Independent and authoritative: CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide returns

2026 Guide to the very best beer pubs available now 

The Good Beer Guide, the definitive guidebook to pubs that serve great cask beer across the UK​, is published today (Thursday 25 September). 

Using an independent, volunteer-led selection process making it the authoritative and trusted voice of cask beer drinkers, the 53rd edition is sponsored by Midland Snacks Traditional Pork Scratchings and endorsed by Cask Marque.

The Guide is perfect for any beer or pub lover, acting as a passport to Britain’s pubs and a simple tool to discover hidden gems near to home or planning stops on a trip. The 2026 edition features nearly 900 new pubs that didn’t appear in 2025.

In a year when iconic parts of the UK’s brewing heritage came to an end, such as when Banks’s in Wolverhampton closed their gates for good, and when more independent brewers closed than opened, the Guide still remains the go-to source for finding choice and quality in pubs.  

CAMRA Chairman, Ash Corbett-Collins, said: 

“CAMRA champions great cask beer in great pubs, with independence and choice at the heart of our Good Beer Guide and our campaigning. The is the only Guidebook you can buy that supports a campaigning organisation that fights for pubs, pints and consumer rights.   

“Each edition of the Guide is also a collectible snapshot of beer and pub culture that year. This year’s Guide is a testament to the remarkable resilience of publicans, continuing to achieve excellence and choice for consumers despite a backdrop of sky-high tax bills and a lack of action from Government. The Chancellor needs to use the upcoming Budget to slash the tax burden on pubs, including VAT, tax on beer and cider, and National Insurance contributions.”

Ends

Notes for editors:

Images of the Guide, CAMRA spokespeople and featured pubs, are here: camra-stock.camra.org.uk/276084999/collection/70/good-beer-guide-2026-press-kit

Data from the Guide, including number of new pubs per county, is here: www1-camra.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/18144441/national-and-regional-Good-Beer-Guide-2026-data.docx

We ask that under no circumstances are full sections reproduced, and where any lists of pubs are being used, that no more than 10 entries feature.

Any content that you reproduce must be accredited to ‘CAMRA's Good Beer Guide 2026’ with a link to buy the Guide from CAMRA: shop.camra.org.uk/product/good-beer-guide-2026/

Please make sure that any colleagues using CAMRA data know about these terms. 

Buy the 2026 Guide from the CAMRA website: shop.camra.org.uk/product/good-beer-guide-2026/

Contact press@camra.org.uk for listings from the Guide for media. Usage terms apply.   

About CAMRA:

CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, is a not-for-profit UK consumer group. 

We have been campaigning for pubs, pints and people since 1971.

Media Contact:  

CAMRA Press Office:  

press@camra.org.uk  

01727 337863 

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