13 pubs in East Devon have been named in the 2023 CAMRA's Good Beer Guide.

The Campaign for Real Ale’s (CAMRA) Good Beer Guide – the UK’s best-selling beer and pub guide – is celebrating its 51st edition with a foreword supplied by Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson. The Guide surveys 4,500 of the best pubs across the UK.

This year’s Guide tells the story of an industry under threat, as although the Guide records 82 new breweries, 142 have closed.

This net loss of 60 breweries is a worrying reminder that a lack of support from the Government means dire consequences for local businesses, in the wake of a cost-of-business crisis and the constant pressure of energy bills.

To purchase the Good Beer Guide, visit: https://shop1.camra.org.uk/product/the-good-beer-guide-2024/ 

The East Devon pubs named among the best include:

  •  Sir Walter Raleigh Inn in East Budleigh - Teignworthy Gun Dog.
  • The Axminster Inn was mentioned for its Palmers Copper Ale, IPA, Dorset Gold, 200.
  • Half Moon Inn, Clyst St Mary - Exeter Ferryman
  • Bicton Inn, Exmouth - Dartmoor Jail Ale, Hanlons Citra IPA, Port Stout.
  • First and Last Inn, Exmouth - Dartmoor Jail Ale; Otter Ale; Teignworthy Neap Tide.
  • Grapevine, Exmouth Crossed Anchors Bitter Exe, American Pale Ale.
  • GWRSA Railway Club 3-5 Royal Avenue, EX8 1EN - Greene King Abbot; Hanlons Yellow Hammer.
  • Holly Tree 161 Withycombe Village Road. St Austell Tribute, Proper Job.
  • Cannon Inn, Newton Poppleford High Street, EX10 0DW2 changing beers
  • The Volunteer Inn, Ottery St Mary Broad Street, EX11 1BZ. Otter Bitter.
  • Achor Inn, Fore Street, Sidmouth Old Fore Street.Sharp’s Doom Bar; St Austell Tribute, Proper Job.
  • Bridge Inn Topsham. Branscombe Branoc 
  • Fountain Head Inn, Branscombe 
  • Powder Monkey - 2-2A The Parade, Town Centre. Bays Devon Dumpling; Dartmoor Jail Ale; Greene King Abbot; Ruddles Best Bitter; Sharp’s Doom Bar.

The list of best breweries included PowderKeg (Woodbury Salterton), which was established in 2015 to brew small batches of beer, and Mathayes in Honiton, a family-run brewery with environmental responsibility at the heart of its ethos. 

It also listed Many Hands at Dunkeswell Airfield, which began brewing in 2017 and each bottle it sells makes and contribution to local charities. 

A CAMRA spokesman said: “These pubs all deserves their place in the Good Beer Guide 2024.

“It is our belief that if a licensee serves an excellent pint of real ale, then everything else in the pub, including customer service, quality of food and atmosphere, are likely to be of an equally high standard.”