Micropubs make their mark in beer guide

The Campaign for Real Ale's (Camra) 2020 Good Beer Guide sees a total of 387 pubs and 148 breweries included from across the region.

Now in its 47th year, the guide is considered by many to be the definitive guide to the best pubs for beer lovers. While traditional pubs are closing across the country, the West Midlands has seen a growing number of 'micropubs', which are often small bars in converted shop units.

In Wolverhampton, two converted former banks make it into the guide for the first time. The Keg & Comfort in Stafford Road, Oxley – Camra's Wolverhampton Cider Pub of the Year – and the Starting Gate, in Birches Barn Road, Penn Fields, are both included.

Louise Clive, who runs the Keg & Comfort with her husband John, says she delighted to have been included after opening last summer.

"I'm very pleased, I didn't expect it this year," she said. "It is a very high standard, and the shortlist for visits was drawn up in January, when we had only been going for six months, and I wasn't sure if we would be well-known enough."

Louise believed the key to the pub's success was the ever-changing variety of beers, and the way they were kept.

Cafe Metro, at the tram and bus station in Bilston, is another new entry.

However one micropub included in last year's guide, The Platform at Albrighton, has since closed.

In Dudley, new entries include the Peaky Blinders themed Garrison at the Brierley Hill Waterfront, and The Fountain in Lower Gornal. The Fountain, a former Camra Dudley Pub of the Year, reopened in October last year having been closed for nine months.

The Hinksford Arms, formerly the Old Bush, between Swindon and Wall Heath, is a new entry following an extensive refurbishment.

The Tivi Ale, which opened in a former convenience store in Regent Street, Tividale last year, also makes in into the new guide, as does Wheelie Thirsty, a micropub in Lye belonging to the Fixed Wheel Brewery.

The Midland in Bearwood is another former bank, and the guide highlights the viewing panel which allows visitors to see the beer cellar.

New entries in Walsall include St Matthews Hall, describes as "a stunning Grade II listed bar in the centre of town", and Walsall Cricket Club. The Brew House in Streetly area, described as a cosy bar created in what was a near-derelict shop, is included or the first time, along with the Jiggers Whistle in Brownhills. The Manor Arms in Rushall is another new entry.

Bridgnorth is well represented with six pubs recognised, with the Golden Lion and Bell & Talbot making their debuts.

Jon Brown, who took over as manager of the Golden Lion two years ago, after it was bought by Dudley-based Holden's, said he was delighted to have been recognised.

"We narrowly missed out on last year's guide because you have to be open for 12 months, so I am absolutely over the moon to have made it second time around," he said.

"I know I have got a good following, and I am always being complimented on my beer, that is my thing. I'm very proud to be included."

Sankey's Tap House in Burntwood is another new micropub which makes the guide, which is praised for its friendly atmosphere and absence of television or loud music.

New entries in Stafford include Bod, the first of Titanic Brewery's new chain of cafe bars which opened last year in the former Co-op shop in Bodmin Avenue, and the Slater's Bar micropub run by the brewery of the same name. The Star & Garter in Wolverhampton Road is also included.

In Lichfield, the Whippet Inn micropub, cheekily named after the pub in Carry On Sergeant, also makes its debut in the guide. The Bewdley Brewery Tap in Lax Lane, as well as the Real Ale Tavern, another converted bank, this time in Load Street, Bewdley, are other new entries, along with the Black Boy in Wyre Hill.

Among the new breweries in the West Midlands are Gentlewood Brewery, at Gentleshaw, between Cannock and Lichfield, Severn Brewery at Bridgnorth, Hartlebury Brewing Co, near Kidderminster, Izaak Walton Brewhouse in Stone, and Brewhouse and Kitchen in Lichfield.

Writing in the guide, the Camra's Tim Hampson voiced continued concern about the rate of pub closures, saying the number of pubs in the UK had fallen from 52,500 in 2001 to 38,815 last year.

He said pubs on the outskirts of large cities were most vulnerable.

"It's the smaller, community pubs that have bore the brunt of this mass extinction," said Mr Hampson.

"Analysis shows it's the small pubs that are disappearing, as the big pub chains consolidate their businesses around bigger bars.

Mr Hampson also accused pub companies of 'riding roughshod over new rules to give licensees operating under 'tied tenancies' a fair deal.

The Pubs Code regulations were introduced in 2016 to offer protections to licensees who lease their pub from a brewery, with a contract preventing them from buying beer elsewhere.

Mr Hampson said: "Evidence is growing that pub companies are using every trick in the book to stop tied tenants taking advantage of the code."

He said one bright spot was the success of pubs being run by their own communities. The Pheasant at Neenton, near Bridgnorth, reopened in 2014 after being taken over by a community society.

"Community-run pubs are stronger than ever and people's enthusiasm for running one is growing," he said, referring to a report by the Plunkett Foundation which provides support to such groups.

He said more than 120 pubs across the UK were now owned by community groups.