EXTRA – How does a pub get into the CAMRA Good Beer Guide?

How does a pub get into the CAMRA Good Beer Guide?

Download a poster for your pub here

Have you ever wondered how pubs are selected for the UK’s best selling beer and pub guide? The CAMRA Good Beer Guide has complete entries for over 4,500 urban and rural pubs giving details of food, opening hours, beer gardens, accommodation, transport links, pub history, disabled access and facilities for families. The guide contains informative features section, with articles on pubs, beer and brewing, as well as beer festival listings from around the country. In addition there is a unique brewery section listing all the breweries in the UK – micro, regional and national – that brew real ale, with tasting notes for hundreds of their beers

All pubs in the guide are independently nominated, evaluated and reviewed by local CAMRA volunteers.

Scoring beer in pubs is really easy!

The National Beer Scoring System (NBSS) is a 0-5 (0 = No cask ale available) point scale for judging beer quality in pubs.

It is an easy to use system that has been designed to assist CAMRA branches in selecting pubs for the Good Beer Guide and also monitor beer quality by encouraging CAMRA members from any part of the world to report beer quality on any pub in the UK.

If you are a CAMRA member, we want you to tell us about the quality of beer in the pubs you visit then the following will tell how to do just that. If you are not a member, why not join Europe’s most successful consumer organisation and you too can have a say in which pubs make it to the guide.

How do I score my beer?

You can score your beer online at home or if you have a smart phone in the pub!

To submit your scores just visit whatpub.com.

Log into the site using your CAMRA membership number and password. Find the pub bv name and/or location … and then you can start scoring. You can even do this by clicking on ‘Nearby pubs’.

Updated CAMRA App

You can also submit your beer scores by using the new CAMRA Good Beer Guide App

The new Good Beer Guide app puts thousands of pubs, beers and breweries at your fingertips. Free to download and available from Google and Apple app stores it uses information compiled and continuously updated by pub-goers all over the UK. The app uses the same pub information as WhatPub and so helps you find what you want, where you want, when you want!

This latest version now allows users who are CAMRA members to score their beer, a facility that was only previously available using the mobile friendly WhatPub.com website. More information from gbgapp.camra.org.uk

What do I need to record?

·         The location and name of the pub (WhatPub mobile can work this out!)

·         The date you visited the pub

·         A score out of 5

·         The name of the beer

It needs your name and membership number, but once you have registered these are recorded automatically in WhatPub and you can use the ‘Remember me’ option.

What do the scores mean?

0. No cask ale available.

1. Poor. Beer that is anything from barely drinkable to drinkable with considerable resentment.

2. Average. Competently kept, drinkable pint but doesn’t inspire in any way, not worth moving to another pub but you drink the beer without really noticing.

3. Good. Good beer in good form. You may cancel plans to move to the next pub. You want to stay for another pint and may seek out the beer again.

4. Very Good. Excellent beer in excellent condition.

5. Perfect. Probably the best you are ever likely to find. A seasoned drinker will award this score very rarely.

What if I can’t decide on a score?

The NBSS allows you to enter half scores, So not sure if it’s a 3 or a 4 – you can put 3.5 if you wish.

How do I score a beer I don’t like?

Ideally a beer should be scored to reflect how it has been kept. In other words its condition. However, the ability to distinguish between a beer that is in poor condition, is unpalatable to our tastes,  but is meant to taste like that, or has been poorly made is going to be difficult for the untrained taster. In these cases it is better to score the beer as it honestly tastes to you. After all even if you don’t like carrot and coriander ale, others may well do and therefore score it higher.

How do I ensure I am scoring appropriately?

It is important to realise that the scale is not linear. Only 0.5 and 1 indicate poor beer. This allows a wider range of scores for beer that is anything from uninspiring to perfection in a glass. Most worthy Good Beer Guide pubs tend to score either a 3 or 4 for their beers. Bland, uninspiring beers score a 2 and a 5 is something given once or twice a year. It is always worth reminding yourself of the descriptions associated with each of the numbers.

How do I edit my scores?

If you spot an error in your scores, to edit your scores go to data.beerscoring.org.uk (CAMRA log in required).

Beer Scoring Cards

The following cards can be downloaded printed and used to record your scores so that you can submit them to WhatPub later on.

How is the information being collated?

Once beer scores have been submitted online, CAMRA branches download them and use them to help in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide selection process.