Happy hour as Old Ship Inn lifts prize
City pub raises the bar in CAMRA real ale awards
MELANIE BONN
The Old Ship Inn is top of the real ale charts for the area.
The busy and highly historic Perth pub in Skinnergate has just been awarded the Best City Pub Perth 2023 title in the Tayside Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA) competition which was scouring the Fair City for a winner.
Bar manager Tina Mclaren was proud to show the award from CAMRA to the PA. “We’re absolutely delighted to get this,” she beamed.
The Old Ship Inn is said to be the oldest pub in Perth dating back to 1665, with no name change.
It was considered “an oasis in Perth for real ale in the 1980s” and now has one regular real ale and two changing real ales.
In 2023 Tayside CAMRA has expanded its awards so there are now five area Pub of the Year (Poty) awards as well as one overall Branch award. The five areas are Angus, Dundee City, Perth City, Perthshire and Kinross-shire.
While The Old Ship Inn is the Perth City winner, there is still no announcement of the Perthshire winner.
In Kinross-shire, The Village Inn, Milnathort is the 2023 Poty winner.
Any member of the branch can nominate a pub for an award and selection was based on scores and assessment by other members (not the nominator) on the basis of various criteria .
Award judges will take into account the quality and condition of the drinks sold, promotion and knowledge of real ale, cleanliness and staff hygiene, service, welcome and offering, pub décor, community focus and atmosphere.
Award winners appear in the next CAMRA Good Beer Guide, and receive a Poty certificate.
The overall Tayside Branch Poty will also be put forward automatically for the award for Scotland and Northern Ireland, which leads in turn to being eligible for the CAMRA National Pub of the Year Award for the UK.