Alnwick pub owners react as town has most Northumberland entries in CAMRA's 2025 Good Beer Guide

Alnwick pub owners are reacting to the news the town has the most Northumberland entries in CAMRA's 2025 Good Beer Guide. The Ale Gate, Black Swan, Harrys Bar, Market Tavern and Tanners Arms have all been included in the list, from which you can read the 72 other North East pubs here.

With five businesses picking up this accolade, Alnwick clearly has a reputation for its real ale. To find out more, Chronicle Live got in touch with the owners of the pubs in question, to see if they could shed some light on the trend.

Pete Manion, who is the owner of Harrys Bar, said: "We were included last year, and and we are just as delighted with our inclusion this year. It's a good accolade to have and I think it shows even further that Alnwick is becoming a much more real ale-orientated thing.

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"There are a lot of micropubs here, and people are really looking after their beer, which gives us a lot of competition. This is great in my opinion as it raises everyone's game and keeps us all working at a high standard.

"It's great to get that sort of accolade and the publicity that comes with it is huge for us, so it's a massive bit of recognition. We take great pride in our beer and it is a brilliant feeling to be recognised for this."

Sarah Johnson, who owns The Ale Gate alongside her husband Paul, said: "We have been in the list for the last five years before this, and we are as thrilled every year as we were the first time around. We are clearly still pleasing customers and looking after our products which is very validating for us.

"I think that once a place has a reputation for real ale it makes it known for it, we have been in the industry for 10 years and we know that you also have to cater for everyone. We have to make sure that we are known for everything, not just the real ale.

"We have a very specific atmosphere here, instead of TVs and loud music we have a record player which softly plays LPs. Real ale was our starting point but we have been able to diversify in order to keep everyone happy."

It is clear that Alnwick has become a popular destination for real ale drinkers, and its five inclusions in CAMRA's 2025 Good Beer Guide show exactly why. The owners of these businesses welcome their place in the list, with the growth of the micropub in Alnwick not expected to slow down anytime soon.

To purchase the full CAMRA 2025 Good Beer Guide, visit the website here.