Lincoln CAMRA’s top pub, the Strugglers Inn on Westgate, has gone one better, with the award of Lincolnshire Pub of the Year for 2019. Judges from the Campaign for Real Ale visited the winning pubs from each of the CAMRA branches in the county and assessed the quality of the beer, the atmosphere, service and community focus.
Earlier this year, the Strugglers was named Best Cask Ale Pub by Heineken-owned Star Pubs & Bars.
Standing in the shadow of Lincoln Castle, the Strugglers Inn is a magnet for real-ale drinkers from near and far. The ceilings of the main bar and snug are adorned with pumpclips of beers that have appeared on the bar. There is regular live music on Sunday teatimes.
Lincoln CAMRA chairman, Aaron Joyce, said, “This is a well-deserved accolade for landlady, Anna, and her team. They offer an outstanding variety of beers in tip-top condition and provide a warm welcome to locals and visitors to the city. I recently heard some visitors from Cheltenham saying that they wished the pub could be transported the their town.”
The runner-up in the county-wide competition is the Nobody Inn at Grantham. The other pubs in contention were:
Ebrington Arms, Kirkby on Bain
Sweyn Forkbeard, Gainsborough
No 2 Refreshment Room, Cleethorpes
Consortium, Louth
Pooleys, Messingham
The Strugglers Inn now goes forward to the East Midlands round of the competition, where it will be up against the best pubs from Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Rutland.