With a number of us celebrating milestone birthdays in Q1, Q2 and Q3 of 2014, a decision was taken to go to Las Vegas to conduct some drinking during the May half term holiday. A collective of me, Avril, Richard Bradshaw, Adam Sharr, Andy P, Andy W, Mark Giles, Matt Oliver and spouses where applicable headed that way on Saturday 24th May. For some reason we had booked flights late and had to fly to LA then drive. Fortunately I had heard about Bobby Zamora's heroics in the playoff final before collecting the hire car and consequently fancied a scoop on arrival in Vegas. Richard was still up at midnight so I trudged to the Interlude in the Cromwell Hotel for a beer. This was a stereotypical glitzy Vegas casino bar with dolled up waitresses serving expensive drinks. Richard elected to have one of these rather than beer. It was very noisy so we left there and pushed onto one of the many bars in the MGM Grand, in this case opting for the Casino Bar. Carbon copy of the previous one really though perhaps not quite as irritatingly high class. It was then time for well-earned bed.

The following day dawned and there were plans made for the back to back Cher and Guns ‘n’ Roses concerts that had foolishly been booked. As a warm up, decent tasting ales could be purchased from Pub 1864 in the MGM Grand which had a huge variety, albeit at huge cost and without many seats. At least decent beer can be found in Vegas. The Cher and Cyndi Lauper concerts passed without beer, but normal service was resumed gone midnight in The Joint at the Hard Rock Cafe in the form of more reasonably priced but less interesting beverages. I expect it was Bud or Coors. At about 3.30am a final warm down beer was grabbed with Richard back in the MGM Grand, this time at the bar of Wolfgang Puck, which is really a restaurant.

The final day in Vegas saw a more pub crawl-like excursion being undertaken. Nine Fine Irishmen is a completely synthetic Irish pub in New York New York with all the standard issue tat and a selection of vaguely Irish flavoured beers. Plastic, but at least comfortable and not the arch shithole that Coyote Ugly in the same hotel was. This place was bad enough on a Monday so who knows what it would be like on a Saturday. We paid to get in and stand around a chairless cavern drinking gassy shit American beer while ladies in bikinis poured shots into male youths' mouths. Vile, sticky and we left quickly. Far more pleasing was the Diablo's part of the Monte Carlo hotel which actually looked and felt like a bar and had vaguely drinkable beer. They actually even had Negro Modelo in bottles. As part of the same hotel but in a much more massive foyer style was the Ignite bar which was basically an array of comfortable seats in the middle of the floor with a bar and no constraining walls. A step down in choice and quality although surroundings were nice and comfortable, and a bit of a walk to the toilet.

That was the end of Vegas and after a pub-free drive to LA, and pub-free evening, we picked up the pace again the following day, starting off with a very stereotypically Mexican lunch at El Coyote. Margaritas were the order of the day here and we had a number of flavours and a great number of them full stop. Very good quality and they hit the spot well. We enjoyed our drinks on one of the leather booths, so we still haven't managed to prop up the bar. Maybe next time. A few minutes’ walk in the heat followed, which didn't really sober us up, to the fairly recently opened Wirtshaus, a German themed pub with German beer. Being mid-afternoon midweek it was pretty quiet, although a few people were beginning to arrive. We sat outside in an alleyway type thing and actually stayed for a second, such was the array of German beer. There was a bit of German tat about the place but it was not a full-blown Keller, though still an excellent place to drink.

We should probably have stayed for a third as the service at the Parlor left a lot to be desired. We were shunted onto an outside table in the corner as bar staff decided to serve their mates: jocks watching some sort of non-competitive sport. Eventually some uninteresting beers came, which we consumed quickly before leaving without tipping. The Darkroom was however much more up our street, a proper pub, not a sports bar, with a decent if cavernous interior and small patio out front for smoking. Good array of beers too.

The Melrose Umbrella Company is an atmospheric if slightly trendy establishment which is probably more suited to cocktail drinking. A cosy, candlelit room with lots of paraphernalia, mainly umbrellas, and distressed looking wooden tables and chairs. I managed to have a beer as there was a reasonable bar, and the toilets are also a splendid tiled affair and well worth a visit. Very civilised given what else is nearby. In complete contrast was the Melgard, a very average and not particularly nice bar selling a couple of aley type products but mostly fizzy beer. We had ours on the extensive patio. It appears that this pub has now closed, but that in a former life it was actually quite good with lots of beer, so we must have caught it while on a quiet day and in decline.

Last stop was the Snake Pit which was also a bit rough around the edges but deliberately so rather than through neglect. One might call this a dive bar, but on the whole it was a perfectly acceptable place to round off the evening in dark surroundings and an excellent selection of beers on tap.

The following day we had a very civilised and expensive luncheon at the Ivy, along with a few drinks, before heading by taxi into central LA. After a little bit of a walk around, we found the Westin hotel which has a number of bars. The first one that we visited was the Lobby bar in the expected style for such things - man in shirt, tie and waistcoat serves up expensive beer on coaster or serviette, accompanied with small bowl of complimentary nibbles. Eventually the roof bar opened and we went up there to pay even more inflated prices for a couple of cocktails and nibbles. The surroundings however were superb as the venue was a rotating one, so you could get a very good view of LA, and it was empty in there too. We managed to stay for an hour or so which was about half way round. By the time we had got down again we had worked up yet another thirst and decided to head into the much more casual Bonaventura Brewing Company on one of the lower floors. This is a standard pub like offering, selling pints of beer at sensible prices, accompanied by an atmosphere that is one that we were much more familiar with. No nibbles though.

An even better rooftop bar could be found just up the road which combined many of the best aspects of those that could be found in the Westin. This was the Biergarten in the Standard Hotel, which unsurprisingly was modelled in German style, with German beer and German snacks, and a rooftop pool with strategically placed towels around it. I found this the best of the day.

In the evening, Richard and I went out for a few in Hollywood and first stop was the Piano Bar which was a long, single roomed, dark affair with a piano and people listening to it being played. Not really my thing but pleasant enough for a beer. Stout however was much more my scene, a lively, bright and airy space that one would more likely call a pub, with a huge selection of very pleasant beers available. As I recall I managed to find something rather like a mild. The Saint Felix is a more clubby kind of bar with a bit of a gay vibe. Smart enough but with the same quirky fittings as is found in so many places these days that they cease to be quirky. Still better than the Aventine over the road though which to be fair is more of an Italian restaurant than a pub. Their bar area is quite grand however and if you can see through the cocktail list, they do have a few beers. Final stop for the evening was the Brickyard which meant that we ended on a high. This is an upstairs pub that is kitted out like a dive bar but not at all seedy, with pool and dart boards. Most notable however is the excellent selection of draft and particularly bottled beer.

The following day saw a gentle trip to Malibu undertaken. We kicked off with a nice lunch overlooking the sea at Duke’s, where we have been before. For the driver they do non-alcoholic beer, then we drove up the coast, saw a few sights, and stopped into Paradise Cove for a beer. This is also on the coast, but at a beach, where you can go and consume your ale sitting on the sand if you want to. They give you a plastic glass to make things easier. Paradise Cove has a little more tat inside than Duke's and seems to be more geared to families.

On the final day, after the obligatory Manson tour, we rewarded ourselves with lunch at the Cat and Fiddle. Same waitress, same nice food, same drinks deals, and same high quality experience. Sadly the Cat and Fiddle has now moved from this site and I am not sure where to. A couple of doors up was the surprisingly good Mercantile, which from the outside looked a bit too trendy for our liking but was actually really good. We sat at the bar and tried to set Richard up with the barmaid. The place itself is also a deli shop so there are counters further down where various items can be purchased. Wine is the main drink, but enough bottled beer was available to keep me happy. Unfortunately this place has closed down too.

A short cab ride later and we were at the uber-trendy Sky Bar in the Mondrian Hotel where it is apparently quite common to see celebrities. It is perched on the edge of a hill so it's not upstairs at all, rather you get a great view of Hollywood in one direction at the back of the bar. It is a very swish venue with most of the punters drinking cocktails although I believe I had beer again. Although it could have been a little anally retentive, and at those prices not ideal, there was something really good about it and we actually stayed for a second round. Probably the most ‘Hollywood’ of all the establishments that we visited that day.

The House of Blues was a little more rough and ready and had a large area where performers could perform, plus various other areas including some outside ones, A bit sprawling and part of a chain but nevertheless a decent place to have a couple of beers. Backtracking a little bit we got to the Saddle Ranch, where we had been the previous year for an impotent AMF. This time we steered clear of blue cocktails and had beer and solids instead, outside, as it was quite noisy inside and irritatingly cavernous. The highlight for me for an unknown reason was the dipping sauce which I am sure was cinnamon mayonnaise.

With the light fading we walked down the road for what would be our last bar of the evening, the famous Rainbow on Sunset Strip where we managed to stay for quite a few hours. This place was like a maze inside and we sat in a few different spots, including the area where the Beatles apparently got up to high jinks many years ago. Competitively priced beer offers kept us in there, but it was also a very pleasing place to drink, even more so when the band started up. A fine place to draw our trip to a close.