By Gregg Smith

Start on the south side of town at Doyle's 3484 Washington Street (near Willliams) (617) 524-2345. It's located a bit south from the other other recommendations on this list but it's a classic bar. A step through the door sends you reeling back through time to what taverns used to look like in this country. There's a classic wooden bar and even better, they have 26 different beers on tap and a multitude in bottles. It won't take you long to agree this is one of the country's best beer bars.

Get in a cab and head north, toward downtown, for the second stop. Jake Wirth's 31-37 Stuart St. (between Washington & Tremont) (617) 338- 8586 it's an old German place that's a bit of a Boston landmark not far from the famous Boston Common. The beer list contains 18 draft and another dozen bottles. It's a traditional bar with a friendly, if sometime raucous crowd.

Folowing Jake's head out to Crossroads at 495 Beacon Street (near Massachusetts Ave.) (617) 262-7371 It's the oldest bar in the Back Bay and a quiet neighborhood place with 14 taps and another 30 bottles. The location, as with the next few, is near several of the area colleges and at night a student crowd sometimes spills in, but overall it's a relaxing place to hoist a pint.

Next head north across the Harvard bridge to the Plough and Stars 912 Massachusetts Ave. (near Hancock) this is a smallish bar but has a well thought out selection of 10 drafts and another 10 bottles. Afternoons are the best time to visit, at night there's live music and at times it can get a bit noisy, but it's always friendly and fun.

The next stop is further up Mass. Ave. at Christopher's 1920 Massachusetts Avenue (at Broadway and Porter Square) (617) 876-9180 A quiet pub with a large horeshoe shaped bar. Usually quiet and peaceful establishment with an emphasis on conversation. A good place to lift a few with 16 taps and another 50 bottles to choose from.

It's a short walk to the next bar at The Wursthaus 4 JFK Street (at HArvard Square) (617) 491-7110 A nice bar in a pub that's bigger than it looks because of the many small rooms which jut off in a style similar to that of old colonial taverns. The number of rooms is only surpassed by bottles on a beer list that tops over 150 from more than 30 countries.

It's over the Anderson bridge to the last stop, the Sunset Grill and Tap at 130 Brighton Avenue (just off Harvard St.) (617) 254-1331 try not to be overwhelmed by the 80 drafts and 400 bottles, but they do offer sampler sizes from the taps to help narrow down your choice. If you haven't grabbed a bite to eat yet, this may be the place, but beware the food list is almost as big as the beer menu, fortunately the care they put in food is as good as the manner with which they handle their beer.

� Gregg Smith