CAMRA's Good Beer Guide

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The photos on this page show the inside of the Victoria Inn, Durham, taken back in 2012. It’s grade two listed and has a historical interior that’s largely unchanged since it was opened in 1899. It has accommodation and it’s well worth spending a night or two there. Or maybe just a session or two.

I came across it when flicking through CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide.

I bought my first good beer guide when I joined CAMRA back in 1974. I’ve bought everyone since. They have been very useful for finding pubs with great beer when traveling around the country and in my local area.

One thing you need to understand is that it’s a guide to pubs with great beer and not a guide to great pubs. occasionally, I’ve visited a pub in the guide that I just don’t like. It must be this way because one person’s great pub is another person’s horrible pub. The description (if well written) can be a great help.

I prefer micro pubs, proper community pubs and brewery taps. Virtually all descriptions give this information, so it’s easy to find them. And it’s very rare I dislike one of them.

Pub descriptions can give an idea of whether a pub is for you or not. Descriptions that turn me off include upmarket (probably pricy), gastro (yes, there are pubs described this way), Wetherspoons, serves food (this is a difficult one, but I don’t like drinking with the smell of food), sports pub, large tv screens.

A very good pub marker is a star, which indicates a pub with a historic interior. These are always worth visiting. If you follow the link, to CAMRA’s heritage page there is a link to a pdf listing all of heritage pubs.

The breweries section gives a description of the beers brewed by the brewery. A lot of the entries also list the brewery tap and local pubs that sell their beers. This information can be used to locate interesting pubs that are not listed in the guide. You would expect a pub that is listed as a brewery tap to sell good quality beer.

The guide no longer gives the opening times of a pub, which is a shame. CAMRA’s what pub website gives this information, it’s usually correct, but if you are traveling a long way to a pub it may be best to phone.

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