't miss: Wye Valley Butty Bach, a refreshing 4.5 per cent burnished gold beer with rich citrus and honey flavours
The Inn at Whitewell, Whitewell, Lancashire
You can't get any mobile reception here, making it the ideal hideaway. With massive four-poster beds, giant shower heads and roll-top baths, the rooms are reason enough to come to this lovers' paradise but the beer is pretty darn good, too. Choose local cask ale or fine wine - or even between two strengths of ginger beer. The food is also excellent (01200 448222; www.innatwhitewell.com).
Don't miss: Madonna's favourite, Timothy Taylor's Landlord, with its creamy body and light lemon-and-biscuit balance
The Polochar Inn, South Uist, Outer Hebrides
It doesn't get much more remote than the Polochar Inn, which dates back to 1750 and still retains many original features from its life as a change-house, somewhere you'd wait for the ferry for South Uist and Eoligarry on Barra. Renowned for its dishes of locally caught seafood, it is a real favourite with sailors and other visitors to this tiny isle (01878 700215; www.polocharinn.com).
Don't miss: Clansman Ale from the Hebridean Brewing Company, a 3.9 per cent locally brewed beer with a lovely toast-like taste and dry bitter finish
The Square & Compass, Worth Matravers, Dorset
A short stroll from the cliffs of the South West Coast Path, this delightful pub is over 200-years old. Not only are the cask beers and ciders served straight from the barrel, the pub also boasts a fossil museum and is currently holding a stone carving festival with live music every night. In September, it hosts a jazz festival; in October, a pumpkin festival; November, a cider festival; and in December, a beard-and-bottled-beers festival (01929 439229).
Don't miss: Heve's Ide, or one of their other homemade ciders
The Nelson Head, Horsey, Norfolk
People come from far and wide to sample this pub's famous steak-and-ale pies. It also boasts a couple of excellent Woodforde's beers on handpull, including the ever-popular Wherry and Nelson's Revenge. It's dog-friendly and has roaring fires in the winter and a garden in the summer - it really is a proper locals' pub that visitors want to put in their pockets and take home with them (01493 393378; www.nelsonheadhorsey.co.uk).
Don't miss: the rich, floral, Nelson's Revenge
· Melissa Cole runs beer tasting company LoveBeer@Borough at London's Borough Market, www.lovebeeratborough.ning.com
