Product Description

"The Good Beer Guide...the perfect book when you’re Out!" Andrew Flintoff

Britain’s original, number one, independent guide to Beer and Pubs.

‘A beer revolution is underway in Britain’ – Roger Protz’s introduction to the 2004 Good Beer Guide, chosen by The Sun newspaper as one of the ‘most famous first lines’ in literature, alongside the Bible, Harry Potter, and Nineteen Eighty-Four.

"Every time I tour nation, it's the first thing I pack" Oz Clarke

The 2006 guide contains full entries of 4,500 of the best real ale pubs in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and Channel Islands. This 33rd edition is fully-revised, researched and re-written by CAMRA members throughout the country. There are no fees charged for selection just 100% honest opinion.

With pubs located in towns, cities and countryside – beautiful rural inns and a wide-ranging choice of urban pubs. the guide caters for all your needs whether you’re looking for food, facilities for families and children, accommodation, pubs of historical interest, or if you are simply just looking for a great-tasting pint, then the Good Beer Guide is for you!

One of The Guardian newspaper’s Books of the Year 2002.

New for 2006 this edition contains maps in two-colour format and even more detailed information that helps you find and identify those special pubs more easily, along with details of how to get there by car, train, underground, metro, bus or tram.

The Good Beer Guide comes complete with a unique listing of all Britain’s real ale breweries, their beers along with details of organic beer and beers suitable for vegetarians and vegans. With full-colour articles exploring themes around beer and pub-going, the Good Beer Guide is simply more than just a guide book.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #384937 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 848 pages

From the Publisher
Completely updated each year, the Good Beer Guide is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary in 2003. Each pub entry has been visited throughout the year in order to guarantee that the pub is of a consistently high standard. Find out the consumers' favourite pubs throughout the country.

About the Author
Glenfiddich Drink Writer of the Year 2004
Beer Drinker of the Year 2004 by the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group
Lifetime Achievement Award British Guild of Beer Writers

Roger Protz is no stranger to awards, having won the awards above in the last year alone for his campaigning journalism, broadcasting, articles and contributions on beer and pub related matters.

He appears regularly on radio and TV and over the past year has regularly contributed to The Times, the Guardian and CAMRA’s newspaper What’s Brewing. He has written a number of ground-breaking books on beer and pubs including the Real Ale Drinker’s Almanac and Britain’s 500 Best Pubs. He is a Judge at the Champion Beer of Britain competition held each August at the Great British Beer Festival.

Customer Reviews

I'm with Oz!
Oz Clarke is not the only one who considers this to be an essential part of packing for a trip around Britain.

This year's edition is much improved with two colours on the guide pages making it easier to read. The coloured maps are good as well giving everything a cleaner look.

The fantastic section that lists all Britain's breweries is so helpful. Quite often I find I can visit a local brewery as well as a few pubs in an area. Well worth looking to find out.

I think what really makes this book for me is that I know that the pubs have been selected by the local drinkers - not the editor. It always worries me when you see a guidebook to hundreds of pubs or hotels or B&Bs and only one person decided which to include - how on earth can one person visit all those places in a reasonable timescale to make the book valid?

If you only buy one guide to pubs this year make sure it's this one!

The Good Beer Guide - still the best after 30 years
Beer! The preserve of bearded men with pot bellies, served with lots of unidentifiable floating bits, in a smoky pub? How wrong the stereotype is. In our cool Northern European climate beer is our traditional drink. As varied and as interesting as wine; sometimes light and smooth, often amber and bitter, but also sweet potent and powerful, those who dismiss it haven't ever really tried it. Here is a book that will guide you to an understanding and appreciation of beer. Wherever you are; waiting for a train, on the way to a theatre, on holiday, or planning a night out, this book will make a pub serving good beer easy to find.

Celebrating its thirtieth edition, the Good Beer Guide remains the ultimate reference work for those who are interested in that difficult combination - good beer and a good pub. This is not a run of the mill pub guide with the usual emphasis on inglenooks, beams and extensive food menus. True the reader will find plenty of classic country inns with horse brasses and fireplaces, but also many excellent urban hostelries ranging from basic back street locals to sophisticated brew pubs and specialist ale houses.

The common factor uniting this disparate and eclectic collection is beer. Good Beer Guide listed pubs all serve cask conditioned beer ('Real Ale'), with the choice ranging from a couple of ales to well into double figures. Consistently excellent beer quality is the overriding qualification for entry rather than the building, landlord or services offered, after all there is little point in sitting in a pretty pub with a choice of a dozen ales which are all stale and flat. That said those that receive the accolade of an entry tend to be vibrant and interesting places. In some conversation rules, others host live music, some champion traditional games, others quizzes or beer festivals.

The well organised listings are divided alphabetically into counties, whilst larger cities are divided again into manageable areas. Each features a useful map indicating the location of both pubs and breweries. An extensive and thorough brewery section details every independent brewery in the UK, giving details of their beer range and comprehensive tasting notes. An index for both places and beers makes locating information simple and practical. Most entries receive a full listing giving information about the type of pub, beers stocked, opening times, facilities, meals, proximity to rail services and accommodation where applicable. Some 'Inn Brief' entries have shorter pen portraits. Watch out for these as they are often located on a different page to other entries for the same town and are easy to miss (the only real gripe with this book). The guide's introductory section carries a number of interesting articles from top beer writers, including Roger Protz (editor), Jeff Evans and Michael Jackson (no, the one with the beard, not the one who dangles babies out of windows!).

A great strength of the guide is its reliability as all the recommeded pubs are visited regularly throughout the year. Volunteers from the Campaign for Real Ale (which has about 65000 members) undertake the work, making this a truly independent and authoritative publication. About a third of entries change every year, so don't be tempted to try to get by with last year's copy. An indispensable purchase.

Essential for all pub lovers with a sense of adventure
If you're passionate about real ale and pubs with real atmosphere, and have a sense of adventure to go that extra mile to visit somewhere different, this book should be an immediate buy. The carefully written individual pub descriptions allow you to refine your selection to a place likely to suit your particular needs, whether it be a town centre bustling local, an ancient inn with roaring fire or perhaps a rural gem serving a local brew direct from the cask.

This guide has two primary aims, firstly to showcase the finest real ale outlets in the country and secondly to provide details of all brewers and their beers with detailed tasting notes where available. The pub reviews are carefully compiled by groups of local enthusiasts around the country ensuring that only the best are included and these lists are reviewed and revised annually.

Clearly the best, most up to date and thorough guide to good pubs serving real ale.