An Alsager pub has made it into the CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2025.

The gospel of real ale hotspots and top quality boozers, was first published in 1972 by The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).

And in 2024, a huge amount of local pubs and bars have made the list.

CAMRA'S Cheshire County Pub of the Year 2004 and South Cheshire Pub of the Year for the second year running in March, The Lodge Inn in Alsager, now has another accolade - an entry in  the CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2025.

. 

Sarah and Carl Smith run The Lodge Inn in Alsager. (Photo: Nub News)

The guide says The Lodge Inn in Crewe Road is "a deservedly popular town centre pub sympathetically modernised by the current owners.

"On entering, there is a smart lounge on the right and a more rustic room on the left with a real fire. The bar, whose excellent range of real ales and ciders is the main attraction, opens onto both rooms.

"A third room stretches to the rear and borders the pleasant patio and garden area. Although there is no food, large pork pies are available."

The Campaign for Real Ale's (CAMRA) Good Beer Guide is the UK's best-selling beer and pub guide.

Unique to this year, its 52nd edition will feature not one but two covers, starring two of the UK's favourite fictional locals: Coronation Street's Rovers Return Inn, and Emmerdale's Woolpack.

The Guide, which lists 4,500 of the best pubs across the UK, is the definitive beer drinker's guide for those seeking the best pints in the nations' pubs – and costs £14.99 online.

Rotating local tipples served at Jack in the Box ranges from Macclesfield's SIDA to Congleton's Beartown. (Image - Macclesfield Nub News)

Despite the tough trading environment facing a lot of licensees, they continue to battle against the odds, and the 2025 Guide boasts over 900 pubs that are new to this edition.

Information in the Guide is collated by thousands of CAMRA volunteers who give up their time every year to select the best of the best across the UK. As well as covering 143 of the very best pubs across Merseyside and Cheshire, it includes 36 new pub entries across the counties.

With two of ITV's flagship soaps being referenced on the cover, the foreword of The Good Beer Guide 2025 has been written by multi award-winning TV executive producer Iain Macleod.

In his foreword, MacLeod writes: "...the story which threatened one of our pubs the most was also the one which most resonated with our times."

Click the red link above or below to buy the guide. (Image - Macclesfield Nub News)

"In 2023, the Rovers Return closed its doors. A combination of the lingering legacy of the Covid lockdowns and the cost-of-living crisis meant that landlady Jenny Bradley couldn't afford to keep it open. The characters – and the viewers – lamented the news like the loss of a loved one. If it were needed, it was a timely reminder of the central place the nation's pubs have in our lives and in our affections."

The amount of pubs continues to decline in the UK, but CAMRA shines a light on these businesses. In total, there were 38,175 pubs in the UK at the end of 2023, down from 41,015 a decade earlier. (Source)

Ash Corbett-Collins is the national chairman of CAMRA.

"The Rovers Return Inn and the Woolpack represent the UK's love of their local, and to have them featured on the covers for this year's Guide is very exciting," said Ash.

The book is currently discounted for its launch, at £14.99. (Image - CAMRA)

"CAMRA's mission is to ensure support from the Government as well as tangible legislation to protect pubs in this country. By next year's edition of the Guide, we want to be talking about the beer and pub trade growing with the support of communities and parliament alike."

This year's Guide is sponsored by Midland Snacks Traditional Pork Scratchings and endorsed by Cask Marque.

The Good Beer Guide 2025 has been released, today, 26 September 2024, and is available to purchase now from this link.