Best pubs to enjoy a pint of Guinness revealed by iconic brewer – is your local on the list?
THE best 35 pubs to get a perfect pint of Guinness have been revealed.
There’s been much debate over where you can get the best pint of the popular Irish stout.
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Guinness has become even more popular in UK pubs thanks to the ‘splitting the G’ trendCredit: Getty
The Devonshire in Soho is famously a celebrity haunt and has even served Margot RobbieCredit: Getty
Mulligans in Manchester is a traditional Irish pub with live music playing every nightCredit: Mulligans Pub
But in a move that could end this discussion once and for all, Guinness itself has announced a list of the best boozers.
Its Harp Guide celebrates pubs that serve an exceptional pint of Guinness but also offer a warm welcome, great service and a buzzing atmosphere.
Guinness says the guide was created to highlight the venues that represent the best of British pub culture.
It’s the first time Guinness has produced the list but it’s planning to continue updating it every year.
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The list features iconic venues like The Devonshire in London, Mulligans in Manchester, Kitty O’Shea’s in Glasgow, The Star in Bristol and Pogue Mahone’s in Liverpool.
From next year, drinkers will be able to nominate their own locals for the guide.
It comes as Guinness becomes ever more popular in the UK.
It became the best-selling draught beer by value in 2023, and drinkers have been all over the “splitting the G” trend on social media.
UK pubs sold an average of 3.8million pints of Guinness every week this time last year, data from hospitality analysts CGA has shown.
If you’re wanting to try a perfect pint of Guinness for yourself, here are all the pubs that made it to the list…
London
- The Devonshire
- The Coach & Horses
- Bricklayers Arms
- The Auld Shillelagh
- Skehans Freehouse
- The Audley Public House
- The Toucan
- Mc & Sons
- The Fox & Pheasant
North West
- Mulligans, Manchester
- Kennedy’s, Didsbury
- The Station, Didsbury
- Pogue Mahone, Liverpool
- The Monro, Liverpool
- Shenanigans, Liverpool
Scotland
- Malones, Edinburgh
- Kitty O’Sheas, Glasgow
- Jinty McGuintys, Glasgow
Rest of England and Wales
- The Beckford Arms, Salisbury
- The Star, Bristol
- Queens Vaults, Cardiff
- Free Press, Cambridge
- The Fat Cat, Norwich
- The Boot, St Albans
- The Centurion, Newcastle
- Barluga, Newcastle
- Sheepfolds, Sunderland
- The Fiddlers Elbow, Brighton
- The Lion & Lobster, Brighton
- Whitelocks Ale House, Leeds
- Dog & Partridge, Sheffield
- The Grapes, Sheffield
- Hearsall Inn, Coventry
- The Guinness Arms, Bury St Edmunds
A film location and award-winning boozers – why you should head to these pubs
Trendy gastropub The Devonshire is set in London’s Soho and is famously one of the hardest spots in London to get a table at.
It’s known as a celebrity hangout, with Margot Robbie amongst its fans.
Plus, it’s long been praised as one of the best spots in London to get a perfectly poured Guinness.
The Toucan, also in Soho, is another pub famous for celebrating all things Guinness.
Plus, it famously featured in the Edgar Wright film Last Night In Soho.
Mulligans in Manchester offers a traditional Irish pub experience with live music every night.
It claims to offer “what many consider the best pint of Guinness outside of Ireland“.
Meanwhile Pogue Mahone says it’s “Liverpool’s most authentic Irish pub” and the “home of the perfect pint of Guinness”.
It has live music at the weekends and also shows live sport throughout the week.
Jinty McGuinty’s has been a landmark of Glasgow’s West End since it opened 23 years ago.
The pub offers cosy booths, old barrels as tables, a roaring fire, and a large outdoor terrace in the summer.
Elsewhere, The Fat Cat in Norwich has won a host of awards including CAMRA’s National Pub of the Year and The Good Food Guide’s Beer Pub of the Year.
Pubs to struggle this year – and drinks prices will rise
Despite the good news for these pubs, they’re also set to be hit by price rises following the Chancellor’s Budget.
Boozers are facing steeper business rates that could cost them an extra £150million, shock analysis has found.
Industry chiefs are warning that firms will end up paying more despite the rates being lowered at the Budget.
The British Beer and Pub Association calculates that bills will soar by £3,867 for the average small pub next year – and £11.085 for a medium-sized pub.
Pubs were already under a huge amount of financial pressure after they were hit by hikes to employer National Insurance (NI) contributions in April.
The industry has also been hit by the rising cost of energy bills.
Publicans will now have to cough up more in wages from next spring as the National Living Wage will rise by 4.7% to £12.71 an hour.
