Pint to pint: North Bar, Leeds Inside there's a long, lean wasp-waisted bar, with polished wooden floors and framed posters and photos decorating the wall. Wine bar perhaps? Look closer and the gleaming, stainless-steel taps, ramrod-straight hand pumps and a sign commanding "Thou shalt drink Trappist ales" loudly proclaim that beer in all its beautiful varieties is king here. At the bar there are four cask beers, focusing mainly on local products and there's a board at the back that shows the beer miles. Marble's Draft has travelled the most, having come from Manchester, while Magic Rock's Rapture is from neighbouring Huddersfield. But the beer I start with is Prototype 4, brewed a couple of miles up the road by Kirkstall. It's a good choice, pale in colour, light in alcohol, floral on the nose and with refreshing, orange-tinged notes on the palate before its crisp dry finish. Beers from the likes of Italy, the US, Flanders and - my bar snack accompaniment - Germany issue forth from the draft taps; there are also over 100 bottles to choose from, as well as some oddball spirits and liqueurs. North is also friendly. At the bar, it's smiles all round and offers of tastings to make sure I like the beer I've ordered. When I'm sat down with my glorious bar snack, the man with the pie in the mess tin notes my appreciation. "Top-five pub," he says in between mouthfuls of pie. He's right. One of the most beguiling ways to pass a peaceful half-hour with a pint is to compile a mental hit parade of pubs and bars. Many a wide-ranging Pint to Pinter would surely put North Bar top of their personal pops. North Bar, New Briggate, Leeds (0113 242 4540; northbar.com)