Good Beer Guide 2022 Myth Buster
T
he Good Beer Guide is CAMRA’s flagship publication and the definitive rundown of the best places in the UK to get a pint of real ale, from cosy country inns to upmarket style bars. The 2022 guide was published on 12 November 2021 and was the 49th edition of the country’s best beer and pub guide, featuring over 4,500 of the best pubs in the UK, chosen by CAMRA members giving details of real ales, food, opening hours, beer gardens, accommodation, transport links, disabled access and family facilities. First and foremost, I would like to congratulate all the pubs selected for this year’s guide in the Central Lancashire branch area, in particular those who are new to the guide or returning entries and have thoroughly deserved the recognition. They include the Wheatsheaf (Coppull), Haighton Manor (Haighton), The Rivington (Rivington), Rivington Brewery Co. Tap (Rivington), Tap & Vent (Longridge) and Winckley Street Ale House (Preston). Compilation and selection for the Good Beer Guide is a complicated and time-consuming process and is quite an emotive subject each year following publication, when pubs are either omitted or included in the guide. Hopefully, the following “myth buster” will assist in developing an understanding of how the standards are applied in our branch area. How important a role does beer scoring play in GBG selection? It is critical, by far the most influential tool in our selection process and is the way in which every CAMRA member can consistently contribute to selection each year. This is first and foremost a publication for lovers of real ale and, as CAMRA members it should reflect your views. In 2021 thousands of scores were submitted for pubs in our area not only by locals but also by visiting members from 40 other branch areas across the country. Is it possible to buy your way into the Good Beer Guide? No. The Guide is completely independent, there is no charge for entry and incentives would never be accepted. If no beer scores are submitted for a pub during the preceding 12 months, could it still be selected for the Good Beer Guide? No. In supporting CAMRA values, there is a responsibility on us all to promote and record beer scores…members, landlords and committee members alike. If there is no motivation to score the beer in your local then it’s almost certainly not a pub that should feature in the guide. If a pub serves more cask ales is it more likely to be selected? No. In some respects this may make them less likely to be selected if the same quality is not maintained across the full range of real ales. Quality not quantity is key and the Circus Tavern in Manchester is evidence of this mandate where serving just two cask ales to a high quality has ensured they have been a regular in the guide for many years now. Can anyone contribute to selection of pubs in the guide? No. Only CAMRA members can get involved, either through submitting regular beers scores through WhatPub and/or suggesting potential candidates to the committee via email. If a pub serves good cask ale is there a reason why it may not appear in the Good Beer Guide? Yes. Sadly, each area is given a quota of pubs that can be included. In our case this is fixed at 34, roughly 1 in 10 of the pubs serving real ale in our area, so good is often not quite good enough, as we are blessed with a significant number of very good pubs here in Central Lancashire. Isn’t it just the same pubs getting in every year? No, since 2017 56 different pubs have featured in the guide in our area, a mixture of traditional pubs and micropubs from rural and urban locations. Could one member adversely impact the selection of an entry into the guide? In theory this is possible, but all beer scores for every potential contender are rigorously checked before selection and where there is a disproportionate percentage of high scores for a pub
submitted by one member, the committee will arrange visits by a number of committee members to verify if standards are met. How far in advance are the selections made and is there a risk that the selections will be out of date by the time the guide is published? The selections are submitted in March each year for publication in September (this year was an exception to the rule due to the pandemic). This can present its challenges, as businesses can come and go so for this reason we generally avoid selecting pubs that have been open less than six months in order to allow for a sustained period of consistent beer quality and to reduce the chance of short-lived ventures being selected that then cease to exist when the guide is published. What else can affect a pub being selected for the guide? If the landlord changes then, as with any new premises, there will generally be a six-month “proving” period before the pub is then reconsidered for the guide. The Black Bull in Penwortham is one such example, which is not in this year’s guide following the departure of its long-standing landlord earlier in 2021 despite being a regular in the guide over the last decade. If a pub has been closed for a significant period during the preceding 12 months, often through no fault of their own this is likely to impact on their chances of selection. The pandemic has taken its toll here as well! How does the basic selection process work? By comparing beer scores, compiled from data submitted by members on the National Beer Scoring System this enables us to see readily which pubs are hitting the required target (with a score of 3 out of 5 being considered good). A pub with an average of less than 3 would normally be discounted immediately, as we have more than enough good pubs in our area to fill our quota. Some pubs pretty much select themselves – it is a complete waste of time discussing the merits of pubs that everybody agrees are excellent, so we probably fill half of the spaces very quickly. The remaining spaces are not so easy to agree upon so we draw up a list of pubs requiring further investigation and over a period of a few months committee members visit all the ‘possibles’ to get as wide a view as we can. Further discussion follows until we have whittled down the list to 34 agreed entries and 3 reserves. Then we go out and resurvey all the pubs to go in the guide to ensure the information that goes in is as accurate as possible. There is a lot of work to be done and it takes much of the time and effort of the branch during the Autumn and Winter months. The GBG is not perfect, but this is not for the want of trying. Across the country, CAMRA members invest huge amounts of time (and money) to make sure that the guide is as accurate as possible and really does showcase the best pubs to drink real ale. If you are a CAMRA member and want to be involved in the selection process, it is really simple; use WhatPub to score the beer quality in the pubs you visit and contact us (or your local branch) to tell them which pubs should (and should not) be in the guide. You could even come along to a branch meeting and make your representations in person – you would be more than welcome. RICHARD LANGFORD (PUBS OFFICER AND G B G C O O R D I NAT O R )
www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk
Ale Cry
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