Voting for Good Beer Guide 2027 is underway! “2027. But that’s far away, we’re still in 2025” I hear you say. It is, but let’s take a look at the timeline..
To begin with, branch CAMRA members get to submit their chosen pubs for the Wolverhampton (city) area and the South Staffordshire (formerly “country”) area of the branch. Wolverhampton covers a section of South Staffordshire alongside our colleagues in Dudley, we’ll get into branch borders in another article. We need to allow time for as many branch based CAMRA members to vote as possible and, come the deadline (this year it’s Sunday 4th January), the votes for our two areas are totted up and are analysed at a branch meeting, where we make checks to ensure that all voted for pubs remain eligible (still open, no changes in licensee etc) and look to settle any ties by using the National Beer Scoring System (NBSS).
Once settled, the list of pubs is submitted to CAMRA HQ. From then on, it’s about accuracy and tidying up. In late spring, branches get draft pages (“proofs”) from CAMRA showing how their pubs will appear in the book. This is the chance to catch typos and last-minute changes. The proof stage allows branches to correct details and, if absolutely necessary, remove a pub that’s closed or gone downhill – but they can’t swap pubs or reopen the whole debate.
By early summer, proofs are “approved” and the national editor and production team will make the final changes before the book is effectively frozen. It’s at this time that CAMRA will prep advertising and licensee packs (note that the smartphone app is being phased out alongside WhatPub.com in favour of the new CAMRA website). The print edition is released in September of each year.
How our Good Beer Guide & Pub of the Year voting works
Click the image of the magazine to read the digital version.
Right now Wolverhampton CAMRA members are choosing which local pubs and clubs go into the next Good Beer Guide – and who wins our City, South Staffordshire and Club of the Year titles. We’ve got just over four weeks of voting left, so if you’re a member this is the moment to have your say.
Every member gets a GBG voting form. You can nominate up to 15 pubs/clubs in Wolverhampton and 4 in South Staffs that you feel have consistently served great real ale. Those with the most nominations form our branch shortlist for the national Good Beer Guide.
On the same form, you’re also asked to name your personal Pub of the Year (City and South Staffs) and Club of the Year from the places you’ve nominated. The pubs and clubs with the highest number of these “personal POTY” votes become our finalists. Volunteer judges – any CAMRA member who can visit every finalist – then score them against CAMRA’s national criteria: beer quality, cleanliness, service and welcome, atmosphere and décor, community focus, value for money and support for CAMRA’s aims. The winners go forward into the wider regional and national Pub of the Year competitions.
Non-members can’t vote, but you do benefit: this is how your local Good Beer Guide entries and award-winning pubs are chosen. If you’d like a say in future years, you’re very welcome to join CAMRA.
You can read the full explanation of the process – plus the judging criteria in detail – in the new BEERWOLF, available digitally right now and in local pubs from this weekend.
You can access both the eligible pubs list and the Good Beer Guide nomination form by clicking the links in this text.
