The Good Beer Guide is a book published annually by the Campaign for Real Ale

Campaign for Real Ale

The Campaign for Real Ale is an independent voluntary consumer organisation based in St Albans, England, whose main aims are promoting real ale, real cider and the traditional British pub...

 (CAMRA) listing what they consider to be the best cask ale

Cask ale

Cask ale or cask-conditioned beer is the term for unfiltered and unpasteurised beer which is conditioned and served from a cask without additional nitrogen or carbon dioxide pressure...

 outlets (pubs

Public house

A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

, clubs

Nightclub

A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...

, and off licences) in the United Kingdom.

Details

The book is published from CAMRA's headquarters at St Albans

St Albans

St Albans is a city in southern Hertfordshire, England, around north of central London, which forms the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans. It is a historic market town, and is now a sought-after dormitory town within the London commuter belt...

 and is edited by Roger Protz

Roger Protz

Roger Protz is a British writer, journalist and campaigner. He was an early member of the Campaign for Real Ale in 1971, and has written several books on beer and pubs...

, but the contents are assembled by CAMRA's 200-plus local branches. The local branches consist of members who have an interest in keeping up to date with what is going on regarding the availability of real ale (cask conditioned beer) in their own branch area. Each branch is allocated a number of entries which may be included in the guide. As each branch is given autonomy to decide which pubs (and other outlets) to enter and which to leave out, there is considerable variation from area to area, depending on the involvement and interests of the local members. While most CAMRA members regard the book to be so trustworthy as to earn the nickname "The Bible of Beer", other readers have found it to be inconsistent.

The pub descriptions themselves have grown from a single line to sometimes quite lengthy little essays that include history and legend. This is a major factor in the doubling of thickness of the Good beer Guide over the last twenty years.

Although it concentrates on pubs, the guide also includes a list of cask ale breweries in the United Kingdom, with lists and tasting notes on their beers.

History

The guide was first published in 1972, and was just 18 pages long.
Rather than a professional published volume, it was a collection of sheets of paper stapled together and posted out to CAMRA members.

The first printed edition was published in 1974, and contained the comment on Watney

Watney Combe & Reid

Watney Combe & Reid was a leading brewing business in London. At its peak in the 1930s it was a constituent of the FT30 index of leading companies on the London Stock Exchange. It produced the beer brand Watney's Red Barrel.-The Stag Brewery:...

s brewery: "Avoid like the plague", which generated a lot of media attention and caused the publisher, Waddington, to recall the first print run and revise the description to "Avoid at all costs".

Editions

The guide is published each year, occasionally with multiple bindings:

Year	Sponsored By	Edited By	Pages	Binding	ISBN
1972			18	Unbound
1974		John Hanscomb	96	Paperback
1975		Michael Hardman	176	Paperback
1976		Michael Hardman	224	Paperback
1977		Michael Hardman	256	Paperback
				Hardback
1978		Roger Protz Roger Protz Roger Protz is a British writer, journalist and campaigner. He was an early member of the Campaign for Real Ale in 1971, and has written several books on beer and pubs...	256	Paperback
1979		Roger Protz	236 + 36 Maps	Paperback
1980		Roger Protz	236 + 36 Maps	Paperback
1981		Roger Protz	236 + 36 Maps	Paperback
1982		Roger Protz	236 + 36 Maps	Paperback
1983		Roger Protz	236 + 36 Maps	Paperback
1984		Neil Hanson	280 + 36 Maps	Paperback
1985		Neil Hanson	280 + 36 Maps	Paperback
1986		Neil Hanson	280 + 36 Maps	Paperback
1987		Neil Hanson	280 + 36 Maps	Paperback
1988		Neil Hanson	352	Paperback
1989		Andrea Gillies	384	Paperback
1990	British Coal British Coal thumb|right|British Coal company logoThe British Coal Corporation was a nationalised corporation in the United Kingdom responsible for the extraction of coal...	Andrea Gillies	480	Paperback
1991	British Coal	Jeff Evans Jeff Evans Jeff Evans is a British writer and journalist. He is the author the Good Bottled Beer Guide, and was the editor of the Good Beer Guide from 1991 to 1998. He has also written about television.-Biography:...	504	Paperback
1992	British Coal	Jeff Evans	480	Paperback
1993		Jeff Evans	508	Paperback
				Leather Bound
1994		Jeff Evans	512	Paperback
1995		Jeff Evans	528	Paperback
1996		Jeff Evans	544	Paperback
1997		Jeff Evans	544	Paperback
1998	Homefire Smokeless coal	Jeff Evans	560	Paperback
1999	Homefire Smokeless coal	Jonathan Preeze	576	Paperback
2000	Homefire Smokeless coal	Roger Protz Roger Protz Roger Protz is a British writer, journalist and campaigner. He was an early member of the Campaign for Real Ale in 1971, and has written several books on beer and pubs...	578	Paperback
2001	Cask Marque	Roger Protz	578	Paperback
2002	Cask Marque	Roger Protz	804	Paperback
2003	Cask Marque	Roger Protz	830	Paperback
2004	Cask Marque and Beer Seller	Roger Protz	830	Paperback
2005	Beer Seller	Roger Protz	848	Paperback
2006	Waverley TBS	Roger Protz	864	Paperback
2007		Roger Protz	880	Paperback
2008	Cask Marque	Roger Protz	880	Paperback
				Hardback
2009	Cask Marque	Roger Protz	896	Paperback
2010	Cask Marque	Roger Protz	888	Paperback
2011	Cask Marque	Roger Protz	888	Paperback
2012	Cask Marque / Society of Independent Brewers Society of Independent Brewers The Society of Independent Brewers was founded in 1980 under the title The Small Independent Brewers Association to represent the interests of the growing numbers of independent brewing companies in the United Kingdom...	Roger Protz	908	Paperback
				Kindle	-

Other publications

CAMRA also publishes the Good Cider Guide

Good Cider Guide

The Good Cider Guide is a book published occasionally by the Campaign for Real Ale listing cider and perry outlets and producers in the United Kingdom. It is the cider equivalent to their annual Good Beer Guide.-Details:...

and the Good Bottled Beer Guide.

External links

• Good Beer Guide website