The ''Good Beer Guide'' is a book published annually by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) listing what it considers to be the best 4,500 real ale outlets (

pubs A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album '' kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

, and off-licences) in the United Kingdom.

Details

The content of the guide is decided upon by volunteers in CAMRA's 200-plus local branches. Throughout the preceding year CAMRA members anonymously rate the quality of the cellarmanship of beer in venues using CAMRA's National Beer Scoring System (NBSS) through eithe
WhatPub
or the Good Beer Guide app. These scores are then reviewed by local volunteers in the spring who put forward those they consider to serve the best real ale. The number of entries each branch area has is decided at county level with an emphasis on ensuring that a geographically wide spread set of entries are included in each year's Guide. Entries for each venue give details on factual information such as opening times, food availability and accessibility of the property, as well as subjective information such as the attractiveness of the wallpaper and the welcome visitors are likely to get from the bar staff. The Guide also includes a list of real ale breweries in the United Kingdom, with lists and tasting notes on their beers. After two long stints as Editor,

Roger Protz Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ...

announced in autumn 2017 that the 2018 Guide would be his last. CAMRA stated that from the 2019 Guide it would carry the name of the managing editor. The Good Beer Guide 2023 featured a foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales.

History

The guide was first published in 1972 and was just 18 pages long. Rather than a professionally published volume, it was a collection of sheets of paper stapled together and posted out to CAMRA members. The first printed edition was published in 1974, and contained the comment on Watney's brewery: "Avoid like the plague", which generated a lot of media attention and caused the publisher, Waddington, to recall the first print run and revise the description to "Avoid at all costs".Good Beer Guide celebrates record number of British breweries: most for 70 years
Protz On Beer, September 12th 2012

Editions

The guide is published each year, occasionally with multiple bindings:

Other publications

In the past, CAMRA also published the ''

Good Cider Guide The ''Good Cider Guide'' was a book published occasionally by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) listing cider and perry outlets and producers in the United Kingdom. It is the cider equivalent to their annual Good Beer Guide. Details The intenti ...

'' and the ''Good Bottled Beer Guide''.

References

External links

CAMRA website
{{British beer Beer journalism Works about beer Beer in the United Kingdom Hospitality industry in the United Kingdom Pubs in the United Kingdom British books 1972 non-fiction books Books about food and drink British cuisine