The Branch Minibus tour is set for another tour of out of the way pubs, predominantly GBG entries on Saturday 25 May :

Candlestick, Essendon

Lordship Arms, Benington

Brewery Tap (Banks & Taylors), Shefford

Engineers Arms, Henlow

There will be approximately 1 hour at each destination. Pick up and return will be at High Barnet outside the Red Lion pub. Depart at 12.00 and return at 18.00. The cost is £29 a head payable in advance at the time of booking. There are 16 places and provided that we sell all 16 places the first pint will be included.

For further information and booking please email ku.oc.oohay@05silliw.nairb

Following a review of beer scores submitted over the last year by CAMRA members the 3 finalists in this year's competition are :

ELEPHANT INN, NORTH FINCHLEY, N12

LITTLE GREEN DRAGON, WINCHMORE HILL, N21

LORD NELSON, HIGH BARNET, EN5

Full information and details of how to vote are attached here E&B 2024 Pub of the Year Voting Note that the deadline for us to receive your voting forms is the 23rd February. Alternatively email moc.oohay@armacbg to request and be emailed a copy of the criteria and judging form.

At the Branch meeting on 7 November Branch members votes for the Pub of the Year resulted in the following nominations :

ELEPHANT North Finchley

LITTLE GREEN DRAGON Winchmore Hill

LORD NELSON High Barnet

NEW CROWN Southgate

OLDE MITRE High Barnet

OLDE MONKEN HOLT High Barnet

Please visit as many of these pubs as you can and submit beer scores on Whatpub by 31/12/2023. The scores will then determine our final 3 candidates.

Details of how to vote for your favourite pub are set out below :

WE WANT YOUR NOMINATION! ENFIELD & BARNET CAMPAIGN FOR REAL ALE “PUB OF THE YEAR” Closing date Monday November 6th 2023

At our AGM we agreed to keep the way we nominate contenders for our PUB OF THE YEAR (POTY) for 2 more years. Our current winner is ineligible to enter… so for 2024, The Bohemia cannot compete.

We now need your nominations to allow us to shortlist our Pub Of The Year. This procedure will also help us choose pubs for consideration for The Good Beer Guide (GBG). Please send your nomination by November 6th (one per member please!) to moc.loa@wahsnerjnomis stating YOUR NAME AND MEMBERSHIP NUMBER + THE NAME OF YOUR FAVORITE PUB IN THE AREA. You can nominate any pub in the Enfield & Barnet branch area provided it serves real ale, the pub does not have to be in the current issue of GBG.

And…. Please remember to continue to BEER SCORE on as many pub visits as possible ! Our initial selection meeting for the next GBG is on Tuesday 7th November. At this time we will draw up a list of around 20 pubs to be surveyed and to help us we need as many scores as you can register.

If you don’t already score you can do so by logging into whatpub.com with your CAMRA membership number. Search for the pub and score your beer(s) using the National Beer Scoring System (NBSS) What do the NBSS scores mean? 0. No cask ale available. 1. Poor. Beer that 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. 5. Perfect. Probably the best you are ever likely to find. A seasoned drinker will award this score very rarely. 

REMEMBER, your scores and nominations will help us choose our POTY and GBG entries! Cheers!!

The Branch have copies of the Camra 2024 Good Beer Guide - the definitive guide to the best real ale pubs in the UK. They will be available to purchase at Branch socials from the 5th October when we meet at the Lord Nelson and Ye Olde Mitre in High Barnet and thereafter at Branch socials throughout October and November - see Diary for details. The discounted price for Camra members is £12 each.