REGULARS at a Wokingham town centre pub are celebrating after it was named the best in the region.
Beer-drinking experts from the South East Berkshire branch of CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale) decided that The Crispin in Denmark Street was top of the hops and recently presented the landlord with the Pub of the Year award.
The presentation took place on Thursday, March 28, and saw chairman David Richards hand over a certificate to landlords Angie and Aid Evans.
He said that the team, aided by assistant manager Sam Willatts, had worked hard to make The Crispin “a fantastic venue for lovers of good beer” and praised the selection of beers as “mouthwatering”, with a lot of local breweries benefiting from the choices made.
And it’s hard work being a CAMRA judge: the team inspected 90 pubs across the region, with five of them being shortlisted and The Crispin being judged the top.
Mr Richards added: “Ever since Aid and Angie took over, the quality of the real ale being served has been consistently high.
“Judges found this during their visits and gave the Crispin high scores on that aspect.
“They also scored it highly on the welcoming atmosphere in the pub and on its community focus, with many local teams and societies being hosted there.
“It is a pleasure to see a no-nonsense pub like the Crispin doing so well in this prestigious award.” The Crispin now goes on to be assessed in the Berkshire County round of CAMRA’s competition, where it will be judged against the winning pubs from the three other Berkshire county CAMRA branches, these being the Bell Inn at Aldworth, the Craufurd Arms in Maidenhead and the Nag’s Head in Reading.
Mr Richards said: “We wish the Crispin all the very best in this next round”.