News

Each year all Lincoln branch members have their chance to nominate two pubs for this annual competition. One pub within the city boundary and one outside the city but within the branch boundary. The top 3* voted pubs in each category then are judged by a group chosen at our AGM in November. Whilst beer quality is a high scoring factor, other aspects of the pub are also assessed in this competition, such as community focus, service and welcome, and style/atmosphere to name a few. The categories are the same that the pubs will be judged by when the overall winner is judged in the Lincolnshire round.
As ever this year the scores were very close which is only to be expected when people are choosing the best pubs we have to offer within the branch.

So the pubs chosen in each category this year were:

City Pub of the Year Nominations

• Joiners Arms, Victoria Street.
• Strugglers Inn, Westgate.
• Tiny Tavern, High Street

Country Pub of the Year Nominations (*due to a tie in number of votes for this category, the committee agreed to allow four finalists in this category.)

• Anglers, Saxilby.
• Dambusters, Scampton.
• Ripon Arms, Nocton .
• Three Horseshoes, Waddington. 

Lincoln Winner = Joiners Arms
Country Winner = Three Horseshoes, Waddington. 

So for the Lincolnshire round we can only submit one pub for the competition, so our entry for the overall Lincoln Branch Pub of the Year 2026 is;

Joiners Arms, Lincoln! Well done to Paul and the Joiners team for this fantastic result! 

Well done to all our finalists, you all did really well, the scores were so close, which is to be expected for such great candidates!