All hail the ale
GRAHAM YOUNG REPORTS ON THE LATEST LOCAL PUBS TO MAKE THE GOOD BEER GUIDE
THERE’S a ‘little and large’ double act in the latest edition of The Good Beer Guide with new enties including one of Birmingham’s tiniest pubs alongside one of the city’s biggest.
Five pubs in Birmingham and six in the Black Country have been added to the 2022 Good Beer Guide, taking the total listed in the West Midlands to 118.
Newcomers range from the giant Black Horse in Northfield – a £2.5 million investment for JD Wetherspoon back in May 2010 – to the pint-sized Redbeer’d in Cotteridge.
Founded in late 2019 by two best friends, the Pershore Road ‘micropub’ has yet to trade for a full year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Replacing a former bridalwear shop where the walls were lined with sequins, Redbeer’d serves four cask ales and up to ten keg taps and has clearly had real ale fans licking their lips.
Although the CAMRA guide says Redbeer’d has room for ‘‘about 12 people downstairs and a few more upstairs’’, owners Ant Mills-Wood and Vicki Miles say they can fit about 16 people in on both floors.
CAMRA describes Redbeer’d as a ‘‘nice addition to the Cotteridge and Stirchley pub scene’’. It says the staff are ‘‘friendly, knowledgeable and passionate about beers’’.
Other listed micropubs nearby include Wildcat Tap at 1381 Pershore Road and Hop & Scotch, at 9 Institute Road, Kings Heath.
Vicki said: “We only learned of our listing about two days before guide was going to be published so it was a lovely surprise and secret we had to keep.
“We were hit by various lockdowns and have only been fully open again since June.
“We are supported by regulars during the week – the kind of people who have become friends as well as customers – with others from further away trying us at weekends as part of the Stirchley crawl.”
The other city newcomers include another Wetherspoon pub, the Arthur Robertson at One Stop Shopping Centre, close to Perry Barr’s railway station, which is being redeveloped in time for the neighbouring 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Plus Pure Craft Bar & Kitchen on Waterloo Street and The Prince of
Wales, a Birmingham City Councilowned pub on Cambridge Street, in between between the ICC and the Utilita Arena.
A live music venue under its previous manager from November 2018 to March 2021, The Prince of Wales reopened under new Black Country Ales ownership on November 26 and will be refurbished in the New Year.
The 2022 Good Beer Guide has again been produced by CAMRA,
the Campaign for Real Ale – a notfor-profit consumer group with more than 160,000 members.
Founded 50 years ago, its aim is to ‘‘have quality real ale and thriving pubs in every community’’.
Taking Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and the West Midlands combined, there are 38 new pub entries out of 387 in the guide.
Across this wider region there are now 140 breweries. Six breweries listed in the last, pre-Covid edition have closed, but there are five new ones.
CAMRA national chairman Nik Antona said: “After the struggles of the past 18 months for the industry, it’s great that The Good Beer Guide figures are showing the resilience of pubs and brewers in the face of strife.
“As well as more than 500 new pub entries, there has been a national increase in brewery numbers after they dipped last year for the first time.
“However, the industry is still vulnerable in the aftermath of Covid19 lockdowns. Breweries still face issues around costs of goods, lack of business rate relief and silence from the Government on Small Brewers’ Relief reform.’’
The Good Beer Guide 2022 is now available from the CAMRA shop at and there is an updated app version available for download on both iOS and Android devices.
CAMRA members can order the guide at a reduced rate of £12+ p&p while membership is £28.50 a year.