Branch Policy on Judging and Selection Processes

All procedures outlined below are formally adopted by vote at the Branch Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Selection for the Good Beer Guide (GBG)

Year-Round Activity: Beer Scoring

Members are encouraged to submit a beer score for each different beer sampled in a pub.
Promotion of scoring is conducted via branch meetings, mailings, posters, and scoring cards.

October: Notification

At the October branch meeting and via the branch mailing list, members are informed that a shortlist of GBG-standard pubs will be identified from beer scores submitted in the previous 12 months at the November meeting.

November: GBG Nominations

Shortlisting: A ranked (by confidence) list of pubs, based on the previous 12 months’ beer scores, is presented. Pubs with disqualifying factors (e.g. unknown licensee, uncertain future) are removed following discussion.
Nominations: The meeting reviews the top 25 scoring pubs, removing any that don’t meet the criteria below.
- Pub closure
- Ownership/licensing change resulting in a decline in quality
- Score manipulation
- Concerns outlined in the CAMRA GBG Policy Document

February: Final Selection

Final Selection: The updated ranked (by confidence) list is reviewed. Pubs are selected based on their ranking until the quota is filled or the minimum acceptable score threshold is reached. Up to three reserve pubs per county may also be chosen.

Eligibility

To be considered for entry, a pub must:

Have received scores in each quarter of the previous year.
Have had its beer scores checked for erroneous and/or suspicious scores.
Receive the required number of surveys from the minimum number of different surveyors between January 1 and the November nominations meeting.
Be among the highest average beer scorers for the period.
Not be deselected by majority vote at the February meeting (voters must have visited the pub in the past year).
Not have changed owner unless the owner/manager/celllar manager has a good reputation in terms of cellarmanship.

October: Notification

November: Nominations

Pub of the Year:
- The top 10 scoring pubs from the past 12 months, plus any additional qualifying nominations, are put to a vote.
- Members may vote for up to three pubs.
- The four highest-voted pubs form the shortlist for judging.
- Eligibility: The pub must have been trading for at least six months and appear in the current or forthcoming GBG.
Club of the Year:
- Any member may nominate clubs. Nominees must be willing to judge all clubs in the shortlist.
- A shortlist of up to four clubs is formed via consensus or vote. The Chair has the casting vote if needed.
- The Clubs Officer may nominate 4 clubs to be considered against any other nominations.

Judging Process

All branch members are eligible to judge by the March deadline.
Judges must assess all shortlisted venues, pubs or clubs or both.
Judging does not need to occur on the same day, but conditions should be comparable (e.g. not one on a Monday lunchtime and another on a Friday evening).
Forms must be handed in or submitted by email to the competition coordinator.

Judging Criteria

Judging Procedure
Individual criteria scores for each judge are tallied and checked.
Scores for each pub / club are totalled up and divided by the number of judges to create an average score for each pub / club.
The winner will be the pub/club with the highest total score.

Awarded up to four times per year to recognise a pub or club’s notable recent achievement or ongoing commitment to:

Nomination and Voting

Any branch member may nominate a venue at a branch meeting, providing reasons for the nomination.
A vote is held at the meeting:
- If a single nomination is made, a simple majority is sufficient.
- If multiple nominations are made, members vote for one candidate. The venue with the most votes wins. The Chair holds the casting vote in the event of a tie.