Yes, officially out today (order HERE !), the 2027 Good Beer Guide is a triumph of campaigning for real ale. And non-real ale, as we see more crafty keg outlets with the rider “Please ask which beers are Key Keg“, which I guarantee no-one is going to do. And who cares ? Good beer is good beer.
Once again, I applaud the CAMRA volunteers who visit pubs throughout the year and tell us which are the best ones. In my experience, they get it right far more often than not, which is why the Guide has so many pubs that don’t fit the CAMRA stereotype.
One of those crafty new entries is Thirsty in Cambridge, last visited by me the night City pipped U*nited to the league (by 19 points). For interest, here’s what Thirsty has on tap today;
Most of the GBG tickers vigorously drink craft keg (hope that’s not outing) as well as real ale, though a cool pint of, ooh, Track Sonoma will always beat the slightly carbonated version.
The tickers have been hard at work since their advance copies dropped (ugh) a week or so ago. Here’s our new mate Nobbie reading Simon’s annual GBG Day post this morning.
Since completing the GBG myself (you may have read about that) my September isn’t quite so frantic with cross-checking, spreadsheets, and pink Stabilo marker pens, but I’m still planning travel around new entries in exciting places like North Frodingham, Hobson, and Unstone (which appears to about 5 miles south of me).
This year’s “WTF !” entry is one stop out of Lincoln, where the Poacher’s Den offers you five (5) hours a week of top ticking.
But can you get home again afterwards, Si ?
I stayed on Chesterton Road last February and completely failed to find Thirsty, preoccupied as I was with trying to find a spare seat in the Champ of the Thames, and visiting the (yet again) reopened Rhadegund.
I did find a food van on Chesterton Road, but I don’t think it could be classified as “gourmet”.
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I suspect Thirsty was at the entrance to Thirsty ! There’s no sign or anything.
There’s also a bar on that parade of shops dedicated to Pink Floyd; never been in.
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Syd’s Bar??
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That would be it.
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I’m not really sure of the point of this book. There are no pictures and it’s just a long list of pubs and I am not sure how they get choosen. It’s just a long list and is really poor reading. I read it once and it was boring. Not for me cowboy
Tara
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And Moby Dick is just a thousand pages about a whale.
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But you get a prize for use of “cowboy”, Tara.
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They are open one day a week and serve cask? At least one knows it will be a fresh barrel!!
Dick
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Well, that’s one interpretation, Dick !
The Coinnoseurs Brewery Tap in St Helens was open to the public one day (Saturday) a month and it was great.
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Was it in the Guide, though?
These open, “very occasionally”, Guide entries are a bit of a joke on CAMRA’s part, especially as they appear at the expense of pubs that can be bothered to put the hours in.
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Yes, the Conoisseurs was in the Beer Guide just before COVID, and I remember former CAMRA Chairman Colin Valentine saying what a nonsense that was at the 2019 Dundee AGM.
Brewery taps that open a few days a month have their place, but it’s probably best in a separate section of the Guide. Similarly, there’s some excellent club bars only open to members or spectators that don’t get in the GBG.
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