WHY CAMRA MEMBERS SCORE BEERS

CAMRA members across the country visit pubs and taste the beer - WHY?

CAMRA branches analyse beer quality information compiled from thousands of beer scores submitted by CAMRA members (both local branch and visitors) over the course of the year to rank the venues (pubs and clubs) according to the quality of their real ale.

The result of this analysis is used to:

	To monitor the Quality of Real Ale being served in pubs
	To help branches select pubs for inclusion in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide (GBG)
	To help branches select pubs for the Pub of the Year shortlist and other local awards
	To help branches select pubs that qualify for LocAle accreditation

How do I score the quality of a real ale I am drinking??

You have to rate the quality (how well it has been kept and served by the venue) of the real ale you have been served using the traffic light system table that follows. Descriptions and a helpful note of your possible reactions should assist you to choose the best rating

RATING	DESCRIPTION	YOUR REACTION
Excellent	Exceptional and clear (if intended to be) with fantastic aromas, flavours and ideal carbonation.	Superb! You tell your friends and compliment the cellar manager.
Very Good	Satisfying and well-kept with a great appearance, good carbonation and enticing aromas and flavours.	You consider having another and may cancel plans to move to another pub
Good	Nice appearance, good carbonation, aromas and flavour.	Pleasant but not memorable. You're happy to have another but might consider something else
Acceptable	Unremarkable and ordinary, with no noteworthy characteristics.	You're unlikely to have another unless it is all there is and there isn’t another pub to go to.
Poor	Noticeably imperfect	Drinkable with resentment, but you politely ask for a replacement
Undrinkable	Unpleasant to drink, likely with a disgusting taste, incorrect appearance and off/foul aroma	You politely ask for it to be replaced and consider asking the publican to take it off.

How do I submit my scores?

You can submit scores via CAMRA's online pub guide CAMRA Pubs, To do this you will need:

• Your CAMRA membership no....
• ...and password
• Pub Location...
• ... and name
• Date of your visit
• A Rating from the table above
• Name of the brewery and beer
• Optionally, the price of the beer
• Further instructions can be found here, Beer scoring instructions

Our branch collates and reviews scores regularly through the year
Early the following year we hold open Selection Meetings, which review each pub meeting our minimum beer score criteria
This results in a short list of pubs recommended for the next GBG

Scores also form the basis of our Beer Quality Assessment (BQA), see CAMRA BQA.

We always need more scores to make this process work better and to give us more confidence in the statistics. The area North Cheshire CAMRA covers is huge with many rural pubs and there will always be deserving pubs that we struggle to get to or overlook, and whose regulars do not submit scores. If you have ever wondered why a pub is not in GBG, then it may well be because CAMRA members have not entered scores - by scoring a pub you can make a difference!

If you are not a CAMRA member but would like your opinions of beer quality in pubs to count, then join CAMRA at http://www.camra.org.uk/join