Roy Beers: Three cheers for a pub which knows the ropes
It sort of confirms your own good taste in visiting the place on a regular basis, and bears out the truth of all the froth you give your friends about the wonderful beer to be had there. You weren't making it up.
But what I really liked about the latest CAMRA award to The Three Judges in Partick, Glasgow, is that it also implicitly recognised the quality of the pub as much as its beer.
Winning the title of best in Glasgow and the West of Scotland is a considerable achievement amid a fairly strong field - for example it won over respected cask bars The Bon Accord, The State Bar and Blackfriars - but also a solid endorsement of good traditional pubs.
That's what obviously delighted manager Angela Bradley told me the other night. This eternally cheerful former park ranger has kept the same ebullient form - on cask, and every other aspect of the bar service - set by previous award-winning landlady, Helen McCarroll.
Before Helen took over 15 years ago it was nothing special. Now it's virtually a must-visit for any self-respecting caskie visiting the west of Scotland.
The city's evening paper said the Judges scored both for its beers (and niche draft organic cider) and for surviving as a traditional pub in a part of the city filled with designer bars.
In the pub, when I last visited, I met Michael Dunn of Dunn Interiors, who has the distinction of having refurbed the place very comprehensively, a few years back, without spoiling the folksy, easygoing atmosphere.
He has also designed probably dozens of style bars (etc), but said he was determined to "lift" the place while keeping its strong traditional feel. The consensus is that it worked, and that it also looks much more the part of "jewel in the crown" of the Maclay Inns stable.
But apart from the beer, the décor, the atmosphere - what has The Three Judges ever done for its visitors? Last week a group of pleasant 30-something Dutch blokes stomped in out of the cold November rain, and soon got to chatting. Every couple of months these business colleagues have a four day tourism break in a north European city, and this time they'd chosen Glasgow.
The reaction to this from bar counter customers was initial astonishment (they'd all
be in Tenerife, given a choice) then civic pride.
After visiting the nearby Kelvingrove art gallery to admire our Rembrandts the Dutch folks had found The Three Judges purely by accident - thought it looked ok and wandered in.
Two hours later they were still in animated conversation with assorted locals, including a well known trade entrepreneur, about Glasgow history, culture, football and pubs.
One of the blokes told me the bar resembled a Glasgow version of a good Amsterdam neighbourhood bar, of the sort you'd maybe find in the Jordaan - but with a hefty dash of Rotterdam to acknowledge the area's shipping and dockyards pedigree and character.
They declared they'd had a great time in the city, thought it a brilliant pub and would tell all their friends - then went off to dine at critically-acclaimed Gandolfi restaurant in the Merchant City: the ghastly weather hadn't spoiled the trip, they said sportingly.
This little vignette is good news. There's a whole ready visitor market of people who want to "find the good pubs" wherever they happen to be - whether it's Newcastle or Nijmegen. The same's true of music pubs.
At the same time while the diverse clientele makes for interesting banter, barman Ronnie Anderson - a cask fanatic - is convinced it's the "real ale" which underpins much of the pub's overall character. Without those eight regular rotating choices
on the ale board it wouldn't be the same pub, even if plenty of the regulars have never tried cask and don't want to start.
The pub also punches above its weight when it comes to draught premium lager products, and is one of an elite clutch of city West End outlets pouring Glasgow's WEST Brewery German lager on draught.
But apart from a quality pork pie The Three Judges doesn't do food. It's too small,
there aren't the facilities, and also it isn't needed - there are at least a dozen quality restaurants and cafes within five minutes' walk in this area.
Anyway, the bar has another recent claim to fame. In June it was named CAMRA's
Scottish Cider and Perry Pub of the Year - a rare accolade in Scotland.
This is in great danger of becoming a happy pub story - about a highly distinctive local flourishing despite a dozen different challenges.
CAMRA stalwarts will tell you it's all about the casks, not the kegs, but I don't agree.
It's the easy mix of cask, keg and premium lager customer which makes the bar a lot livelier than any standard alehouse.
Of course the emphasis on quality beer on all fronts is the biggest part of the act.
But according to Angela it's the customers who make the bar a success - and to prove it she bought them all a free pint to mark the award win. Nice touch.
