The Good Beer Guide is CAMRA's guide to the UK's best pubs and beer.

Democratically selected entries

The way in which pubs are chosen is meticulous. Much of CAMRA’s 190,000 membership is involved and those members who cannot be active or attend regular meetings are invited to recommend pubs via email or branch websites.

Branch areas are broken down into local sections so pubs can be monitored regularly. The quality of beer in each pub is assessed using CAMRA's own National Beer Scoring System NBSS. Special branch meetings are convened annually where shortlists are presented and then members vote on the final selection for the Guide.

National Beer Scoring System NBSS

In selecting pubs for the Guide, CAMRA branches use beer scores submitted by members through a National Beer Scoring System (NBSS) to help them identify places that serve consistently good beer. NBSS uses a simple 0-5 scale and scores are submitted online. Any CAMRA member can submit a beer score for a pub anywhere in the country by going to CAMRA’s online pub guide WhatPub, logging in as a member and selecting ‘Submit Beer Scores’ for the pub.

Regular inspections

Every pub that appears in the Guide has been visited regularly by CAMRA members.

It’s not only about quality beer

The key driving force of the Guide – beer quality – has not changed in five decades. However, the Guide also takes account of the history and architecture of pubs and such important aspects as food, family and disabled facilities, gardens, special events such as mini beer festivals, and even the standard of the toilets. CAMRA volunteers are called on to be minor essayists, describing all aspects of the pubs they choose.

Town and country pubs

In addition to detailed descriptions, users want a good spread of pubs. Unlike some guides that concentrate on rural pubs, we recognise that most people live in towns and cities and expect a good selection of pubs in those areas. But we don’t neglect suburban and country pubs: on the contrary, CAMRA campaigns for the survival of rural pubs that are often hubs of their communities.

CAMRA strives to ensure that all areas of the country are covered. Each branch within a county or region has an allocation of pubs based on a calculation of factors such as population, number of licensed premises and levels of tourism. As a result, the Good Beer Guide's reach is unparalleled.

Do you want to participate in the final selection of entries for the next Good Beer Guide?

Active members of their local CAMRA branch are entitled to attend branch meetings, as well as scoring beers on the NBSS..

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