The Grapes wins Pub of the Year! Awards held at Oranges & Lemons, celebrating local pub culture.
Guess what? The Grapes won Pub of the Year for 2025! The announcement was late last year. The awards party happened earlier this month. Fifty-five CAMRA members voted. The Grapes won by just one vote! The Royal Blenheim came in second; it’s on St Ebbes.
Johnny Roberts manages The Grapes. Jack Amos is his assistant. They are both super happy about winning! The Grapes closed in 2021. It reopened in August 2022, after Dick Morgan’s pub company took over. The Masons Arms took third place in the city. It’s located in Headington.
The Crafty Pint won Town & Village Pub of the Year. It’s in Witney. This is the first micro-pub to win this award. The Brewery Tap in Abingdon was second, and The King’s Arms in Kidlington came third.
Oxford Brewery and Loose Cannon got awards too. These breweries are “Local Champions.” Anneli Baxter from Loose Cannon also won an award, an “Appreciation Award.” Craftsman won the People’s Choice award, as people loved their beer at the beer festival!
John Winney leads Oxford CAMRA. The group is growing again, as members scored lots of beers last year. They rated six hundred beers from two hundred forty breweries and went to one hundred forty-two pubs. Gareth Green, Pete Flynn, and Chris Spry helped a lot, finding pubs for the Good Beer Guide. John Winney said pubs show their personality.