I'm putting together a map of Birmingham's pubs and bars on Google Maps (for full version click here), and would love any readers out there to chip in with their own ideas.

Yes I'll admit that I've been terrible updating this blog. But in anticipation of something pub-related I'm working on (of which more later) I thought I'd go out for a celebratory pint this afternoon.

No more the 'swift half' turning into a pint, then two pints, and so on in a self-propagating Fibonacci sequence of drinks leaving you at best hung over, or at worst asleep, at your desk come 4pm.

We're all professionals now - or at least we have to pretend to be. So it was a treat to be out on a training course earlier this week when suddenly a window off opportunity presented itself. A reasonable lunch break, the sun was shining, the hint of summer was in the air. Where to go? Why a darkened pub and a pint of warm beer please!

Of course it's more likely to be turtlenecks and goatees than the facial privet hedges and thick-knit Arran sweaters beloved by us ale-drinkers, but the principle stays the same.

But enough of such silly stereotypes. I'm just suffering from beard envy anyway. Check out the baby-smooth chin under that pint glass on my picture over there. I couldn't grow so much as a George Clooney style fashion fuzz without a few months' notice.

As a seasoned (or at least partly pickled) journalist, I've got used to this over time. But in a personal first, this time I've actually been ordered to go down the pub. Being ordered to do something you were going to do anyway is a gratifying, but mildly unnerving experience. It's as if you were a squaddy woken up at reveille, to find your drill sergeant bellowing at you to stay in bed and have a bit of rest.

Now I normally restrict myself to beer when out at the pub, to avoid making a spectacle of myself - it doesn't always work.

But this is is the grand re-opening of The Crown, and as it's larger than an envelope, naturally I'm there. And it would seem unfair not to have a glass of champagne while enjoying my first trip there.

So get searching through the old VHS collection. And I'll be offering a free pint* to whoever can come up with the best suggestion for their favourite television beer advert. Here's one to get the ball rolling...

Benjamin Franklin, a very clever man by all accounts, once said: "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." And with new breweries and new pints to try springing up by the bushelful every year, there's never been a better time to go out and look for the best place to enjoy a swift half - or more.

Of course, as a dedicated professional during the working hours, this blogger doesn't have time to visit the pub more than once or twice a day at the very most.