THE BEACON SHINES

Janet Parker reports on the successes of the Beacon Hotel, Sedgley (Photos by Stan Stephens)

Dudley & South Staffordshire branch of CAMRA has recently selected the Beacon Hotel Bilston Street Sedgley as its pub of the year 2011. This is only the second time in the branches history that a pub has won the top award for the fourth year in a row, the first being the Rising Sun in Tipton.

This sucess comes only a few days after it was announced that the Beacon narrowly missed out on being voted as CAMRA's National Pub of the Year, with this accolade going to the Harp in Covent Garden London.

Judging of the competition is carried out by branch members according to CAMRA national criteria. Beer quality carries the most weight in the judging process; the other elements are atmosphere/style/décor, service/welcome, clientele mix, promotion of CAMRA aims and good value. The presentation was made by the branch chairman Stan Stephens on Wednesday 2 March. A convivial evening was enjoyed by those present.

Each CAMRA branch’s pub of the year goes forward into the national competition which has 4 further rounds of judging. Last year the Beacon succeeded against 7 other nominations to become the West Midlands County Pub of the Year. This progressed the pub to the Midlands West regional competition which the Beacon also won. At this stage there are only 16 pubs in the country remaining and the Beacon also triumphed in the Super-Regional round which reduced the contenders to the last 4. The pub’s achievement is to be applauded and reflects the traditional gem that is the Beacon Hotel which has remained true to its origins and where your beer is always served in a handled dimple glass (‘jug’).

The Beacon Hotel is home to the Sarah Hughes brewery whose regular beers are Pale Amber, Surprise and the famous Dark Ruby, an impressive 6% ABV in strength with a good balance of fruit and hops, leading to a pleasant, lingering hops and malt finish.. In addition, occasional brews from Sarah Hughes plus 2 guest beers from other breweries are served from the small central bar. Here you will receive service with a smile from the staff, although you may have to peek under the hatches to see them.