Our branch area is split into two regions, Tyneside, comprising Newcastle, North Tyneside, and Gateshead council areas and the whole of Northumberland with both regions allocated a set number of places by CAMRA Nationally.
We decide which pubs receive these places based on beer scores submitted by members throughout the preceding year. Pubs must have 5 different scorers and an average score of 3/5 as a minimum requirement for consideration. We then look at the average scores using the CAMRA approved formula that lends weight to a venue having more scorers and a greater number of scorers.
The final list is created using these rules in a selection meeting open to any branch member. We also may omit, as a branch, pubs that are currently for sale or that have recently changed management (more recently than 6 months prior to the selection meeting) or any venues we feel show discriminatory behavior or practices (in line with CAMRA national policy).
Any branch member can score a real ale in any pub in the branch via Whatpub or the Good Beer Guide App and the branch is committed to providing regular updates on the scores at branch meetings and in future on the members area of the branch website.