The British public house is a wide generic term covering a variety of types of hostelry in Britain where alcoholic refreshment is offered for money. To build a heterogeneous public house which covers the diversity of experiences which these establishments provide would be the work of a writer of extraordinary gifts, nevertheless there are certain factors which act as unifying links.
Most British public houses, or "pubs" as they are usually known, offer beer as their principal refreshment. This itself can cover a multitude of sins, ranging from pressurised "keg" beer, to beer brewed in the time-honoured fashion in wooden barrels. The smell of the beer will invariably lend most pubs an aroma once smelt never forgotten (that is not to say it is an unpleasant smell, just memorable). Typically, there will be a darts board (seldom used). Usually the windows of the pub will be of smoked, or frosted glass such that the clientele are not perceptible from the street outside.
British colloquialisms for the name "public house" include: "boozer", the Cockney rhyming slang "rub-a-dub-dub", etc.
Notable or interesting British public houses include:
- The Prospect of Whitby in London
- The Olde Cheshire Cheese in Fleet Street, London
- Dirty Dick's
- The Dolphin in Plymouth
See also: public house