Introduction
Every year the branch selects the very best venues serving cask conditioned and live beer in the branch area for inclusion in CAMRA's flagship publication The Good Beer Guide. The branch is currently allocated 21 places (this is correct for the 2025 edition, we do not know the number for 2026) for venues in the Wakefield Area. Venues are not "added" or "removed" from the Good Beer Guide - venues to fill all 21 places are selected each year.
Beer Scoring
All CAMRA members can submit 'beer scores' for every live beer they drink in pubs, bars and clubs across the country via the National Beer Scoring Scheme (NBSS). Beer scoring is just what it sounds like - giving a score on the quality of the beer that you drink. Scores can be entered via the WhatPub.com website, the Good Beer Guide mobile app and even manually. Scores are recorded against the venue, not against the particular brewery and ale - although providing the brewery and beer name helps the branch. Scores entered by venue owners and staff may be identified and excluded. It isn't wise to score your own venue a 5 as this will almost certainly be picked up and the score invalidated.
Shortlist
The branch considers all scores submitted in the year preceding the publication of the guide. So for the 2026 guide, which is likely published in September 2025, scores from 1st January 2024 to 31st December 2024 are considered. Additionally scores entered up to the Selection Meeting may be considered as was the case for the 2024 guide when an additional survey trip by coach was undertaken before the selection meeting, but no such trip has happened this year. From the scores entered a shortlist is created of venues that meet a certain criteria. The Criteria is: a) A venue has 12 or more scores b) A venue has scores from 6 or more people c) The average score is above 3.0 The more scores a venue has the more accurate the average score is. The NBSS Coordinator for the branch provides regular updates typically during a branch meeting of which venues are meeting the criteria and more importantly which venues require additional scores. Additionally the NBSS Coordinator will point out which venues a) have been receiving abnormally high scores b) that a venue received a lot of scores because it held a branch meeting c) a visiting branch scored the venue heavily on one day. d) the venue changed hands during the year resulting in higher/lower scores depending on ownership e) there is a trend downwards or upwards in beer scores for a particular venue throughout the year The current Pub Of The Year and 4 Pubs Of The Season are guaranteed entry in to the guide, unless there is a compelling reason to exclude them which is explained in the "Reasons For Not Making The Guide" section below. The final shortlist is used during the final selection meeting to determine which venues could be considered for entry in to the guide.
Good Beer Guide Selection Meeting
This is typically held in January at a local venue. The meeting is open to all branch members and all in attendence are aware of the selections made although no one should discuss the selections outside of the meeting. With the complete NBSS data to hand members in attendance can discuss and vote on venues inclusion within the guide. Proxy votes can be counted if votes for venues are sent to the branch chairman. It is accepted that we are a branch that covers Wakefield, Ossett, Castleford, Pontefract and many places inbetween and therefore we would like a spread of venues to cover all areas of the branch although we accept that this may not be possible. There is no set rule on how many venues a particular area can have in the guide. A total of 24 venues are selected, 21 for inclusion and 3 reserve entries (assuming our allocation remains the same). Should a reason be found the exclude one of the selected venues then the next reserve is selected up to the cut off point for entries determined by the editors of the GBG. The selection of a venue for inclusion in the guide is not a guarantee the venue will be included as the final decisions rest with the editors of the Good Beer Guide.
Reasons For Not Making The Guide
Some of the reasons a venue might not be considered for the guide are below a) the venue is shut when the selections are made b) the venue is up for sale c) the venue ceases to sell real ale d) there has been a change of management at the venue and there has not been time to assess the venue again e) it is known during the selection meeting and process that follows that by the time the guide is published any of the above 4 events are likely to happen f) the venue has not been open long enough during the selection year to make a complete assessment on the venue g) we have a maximum of 21 venues (assuming our allocation remains the same) and at the start of each year there are around 200 potential venues that could be included