I quite like the Oakham Citra and Scarlet McCaw. Other than that, I don't really get on with many traditional 'real ales' (Old Speckled Hen and that ilk), I find them a touch sticky and sweet, whether from the cask or bottle. Citra has started to appear on cask in several places (I had a pint at the Southwark Tavern on Friday evening, which washed away the sour taste of having paid £5.10 for a pint of Hoegaarden at another pub earlier).
I'm pleased these days that it's easy to get a plentiful supply of craft beer (the M&S range is very good). I just wandered back from Oddbins with a cache of six bottles from assorted London brewers. It gets dangerous though, I somehow ended up paying £13 for a single bottle of some beer the other day. I'd assumed it would be a big bottle. Incorrectly. Oh well, it sounds nice (some kind of cherry sour).
I did the Bermondsey Beer Mile the other weekend, while playing tourist, which was very good – Southwark Brewing, The Bottle Shop, Anspach & Hobday, Brew by Numbers, Partizan, and Fourpure (would have gone to the Kernel, but they have contrary hours for some inexplicable reason). We were clinking along merrily by the time we washed up on the industrial shores of South Bermondsey. Most places do 1/3rds, so you can sample more widely without falling over.