Ale and hearty for 50th edition
Berkshire/South Bucks: Pubs make the Good Beer Guide
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has named several pubs in Maidenhead, South Bucks and surrounding areas in its 50th edition of the Good Beer Guide.
The list, compiled by thousands of independent volunteers, features ‘the best pubs to find a great pint’. There are 4,500 listings across the UK – 659 in the South East.
In it, award-winning author Laura Hadland showcases the local beer highlights across the region. She notes that the area has ‘a strong tradition of innovation and quality’.
Some familiar names have made the cut this year, including the Craufurd Arms, a former Local CAMRA Pub of the Year.
The 50th community owned pub in the country, the building dates back to the 1800s. It hosts activities including live music, cribbage, darts and a quiz on Thursday night.
Another popular local that made the cut is the Maiden’s Head, a large single-room high street pub with separate seating areas and a large beer garden.
It offers four constantly rotating guest ales, with an emphasis on local breweries, keg craft beers, as well as a range of world bottled beers.
Next up is The North Star, which the guide describes as a ‘very friendly traditional back-street pub’ with two bars – a busy public one with TV and darts, and a quiet lounge.
The North Star is an Asset of Community Value (ACV) and CAMRA accredited for serving consistently wellkept real ales.
The final Maidenhead pub listed is the Bear, a former coaching inn that became a Wetherspoon in 2009.
It has an open-plan bar with several different seating areas, including on the upper floor and an outside space at the front.
Importantly for chasers of good beer, the 10 handpumps dispense up to six guest ales, many from local breweries.
Further afield, the Bull
Inn (Sonning) made the list.
This ‘delightful 16thcentury pub, full of character’ has regular beers and changing guests mainly from the Fuller’s range.
Meanwhile, in Waltham St Lawrence, The Bell has been praised for its ‘exceptionally good food’. The halftimbered 15th-century pub serves as both the village local and a restaurant.
It features real ales from small, independent breweries and up to eight ciders and perries are served from the cellar. It has log fires in the winter and a good-sized beer garden.
Wargrave & District Snooker Club – also a Local CAMRA Club of the Year winner for several years – is in the Good Beer Guide.
The regularly changing beers reflect members’ recommendations, with two on in the winter months and one in the summer.
The TV’s default is off, though the Six Nations
Rugby and World Cup are exceptions.
In Bourne End, KEG Craft Beer Tasting Bar micropub is going ‘from strength to strength’. It serves two cask ales and seven craft keg beers.
The bar is full of bric-abrac and plays music from the proprietor’s eclectic vinyl collection.
Black Horse in Iver Heath is described as having ‘a country-house feel’ with shelves of books and a timber conservatory restaurant with a patio and garden.
The Blackwood Arms, a Victorian country pub in Burnham Beeches, has a log fire and garden with some covered and heated seating. Dogs and horses are welcome.
Over in Twyford, the Crown Inn freehold locals’ pub is ‘central to the life of the village.’
The spacious pub serves one frequently changing beer from the barrel, and usually offers seven different ales during the week.
In Wooburn Common, the Royal Standard is listed – an award-winning pub with seven changing beers, some from the barrel.
Discover all of the pubs listed with CAMRA’s new Good Beer Guide app at gbgapp.camra.org.uk