CAMRA Glasgow & West of Scotland Branch Good Beer Guide Selection Process

The pubs section of CAMRA’s “Good Beer Guide” (GBG) gives details of over 4,500 UK pubs that serve the best real ale. The pubs are divided according to geographical region and the pubs in each region are chosen by the local CAMRA branches. The area covered by the Glasgow & West of Scotland Branch (the Branch) includes “Argyll & the Isles” and parts of “Greater Glasgow & Clyde Valley” and “Loch Lomond Stirling & the Trossachs”.

The Branch holds meetings each month and during the three months prior to submission to the GBG editor the Pubs Officer will provide lists of pubs for each region, giving the average NBSS beer score, the number of scores provided over the previous 12 months and comments on the suitability of each pub for its inclusion in the forthcoming guide. The merits of each pub are discussed during the branch meetings. Draft lists of pubs likely to be included, and under consideration, are produced and pub visits are arranged where possible to gain the most up-to-date information on the features of the pubs and the quality of their beer.

The primary factor in determining whether a pub should be included in the guide is a record of consistently good beer scores.

While pubs are initially ranked according to beer score, other factors come into play when considering their suitability for inclusion in the Guide. On their own they would not place a pub into or out of the Guide, but in combination they could tip the balance one way or the other. These include:

• The number of scores made in the past year; a small number of good scores is weak evidence that a pub will consistently serve good beer
• The pub, and its management’s reputation; we would normally expect a pub to be selling consistently good ale for at least a year for it to be included in the Guide
• The importance of real ale to the pub’s business model; where it is a sideline it would be easier to remove
• The availability of real ale; for a pub to be included in the Guide we would normally expect it to serve real ale whenever it is open
• The number of ales offered; while quality is much more important than quantity, a pub with only one real ale is more likely to run out leaving drinkers with no choice.

The list of selected pubs may have to be trimmed down to meet allocation limits imposed by the GBG editorial team.

Pubs excluded due to the allocation limit will be chosen from those with the lowest average beer scores on list of acceptable pubs. However, it is often the case that many “borderline” pubs have very similar average beer scores and other factors can play a part in the final choice of pubs in the Guide. This can include:

• The geographical spread of pubs within the region; better to have an even coverage
• The types of pub; better to have a mix of dry/wet led pubs
• The operational model; better to have a mix of chain/independent pubs

Any pubs that are excluded due to the allocation limit are placed on a reserve list. They may promoted to the Guide if a pub has to be removed from the Guide between the submission date and the time of the final proof (e.g. because it closes).