The beer and cider lists for the 28th Carmarthenshire Beer & Cider Festival are released and we are very proud to share them with you.

The cider list is below

You are probably aware of the ‘Good Beer Guide’, National CAMRA’s flagship publication which lists the best pubs in the UK. But what you may not know is how those pubs are selected to appear in the Guide. The answer is that it is largely via beer scores submitted by CAMRA members from all over the country. So if you are a CAMRA member you can send in beer scores, If you’ve ever wondered why your favourite pub isn’t in the Guide, this may well be because you, and others, haven’t entered scores rating the quality of beer there. By beer scoring, you can contribute to the process of selection of pubs that go in the Good Beer Guide.

So how do I score the quality of the beer?
You don’t have to be an ‘expert’ to begin scoring your beer. However, it is not about your personal favourite beer receiving the highest scores! You may try a beer that isn’t to your normal taste but what you need to consider is the quality of that beer, how well the pub has kept it and served it, and score it according to the general guide below. It is a simple 0 to 5 point system, with half points being used if your opinion of the beer falls between two categories.

0. No cask ale available

1. Poor. Beer is anything from barely drinkable to drinkable with considerable resentment.

2. Average. Competently kept, drinkable pint but doesn’t inspire in any way, not worth moving to another pub but you drink the beer without really noticing.

3. Good. Good beer in good form. You may cancel plans to move to the next pub. You want to stay for another pint and may seek out the beer again.

4. Very Good. Excellent beer in excellent condition. You stay put!

5. Perfect. Probably the best you are ever likely to find. A seasoned drinker will award this score very rarely.

How do I submit my scores?
In order to submit your scores you need to login to CAMRA’s online pub guide www.whatpub.com either on a computer or by smartphone. Here you will find a list of over 35,800 real ale pubs from all over the UK; these are not all Good Beer Guide pubs, merely pubs that serve real ale. In order to start submitting scores via What Pub you need to:

1. Login. To do this you need your membership number and your CAMRA password.

2. You can then search for your pub by name. Be careful here as there are many pubs in the country which share the same name. My advice is to search by the pub name and the town or postcode. The What Pub smart phone web page also gives you the option to search for real ale pubs nearby, very useful if you are in an unfamiliar town.

3. Once you have found your pub a ‘Submit Beer Scores’ box will appear on the right hand side of the screen (or on the tab bar underneath the pub photo if you are using a smart phone).

4. Simply fill in the date and your score then as you begin typing the brewery name should automatically appear underneath were you are typing. You do not have to enter the name of the beer you are drinking but if you wish to do so once you have entered the brewery name you should be able to click on the arrow in the beer box and a drop down list of that brewery’s beers should appear. In some cases the beer you are drinking may be new or a one off by the brewery so may not appear on the list, if this is the case you can simply type in the beer name. Select the correct one click ‘submit score’ and your score will be entered into the database.

It is as simple as that. An added bonus is that it will keep a record of your scores so you can look back to see what beers you have had and how you rated them if you want.

After an exceptionally close count, we are pleased to announce that the Carmarthenshire CAMRA Pub of the Year 2024 is the Stag & Pheasant, Carmarthen and the Carmarthenshire CAMRA Club of the Year 2024 is the Pontyberem Working Men’s Club & Institute.

Congratulations to the team from both establishments!.

The Carmarthenshire beer festival committee have finally completed the charitable donations in the memory of our dear departed friends Huw Williams and Rory Gowland.

The sums raised from our 2023 beer festival totalled £300 and have been divided
equally as per the families’ wishes; £150 to Cancer Research (Wales) for Huw and £150 to the British Heart Foundation for Rory.

A big thank you to everyone that helped make the Beer Festival a success and to all drinkers who donated their unused beer tokens!

Voting is now open for Carmarthenshire Pub of the Year 2024 award. Any CAMRA member can vote for their Pub of the Year, either online or at the March branch meeting where the all votes will be counted and the winner will be announced.

Pubs were nominated and seconded at the Febraury branch meeting, the voting shortlist is as follows;

• Stag and Pheasant, Carmarthen
• Friends Arms, Carmarthen
• Station House Inn, Whitland
• John Y Gwas, Drefach Felindre
• Plash, Llanfallteg

Voting has now closed.

On Monday 12 February 2024 Jonathan Mason, Chairman of Carmarthenshire CAMRA presented a special award to The White Lion, Pwll Trap for being in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide for 10 consecutive years. This is a fine achievement and congratulations to all of The White Lion team.

Thank you to everyone who attended this years festival over the three days. We hope you sampled some great ales or ciders, maybe something that you haven’t tried before.

Beer of the Festival voting results were as follows;
First: Elland Brewery – 1872 Porter
Second: Titanic – Plum Porter
Third: Pererin Pure Pale

Cider of the Festival was joint winners Thistly Cross Whisky Cask and Jolter Press Squeal.

Well done to all!

The dates for next years Carmarthenshire Beer Festival are confirmed; 3rd to 5th October 2024. Hope to see you there.

With only days to go before the start of this years Carmarthenshire Beer & Cider Festival, the beer and cider lists featuring 40 real ales & 8 real ciders/perries from accross Wales and the rest of Great Britain have been announced.

Packed with interesting and varied beers & ciders you are sure to find something to your taste.

The festival runs from Thursday 5th October to Saturday 7th October. Further details can be found on the festival homepage .

Beer List

Cider List

After winning the Carmarthenshire CAMRA Pub of the Year award, the Mansel Arms in Porthyrhyd went forward to be judged in the South West Wales regional award and despite tough competion from other excellent pubs in the region the judges chose the Mansel Arms as the winner.

Congrautlations to Glynn, Gemma and the rest of the team. The pub goes forward to be judged in the national Wales Pub of the Year competion.

It is with sadness that we have learnt of the death of Huw Williams. Huw was a life member of CAMRA and a founder member of the Carmarthenshire CAMRA Branch.

Our thoughts and condolences are with his family.

Huw had been an active member of the branch up until this year, and was an ever presence at all our socials and events. Along with branch meetings, he was always present at our annual beer festival, always willing to help behind the bar regardless of when it was quiet, or it was a ram packed Friday night.

Please raise a glass to Huw and all he had done for the branch!