THE DOG & DUCK INN IN BEVERLEY IS VOTED EAST YORKSHIRE TOWN PUB OF THE YEAR 2008

Issued 12th January 2009

The Dog & Duck Inn in Beverley has been named ‘East Yorkshire Town Pub of the Year 2008’ by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) – Hull & East Yorkshire Branch.

Members voted for their ‘City (Hull)’, ‘East Yorkshire Town’, and East Yorkshire Village’ Pubs of the Year 2008 after carefully considering the following criteria: Community Focus, Atmosphere, Campaigning, Quality of Beer, Style/Decor, Service and Welcome, and Value for Money. For the pub to be eligible for the competition the licensee had to be present since the 1st January 2008.

The Dog & Duck Inn (a finalist in the 2007 competition), on Dog & Duck Lane in Beverley, is owned by Enterprise Inns and is run by tenant, Mark McMullen. The McMullen family have run the Dog & Duck since 1972 when Mark’s father, David became the licensee. They are now joint licensees with Mark managing the pub, ordering the beer, and looking after the cellar. The pub is a regular entrant in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide and Mark remembers the first cask guest beer that was sold in the pub around 1990 – Theakston’s XB and that was followed by Greene King Abbot.

Black Sheep Best Bitter, Caledonian Deuchars IPA and Copper Dragon Best Bitter are the regular beers available at the pub now. Guest beers are sourced locally, within a radius of some 50 miles around Beverley, through SIBA – the Society of Independent Brewers. Real ales from Cropton, Great Newsome, Wold Top and York breweries have featured recently.

Mark considers the presence of well-kept cask beers served at the right temperature (ie not chilled like lager) to be central to the appeal of the pub. Mark said “Cask beer is a point of conversation at the bar and keeping the beer in good condition gives me job satisfaction”.

The Green Dragon in Beverley and the Bell Hotel in Driffield were the Joint Runners-up in the 2008 competition. The Green Dragon (winner of the 2007 competition) is owned by Mitchells & Butlers and is managed by Glyn & Alan Clarke. The Bell Hotel in Driffield (runner-up in the 2007 competition) is owned and run by George and Rita Riggs

Branch Chairman, Alan Canvess, presented framed certificates to the winner and the joint runners-up on the evening of Saturday 10th January, during a specially organised CAMRA presentation trip.

The Mariners Arms in Driffeld (a finalist in the 2007 competition) and the Tiger Inn in Driffield were the other finalists in the 2008 competition.

For more information and comment please contact:
Alan Canvess (Branch Chairman) Tel: (01482) 446320 E-mail: alan@canvess.karoo.co.uk
Mark McMullen (Tenant of the Dog & Duck Inn, Beverley) Tel: (01482) 862419