More than 70 pubs in Liverpool and Merseyside have been celebrated in the UK’s best-selling beer and pub guide.
The Good Beer Guide, which surveys 4,500 pubs, is considered to be the ‘definitive beer drinker’s guide’ for those seeking the best pints in the nation’s pubs and is published annually by The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).
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The 2025 edition is out now. All the information is collated by thousands of CAMRA volunteers who give up their time every year to select the best of the best across the UK, and a total of 72 pubs across Merseyside feature in the newly published 2025 edition, including 19 new entries.
We have focused on this year’s new entries and have picked out ten of the best newbies in an around Liverpool and what CAMRA had to say about them.
1. The Caledonia, Caledonia Street, Liverpool L7
The Caledonia is a fully vegan pub in the heart of Liverpool's Georgian Quarter. CAMRA said: "This street- corner pub, popular with students, comprises one room on two levels and has a small function room upstairs. The enterprising licensee has developed a programme of live music events and on these occasions this normally quiet pub buzzes with energy. Food is vegan only and all beers are unfined." | The Caledonia
2. Ma Boyles Alehouse & Eatery, The Tower Building, Liverpool L3
Ma Boyle's is a popular pub in Liverpool city centre. CAMRA said: "Named after the first landlady from Victorian times, Boyle’s was originally a coffee bar, then an oyster bar. It is set over two floors, with a side room and seating outside. Although right in the city centre, it has the atmosphere of a more rural pub due to its setting in a quiet street overlooked by St Nicholas’ church. It is across the road from the Pier Head and the iconic Three Graces and therefore convenient for visiting the city’s sights." | Sadie Gilbert
3. Black Cat, Smithdown Road, Liverpool L15
Black Cat is a bar, coffee shop and bottle shop in the heart of Wavertree. CAMRA said: "Two changing beers (sourced nationally). Lively bar, in a busy shopping street lined with many other bars and cafe´s. It is popular with students, and can get busy during the various events such as quizzes and live music. It serves a wide selection of craft beers, ciders and spirits, and also has a bottle shop. Bottomless coffee is available from 8.30am." | Google Street View
4. The Vines, Lime Street, Liverpool L1
The Vines (also known as the Big House) was brought back to life by the 1936 Pub Co. in 2023. CAMRA said: "Rebuilt in 1907 as a Cains pub, the Vines, like its sister pub the Philharmonic, is one of the great show pubs of the country, and has been identified by CAMRA as having a nationally important historic pub interior. The harvest- themed plasterwork in the smoke-room was created by sculptor Walter Gilbert in 1908. The plasterwork and glass in the other room are the work of Henry Gustave Hiller." | Leigh Elliott Photography