OK, technically they're six of the longest days of the year, but who gives a fuckpig for such pedantry when the fourth BV Pub of the Year contest is lurking just around the corner!
You know the drill by now. Last years finalists go head to head, toe to toe and cask to cask against five spanking new contenders and we'll see if anyone can wrest the shiny trophy away from the Craft Beer Company in Clerkenwell.
Importantly, I will be making a few adjustments to the rules this year, following feedback from readers, co-drinkers and an important missive from the Iranian embassy. (OK, so, one of those didn't actually inform the decision all that much.)
Rules, rules, rules...
Firstly I've agreed that the five 'new contenders' can only include one pub belonging to any given owner, brewery or chain, which should ensure variety. Of course the rule that they must not have been in last years competition remains, which guarantees freshness (but not in a sanitary producty sort of way, obviously).
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| Where is this pub? Could it be a contender? |
Thirdly, the scoring system for the 'quality of real ale' will change slightly, with pubs now being awarded between -2 and 2 points.
Finally, the maximum number of miscellaneous bonus points a pub can win is rising to 3, ensuring that the theoretical maximum score remains 9/9.
Got that? Good. Only a few weeks to go until we can reveal the winners and boozers.
Baby steps away from the CAMRA overlords eh, and don't it feel good!
ReplyDeleteHmm, I don't think I'm any less pro-cask, just being pragmatic in the face of 2015 drinking.
ReplyDeleteI feel strongly that cask is the best way to dispense beer. I think CAMRA should pull their cocks out and seriously campaign for it to become the international standard. Totally pro-cask, me.
But... I also think that a lot of pubs serve cask beer poorly and a lot of the best brewers are putting their best beers out there in keg only. (The two may well be connected).
So often these days, it's a choice between good beer and cask beer. I don't particularly like that this is the case, but I ain't blind to it. I didn't join CAMRA to drink warm Doom Bar when I can have a cool, tasty pint of Thornbridge Halcyon on keg instead.
I always factored in the range of keg and bottled beers in the bonus points anyway, but it's time to give these things a little more weight.
If keg solved othe problem of bad beer, why do we need CAMRA? oh right, because of "TRADITION"
ReplyDeleteAre you ever going to do an award for cans of beer?
ReplyDeleteHi Ben, Hi.
ReplyDeleteAs a Doctor, I always find it hard to recommend a good beer that will help my patients with their ills. For example, Paddy, a rotund gentleman of immeasurable good taste, suffers from gout. And The Shits.
What, pray tell, would you say is a good beer for him to drink, that would assist with the gout, and help clear him of The Shits?
Yours,
Dr Fox