'A pint of Best' is still a familiar cry in pubs in spite of the popularity of India Pale Ale and Stout.

Best is short for Best Bitter, a stronger version of Bitter and both have been pub staples since the late 19th century.

A fine example of Best comes from the Five Points Brewery in Hackney, East London. The brewery takes its name from a major road junction and the plant was built in 2013 under a railway arch at Hackney Downs Station.

It has since moved to the borough’s main thoroughfare, Mare Street, which is also home to Hackney Town Hall. The new brewery site includes a Taproom and covered outside drinking area.

The brewery was founded by Ed Mason and Greg Hobbs who share a passion for cask ale and also for the finest malts and hops.

They also own a famous East London boozer, the Pembury Tavern, close to both Hackney Downs and Central stations.

The pub naturally features the brewery’s beers and talks while discussions about cask and craft beers are regularly held there.

Ed Mason has no truck with people who attempt to drive a wedge between real ale and modern craft beers: "Cask is the very definition of craft beer," he says.

As well as running Five Points he now lives in Leeds where he owns three pubs, including the city’s oldest pub, the Grade II-listed Whitelocks Ale House.

As well as Best, 4.1 per cent, Five Points produces a wide range of beers, including a golden ale, XPA, a Pale Ale and an outstanding Railway Porter that commemorates the first Porters and Stouts that were brewed in East London early in the 18th century.

Best is brewed with the finest English malting barley, Maris Otter. The variety is grown mainly in Norfolk and Suffolk where it has the advantage of dark alluvial soil and gentle sea breezes.

It’s called a Maritime Barley and is the envy of the brewing world for its quality, rich biscuit flavour and its ability to work in harmony with yeast during the fermentation period.

An especially pale version, Low Colour Maris Otter, is used along with amber and crystal malts for colour and wheat malt for both flavour and a good head on the finished beer.

Just one hop is used: the English Fuggle. In order to cut back on carbon footprints, supplies of the hop come from Hukins Farm in Crockham Hill, Kent.

The Fuggle dates from 1875 when it was grown by a farmer, Richard Fuggle of Brenchley in Kent.

It’s famed for its peppery and spicy aroma and flavour and is often blended with another English hop, the Golding. Over the years, the Fuggle has been widely exported.

In Slovenia, it’s called a Styrian Golding, even though it’s a different variety: the Slovenians thought Fuggle was an odd name. In the United States the name was changed to Willamette and it’s a major variety there.

Five Points Best has a pale bronze colour and a big fluffy head of foam. It has toffee and biscuit malt on the aroma with citrus fruit and spicy and herbal hops.

The palate has bitter hops balanced by rich biscuit malt and a touch of toffee. The finish is bittersweet, well balanced by biscuit malt, peppery hops and toffee followed by a hoppy finale.

The bottled version is available in Morrisons and Sainsbury’s for £2.50. I would recommend a short trip to East London to enjoy Best and the other Five Points beers on draught in the Taproom or the Pembury Tavern.

•Five Points Brewery and Taproom, 61 Mare Street, London E8. Pembury Tavern, 90 Amhurst Road, London E8.