CAMRA Good Beer Guide

Swindon CAMRA at the St Austell meet the Brewer night

A recent visit to Swindon CAMRA for a meet the brewer night with St Austell Brewery was thoroughly enjoyable and what lovely people, however there was an interesting discussion with regard to the CAMRA Good Beer Guide.




The CAMRA team were in the process of compiling next year's list from the Swindon area and as ever it had sparked some discussion within the membership. Chatting with the Chairman it seems that they had around 35 or so pubs they considered worthy of being in the guide, however they only had 17 spaces available. This I think is a fairly common problem for many CAMRA branches and I guess those pubs that make the final list tend to be pubs who have appeared in previous years, favourite pubs as CAMRA meeting places and those members that shout the loudest to get their choice of pub included.

On the reverse most licensees are thrilled to included in the guide, considering it a real badge of honour and are justly proud of the recognition. Also many breweries and in particular the Regional Brewers, have long been bastions of improving and enforcing quality of beer in pubs. As a result, the numbers of pubs who serve fine good quality cask beer has increased considerably.

So how then do you decide if a pub should be included? Surely the pub that serves two cask ales of consistent high quality deserves to be in the guide as much as the pub who serves five quality real ales. Its just perhaps his trading style and location means he only has the trade for the two beers. Presumably it often comes down to the trading style of a pub, but as pubs cater for a multitude of classes and spend, then that's not always easy for an individual to judge either.

Perhaps the real problem is that the Good Beer Guide needs to change and that CAMRA might need to find another more encompassing way of recognising their best recommended cask ale pubs. There has never been as much interest in cask ales as now, driven by the digital age and the growth in small craft/micro brewers, the public wants to know more, which pubs serve great beer and also local beers. CAMRA can have a huge influence here and a general marque of quality of recommendation might be the best way forward. It would still have to be earned and could be taken away if quality falls year on year, but I for one believe there is scope to recognise more pubs for the quality of their beer, welcome and ambiance and it should not necessarily be restricted by the size of the book.