Good Beer Guide Launched

The best 4,500 pubs according to the Campaign for Real Ale

-1227 new pub entries and 73 new breweries listed in the Guide
-CAMRA finds 668 breweries in the UK!
-CAMRA today announce the 16 Regional Pub of the Year Winners
-CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, has today launched the 36th edition of its annual Good Beer Guide which features the best 4,500 real ale pubs in Britain according to CAMRA membership.

Despite many pubs struggling in today's current economic climate and research showing that 57 pubs permanently close every month across Britain, this year's Good Beer Guide highlights that the UK real ale pub scene is thriving.

The Guide features both urban and rural pubs, giving details of food, pub history, architecture, transport links, beer gardens, accommodation, disabled access and facilities for families.

Pubs are surveyed by local CAMRA members and scored on a variety of aspects that make a great pub. These include customer service, the clientele mix (i.e the pub appeals to 18 and 80 year olds), value for money, décor and of course the quality of the real ale. CAMRA members therefore guarantee to supply the reader with the most up to date publication to help locate the best pint of real ale.

To view the full list of new pubs and new breweries please visit www.camra.org.uk/gbgmedia. Please note this area of the site will only be live until Friday 12th September 2008.

Good Beer Guide editor Roger Protz said: “CAMRA's Good Beer Guide is Britain's original number-one, independent guide to good beer and pubs. It is great to see that there are now more than 660 real ale breweries in Britain brewing over 2,500 different varieties of real ale and so many wonderful pubs to drink them in.

Mr Protz continued, “The CAMRA members work tirelessly to survey the pubs each year to make sure the reader gets the most updated guide to the best pubs in Britain. I would personally like to thank them for all of their hard work and support.”

In this year's feature section, the book addresses current affairs such as the boom in craft brewing, landmark pubs, and the attempts by the brewing industry to combat global warming. Press releases on these subjects can be viewed at www.camra.org.uk/gbgmedia.


REGIONAL PUB OF THE YEAR 2008 WINNERS:

To celebrate the launch of the Good Beer Guide 2009, CAMRA has announced the 16 CAMRA Regional Pubs of the Year winners. These are the pubs that have been hailed as the very best real ale pubs in the country.

The National Pub of the Year winner will be judged from final 16 Regional Pubs of the Year and announced in February 2009.

Regional Winners:

Central Southern -
Royal Oak Inn, Newbury Street, Wantage, Oxfordshire, OX12 8DF

East Anglia -
Chequers, 71 Main Road, Little Gransden, Cambridgeshire, SG19 3DW

East Midlands -
Arkwright Arms, Chesterfield Road, Sutton Cum Duckmanton, Derbyshire, S44 5JG

Greater London -
Trafalgar, 23 High Path, Greater London, SW19 2JY

Greater Manchester -
Crown, 154 Heaton Lane, Stockport, Greater Manchester, SK4 1AR

Kent -
Butcher's Arms, 29A Herne Street, Herne, Kent, CT6 7HL

Merseyside, Cheshire & North Wales -
Blue Bell, Rhosemor Road, Halkyn, North-East Wales, CH8 8DL

North East -
King's Arms, Beach Street, Deptford, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, SR4 6BU

Scotland & Northern Ireland -
Marine Hotel, 9-10 Shorehead, Stonehaven, Grampian, AB39 2JY

South & Mid Wales -
Tafarn John y Gwas, Drefach-Felindre, West Wales, SA44 5XG

South West -
Tom Cobley Tavern, Spreyton, Devon, EX17 5AL

Surrey & Sussex -
Royal Oak, Friday Street, Rusper West Sussex, RH12 4QA

Wessex -
Red Lion Inn, Kilmington, Wiltshire, BA12 6RP

West Midlands -
Beacon Hotel, 129 Bilston Street, Sedgley, West Midlands, DY3 1JE

West Pennines -
Manor Arms, Princes Street, Broughton-in-Furness, Cumbria, LA20 6HQ

Yorkshire -
Kelham Island Tavern, 62 Russell Street, Sheffield, Yorkshire, S3 8RW


‘Good Beer Guide' Goes Technical - CAMRA Launches New Sat-Nav and SMS Services

There is now simply no excuse not to find the best real-ale pubs in the UK, as CAMRA will coincide the launch of the ‘Good Beer Guide' publication with new satellite navigation and text message services for mobile phones. The new Sat-Nav POI file will allow users of ‘Tom-Tom' hardware to see the locations of all the 4,500-plus pubs listed in the Guide throughout the UK. Meanwhile, the text message service, compatible with most mobile phones with Internet access, will allow the user to seek out the listed pubs simply by inputting a postcode or place name.

Speaking with regards to the launch of this service, ‘Good Beer Guide' author Roger Protz said: ‘The best-selling pub guide in the UK has now become the most readily accessible with these excellent technological innovations. These services are so simple to use, and really increase the visibility of the publication.'

For further information on both services, visit the CAMRA website at www.camra.org.uk/gbg

Notes to Editors:

The Good Beer Guide 2009 is sponsored by Cask Marque - a non profit making organisation set up to champion quality of cask ale within the industry. www.cask-marque.co.uk

CAMRA now has more than 93,000 members

The Good Beer Guide is available priced £14.99 directly from CAMRA (£12.99 for CAMRA members) or at all good book shops. Further discounts also available through the online CAMRA shop - www.camra.org.uk/shop.

For more information contact:

Jon Howard, CAMRA Press Officer
Tel: 01727 798443 / 07939 425471, email: jon.howard@camra.org.uk

CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale
230 Hatfield Road, St Albans, Herts, AL1 4LW