Small bar with a great selection of ales. If the Trade Winds is on it is well worth a scoop. The only downside is the number of people who go there to nurse drinks and occupy the limited seating. If you just want to chat go to someone’s house.

Take a ‘pew’ in this former manse (ministers)house and enjoy the peace of this popular pub. There are at least nine real ales and dozens of whiskies to have a go at and home cooked food is served until 4pm daily. The stone walls are decked with lots of large mirrors and there is a small bookcase in a corner nook. The hand pumps are of ornate blue Delft pottery on the square bar. The amenities are down a spiral wrought iron staircase. This is the place to go for good beer and a read of the papers.

Cloisters bar on Brougham Place is a real haven for real ale and whisky fans. They always seem to have at least half a dozen different ales from around the country and a wall full of whisky. The bar is based in some kind of old church related building and retains a parochial feel using old church pews as seating. The vibe most nights of the week is pretty relaxed laid back and quiet, with no music being played in the bar the background to your evening comes from the chat of the regulars and characters that make this place their local. A great place to hang out if you like the comfort and cosiness of a proper traditional pub.

They've also got a big open fire in the corner which looks like it's been used recently; I wonder if it's used in the winter to keep this place even cosier. This place can get pretty busy at the weekends and it's normally standing room only after 9pm but this only adds to the atmosphere.

Clositers also do food. I'm not sure if it's all week but I was in one Sunday afternoon for some lunch, it was a slap up meal and a good price. Its theme is proper pub grub and it's definitely leaps and bounds away from the fake pub grub that a lot of establishments are punting off onto customers these days. From what I remember I was impressed and felt that the food was of reasonable quality and an amount of care had been taken in its preparation. It was certainly not Brake Bros boil in the bag pub food.

Ale prices are around £2.50-£2.80 a pint and whisky starts around £2/nip up to silly money for some of their rare malts.

If you're a whisky fan try the Lagavulin Distiller's Edition (around £4/nip) a really warming nip full of peaty smoky Islay notes but with a warming sweet/spicy flavour. It's like mincemeat and christmas spices in a glass. Perfect for this time of year—or any time of year for that matter.

While perhaps not exactly built in or around a cloisters (as i once hoped when i was first taken here, way back when) the pub is next to a church, so i suppose there's still an element of sinning in a soulful place.

The best thing for me is the vast and ever-changing selection of real ales - tell them roughly what you're in the mood for, and the exceedingly knowledgeable staff will have a taster selection ready for you, whether its a pale ale, dark wintery sort or even a honey beer. They've a fine selection of whiskeys too, with a malt of the month to let you try something new each time.

Overall, great quality drinks, sofisticated atmosphere and quiet enought to be able to discuss those pascalian theories without shouting so loud you wake the churchyard ghosts up.

Cloisters is a small pub on Brougham Road. They have a great selection of ales. They serve food but I have to admit I've never eaten here, although it does look good!

The best thing about this little pub is it's great if you just want a chat, there is no music and it is a quiet little place with nobody to annoy you.

On the down side, it is very small, and due to its layout it's not really the kind of pub you stand in (except at the bar), so if there are no seats that's it.

A quiet pub on Brougham Street, Cloisters bar is a mellow alternative to many of Edinburghs student bars. If you're just up for a quiet pint or two, head down here for some quality ales and a decent place to chat. A real traditional style gives it a reputation for being 'an old mans pub' but that is often the best place to go for a quiet night, or even before moving on somewhere else, so don't be put off.

Smelly bar with no music and a good selection of real ales.

Just off Tollcross down relatively quiet Brougham Street is Cloisters Public House. It's a simple pub, no airs or graces, does what it should - sells you beer, provides a seat, keeps the time and doesn't annoy you with rubbish muzak. It's a bit of an old-man's pub, but not because of the age or appearance of its clientele, but just because its a public house - simple as that.