THERE is a time for modesty and there is a time for bravado. This is the latter.

Let’s be bold and blunt about this: York is the best city in Britain for drinking beer – and now is our chance to prove it.

The first ever York Beer Census, taking place on Saturday, promises to be one of the biggest, most fun and most informative pub crawls ever carried out in the city.

In the centre, suburbs and outlying villages, enthusiasts and volunteers will be diligently visiting every pub in York, and recording all the beers available. In doing so, we will compile the most detailed snapshot ever taken of the city’s beer scene.

York landlords will, without doubt, do us proud, and whatever number we reach, we can hold our heads high. But let’s not kid ourselves here – there is a competitive angle to this too.

You see, in recent years, other cities have dared to claim the title of UK Real Ale Capital – and we can’t let such audacious assertions go unchallenged.

Derby, Sheffield and Norwich have all proclaimed themselves champions – and Norwich is even carrying out its own survey tomorrow, hoping to quash our bid for glory. Well, we’ll see about that! 258 different real ales is, therefore, our target. That is the magic number that would beat Sheffield’s tally from last year, and hopefully allow us to claim the crown as our own. And wouldn’t that be a well-deserved accolade?

Don’t get me wrong. Sheffield, Norwich and numerous other cities have much to be proud of. But irrespective of numbers, York trumps them all and I’ll tell you why: it’s because of our consistency.

Nowhere else on this island will you find the incredible concentration of top-class pubs that we have in York. In the bigger cities, you will find splendid venues, but they will invariably be bus-rides or train-rides apart. Not here.

You could walk around York for an entire day, only rarely going beyond the Bar Walls and never taking more than five minutes between pubs, and you’d never have to settle for anything short of excellence.

Get off a bus or train at York Station and York Tap is right there, on the platform; a great starting point for any expedition. Within five minutes, you can be at Brigantes. A short stroll along the Walls and you can be at the Golden Ball. Then The Swan, then The Slip. A few minutes over the river lie The Phoenix, The Waggon and Horses, The Rook and Gaskill. And then on into the city centre: The Blue Bell, The Golden Fleece, The Last Drop Inn, Pivní, The House of the Trembling Madness, Ye Olde Starre Inne, The Mucky Duck, Vahe Bar, The Guy Fawkes, The Maltings.

The list is almost endless, and that is York’s great selling point. Cities such as Liverpool and Leeds may have more striking purpose-built pubs; many have more from which to choose. But nowhere matches York’s concentration of brilliance. Our villages and suburbs are fantastic, but our city centre is a goldmine.

York Camra, with whom The Press has teamed up for today’s census, are commendably civil about their counterparts in other cities. They are much too nice to bang the drum and ramp up the rhetoric. Beer is the drink of friendship, and we raise a courteous glass of goodwill to our counterparts in Norwich, a wonderful city with wonderful people.

But on behalf of all proud, beer-loving, and cheerfully-competitive Yorkies, let me say this to those mustard-munching, eastern southerners: You aren’t fit to lace our boots, you aren’t! You wouldn’t know a good pint if it fell from the sky and landed in your hands. And the only thing you’ll want to do with your beer cellars come next week is hide in them, once we’ve put you in your place! So there!

To all taking part tomorrow: have fun, do drink responsibly, and good luck! And remember: If we win, be gracious. If we lose.... we woz robbed!

Follow the census on twitter, using the hashtag #yorkbeercensus or by following @pintsofview and @yorkcamra