THIS is it: After 16 rounds and thousands of votes we have the final face-off: 

The Kazimier Garden v The Ship & Mitre.

This is a city chock full of brilliant boozers - the warm, the welcoming and the weird - bursting to the gills with all human life. 

But which is the best?

Two weeks ago we launched an It's a Knockout contest to find which city hostelry, out of a longlist of 24, was your top of the hops.

You've made mincemeat of some of the finest watering holes in 14 bloody rounds.  See below for how the runners and riders fared. Now it's THE FINAL COUNTDOWN between these two.

One or two people have questioned whether Seel Street's Kazimier Garden is indeed a pub, but have not really offered a good reason why not.

After all, you go there after work for its ale and for the craic. It is primarily associated with beer - at least three bespoke cask marques, inclusing Kazimier Organic, created by the Liverpool Craft Brewery, plus dozens more in bottles. It keeps pub hours. It's a meeting-up sort of place, it is an independent free house (not tied to Admiral or Punch Taverns, like most). And it's got lots of indoor (and outdoor) nooks and crannies, good pub grub and warming fires.

The important thing is you lot clearly adore it.

As you do the mighty Ship & Mitre - another proud free house. It's a beacon of booze on Dale Street that does Liverpool very proud indeed. The lovely buzz, the quiet corners, the wood, the regular beer festivals. Nobody takes beer more seriously with a mind boggling selection of real ales that change every day. A deeply friendly vibe where the nearest thing to violence occurs only in bar discussions over the merits of a Platinum Blonde over a Scary Ginger. And excellent food and service too.

Your choice of finalists prove that unlike the public who vote on The X Factor (remember that?), you lot have very good taste.

So let's be having yer. 

Get involved on our Twitter vote. Kazimier Garden v The Ship & Mitre. And don’t dilly dally. Each poll will only last a day. This one until midnight tonight.

LET THE ULTIMATE DUAL COMMENCE


ROUND 1 

VOTES: 76 - The Baltic Fleet 59%, The Crown 16%, The Lion Tavern 25%

 

ROUND 2

VOTES 103: The Caledonia 49%, The Swan 32%, The Grapes Mathew Street 19%

ROUND 3

VOTES 95: The Kazimier Garden 37%, The Pilgrim 34%, Liverpool One Bridewell 29%

 

ROUND 4 

VOTES: 124 - The Belvedere 44%, The Philharmonic Dining Rooms 16%, Bier Newington 40%

 
ROUND 5

VOTES 51: The Fly in the Loaf 43%, Peter Kavanagh’s 37%, The Railway Tithebarn Street 20%

 

ROUND 6

VOTES 155: The Ship and Mitre 75%, Ye Cracke Pub 19%, The White Star, Rainford Gardens 6%

ROUND 7

VOTES 235: The Little Grapes, Roscoe Street 49%, Ma Egertons 39%, Pogue Mahone's 12%

 

ROUND 8 

VOTES: 338 - Roscoe Head 46%, Thomas Rigby's 45%, The Dispensary 9%

 

QUARTER FINAL 1 

VOTES: 222 - The Caledonia 54%, The Baltic Fleet Pub 46%

 

QUARTER FINAL 2 

VOTES: 214 - The Kazimer Garden 50%, The Belvedere 50%

 
 

QUARTER FINAL 3 

VOTES: 602 - The Ship and Mitre 53%, The Fly in the Loaf 47%

 

QUARTER FINAL 4 

VOTES: 358 - Roscoe Head Pub 51%, The Little Grapes 49%

 

FLASH VOTE

VOTES: 119 - The Kaizimer Garden 56%, The Belvedere 44%

 

SEMI FINAL 1

VOTES: 287 - The Kaizimer Garden 51%, The Caledonia 49%

 

SEMI FINAL 2

VOTES: 382 - The Ship and Mitre 54%, The Roscoe Head 46%

 
 
 

FINAL

VOTES: 530 - Kazimier Garden 52%, The Ship and Mitre 48%

 

 

WINNER: KAZIMIER GARDEN