CAMRA Good Beer Guide highlights Groats brewery

Caithness has only one entry in the newly released Campaign for Real Ale’s (CAMRA) Good Beer Guide 2024 – the John O'Groats Brewery and Tap Room.

The UK’s best-selling beer and pub guide includes the Last House taproom which is part of the John O'Groats Brewery

The guide describes it as "situated just metres from the Pentland Firth, it is the most northerly pub and brewery in mainland Britain". It says that there are four handpumps at the premises that serve ales brewed next door, and usually a Highland real cider.

The CAMRA Good Beer Guide is celebrating its 51st edition with a striking cover and a foreword supplied by Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson. The Guide, which surveys 4500 of the best pubs across the UK, is the definitive beer drinker’s guide for those seeking the best pints in the nation’s pubs.

Dickinson’s foreword shines a spotlight on the cultural tradition of pubs within the United Kingdom, the importance of protecting the heritage, charm and welcoming nature of pubs and clubs, and not taking them for granted.

CAMRA states: "The story is the same across the UK, as although the Guide records 82 new breweries, 142 have closed. This net loss of 60 breweries is a worrying reminder that a lack of support from the Government means dire consequences for local businesses, in the wake of a cost-of-business crisis and the constant pressure of fuel bills."

This year’s Guide contains 910 newly featured pubs – a "fantastic prospect" for the pub trade which has been struggling to stay afloat in recent years following the pandemic and rising fuel costs. The trade also faces an impending threat from unlawful demolitions, which CAMRA has declared a "national scandal" in the wake of the demolition of the Crooked House in Himley.

CAMRA chairman Nik Antona said: “The last few years have been an incredibly difficult time for the industry, and we need more support than ever before to keep our nation’s pubs and breweries open and thriving. I’d encourage everyone to use this year’s Guide to visit the very best pubs and breweries across the UK and support them for generations to come.”

To order The Good Beer Guide 2024, visit: shop1.camra.org.uk/product/the-good-beer-guide-2024/

CAMRA is a not-for-profit consumer group with over 150,000 members that has been operating since 1971.

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