Region’s brewing industry recognised in important new guide

The Weaver’s Real Ale House

The importance of the brewing industry to the economy of the West Midlands has been recognised in the latest edition of beer drinkers’ bible, The Good Beer Guide.

The 45th edition of the book, updated for 2018, includes 16 new breweries in the region, together with 105 new pubs.

Published by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), the book names The Weaver’s Real Ale House in Kidderminster as one of the UK’s top 16 pubs.

Roger Protz, who edits the guide, said: “It’s fantastic to see a continued growth in local brewing. The first edition of the Good Beer Guide published 45 years ago was a call to arms for beer lovers at a time when the brewing industry was in dire trouble and the market flooded with tasteless, fizzy beer.

“How the beer world has changed. Today, in spite of closures, a growing number of pubs clamber to offer the best-possible range of real ales and we are still seeing remarkable growth in the brewing sector.”

The region’s new breweries include:

Herefordshire – Butchers Arms
Shropshire – Gorgeous Beer, Plan B Brewing
Staffordshire – Uttoxeter Brewing, the Vine Inn Brewery
West Midlands – Birmingham Brewing, Burning Soul Brewery, Hippy Killer Brewery, Moseley Beer, Thousand Trades Brewing
Worcestershire – Boat Lane Brewery, Crafted Brewing, Lakehouse Brewery, Pershore Brewery, Sociable Beer, Unity Brew House

The Weaver’s Real Ale House, which will go forward to represent the West Midlands in CAMRA’s National Pub of the Year competition, is described as “a convenient stop-off point for a pint and a chat on the way into town, with plenty of space inside and eight beers on handpump”.

The pub was judged against numerous other local CAMRA branch winners and was deemed to be the best in the region overall, with a good mix of atmosphere, decor, welcome, service, value for money, customer mix, but most importantly – quality real ale.

In total, the West Midlands has 386 pubs listed in the guide.

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