Twenty-two Staffordshire pubs have become new entries in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide, with 88 venues making the latest edition.
The Good Beer Guide 2026 was launched yesterday featuring 4,509 pubs nationally and 897 new entries.
Among the new ones in Staffordshire are Titanic Brewery’s bod café bar in Stafford, one of three of the county town’s venues in the guide.
Great Haywood’s new entry is ‘proper local’ the Clifford Arms, village pub the Sea Lion Inn in Ipstones is described as a ‘well deserved entry to the guide’ and Burton upon Trent’s ‘smart micropub’ Last Heretic is also featured.
A spokesperson for traditional Victorian pub Barton Turns, in Barton-under-Needwood, which has also made the list, said on Facebook: “After 2 years of hard work, loads of racking, tapping, and of course, tasting some cracking guest ales, we’ve made the grade! Absolutely thrilled and honoured… This is like the Michelin Guide but for beer! Whoop whoop!!!”
CAMRA praised popular Stoke town centre Wetherspoon pub The Wheatsheaf for acquiring a reputation for the quality and condition of the beer it sells.
In total, 12 of Stoke-on-Trent’s pubs have made the guide including Sanctuary on Hartshill.
Part of its listing says: “A true sanctuary in every sense, this wonderfully cosy pub features four constantly rotating real ales, up to four varied real ciders and a choice of bottled beers plus wines and gins”
It adds: “Decorated in a cosy and eclectic style, including quirky features such as leather car seats and a rocking chair, this one-room pub feels like a home from home where all are made welcome.”
Other listings include Bignall End Cricket Club which is described as ‘popular’, ‘welcoming’ and a mention is given to its ‘exceptional’ beer festival held in November.
One of the seven featured pubs in Newcastle-under-Lyme is The Crossways, which the guide says is a ‘welcome addition to the fantastic cale scene from the team at Bottlecraft in Hanley’, a place which gives a ‘warm welcome’ from the ‘friendly and enthusiastic’ bar staff.
And in Cannock, the guide says the town’s first micropub The New Hall Arms, which opened in 2016, is a ‘true gem’ where visitors are ‘guaranteed to find a beer to make you want another’.
There are seven pubs in Burton featured, four in Tamworth and four in Lichfield as well as three in Cannock, Codsall, Leek and Uttoxeter.
Twenty-seven Staffordshire real ale breweries also get a mention.
CAMRA says its 2026 Good Beer Guide comes with a message to the Chancellor that it’s a make or break moment the future of independent brewers and consumer choice.
It warns the latest figures show another drop in brewery numbers across the UK, almost all being smaller and independent operators, which the Campaign says are vital to consumer choice.
Ash Corbett-Collins, CAMRA Chairman, said: “T his really is a make-or-break Budget for the Chancellor. It’s time for the Government to decide if they’re pro pubs and independent brewers, or if they are going to reign over the demise of the great British Pub. Consumers want decisive action to get independent beers onto bars and allow pubs to thrive.
“Each edition of the Good Beer Guide is a collectible snapshot of beer and pub culture that year. This year’s Guide is a testament to the remarkable resilience of publicans, continuing to achieve excellence and choice for consumers despite a backdrop of sky-high tax bills and a lack of action from Government. The Chancellor needs to use the upcoming Budget to slash the tax burden on pubs, including VAT, duty and National Insurance contributions.”
The guide can be purchased from CAMRA here.
