Newport is top of the pints
Licensees in the Welsh town of Newport serve the best pints of cask ale in the UK, according to Cask Marque.
The beer quality accreditor has put together a list of the best and worst places to get a pint, based on over 15,000 pub visits made by Cask Marque quality inspectors over the last year.
And pubs in the south of England are still labelled as the worst in the country with the five worst towns for beer all south of the Midlands - mirroring a similar survey carried out in 1997.
Naturally, licensees in Newport are very pleased with the results. "I am not surprised," said Hugh Williams, licensee if the Church House Inn.
"There is a real tradition of cask ale drinking here in Newport. While the amount drunk has been diluted a bit over the years there is still a huge amount sold all over the town. And if you have a high throughput it makes it much easier to maintain quality."
Red-faced and bottom of the list is Salisbury in Wiltshire.
Despite not signing up to Cask Marque Mike Snowden, licensee of the town's Market Inn, said he was "shocked" by Cask Marque's assessment.
"I would like to challenge the inspectors to come round to the pubs I drink in around Salisbury - there are some brilliant ones," he said. "However, the survey must be right. So I suppose all the Cask marque pubs in Salisbury should pull their socks up."
Paul Nunny, director of Cask Marque, said: "This research is a fun way of highlighting a serious message that cask beer is a fresh, living product which requires love and attention from publicans. Licensees in those areas with lower scores need to pay closer attention to the way they store and serve their beer."
The best five towns/cities1. Newport2. Doncaster3. Sheffield 4. Dudley5. Portsmouth
The worst five towns/cities:1. Salisbury2. Reading3. Brighton4. Dorchester5. Swindon
Are you a licensee in one of these ten towns? Do you agree with the survey? If so contact the news team at arjf@gurchoyvpna.pbz, or call us on 020 8565 3054.
