A Wrexham brewery has been awarded best pub of the year for north east Wales for their quality ale and service they provide.

Magic Dragon Brewery Tap has won the award from the Chester & South Clwyd Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) Branch.

The bar, on Charles Street, opened in December 2019 and specialises in cask ale and craft beer traditionally produced in their micro-brewery at the Plassey Holiday Park. They also have guest beers from other breweries, as well as Magic Dragon’s own lager, Welsh spirits and ciders.

Pub of the Year is the top award and goes to the pub that they believe has been consistently the best over the previous year. The criteria for winning is not just for beer quality but for other factors too - value for money, diversity of customers, sympathy with CAMRA aims and community spirit for example.

Branch Chair, Brian Vardy, explained that the pub has been judged on several criteria, the most important of course is the quality of real ale and cider, but also the knowledge that staff have about the beer; the welcome and quality of service; cleanliness; community focus and atmosphere – in other words would you visit the pub again?

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During the past few months a small group of CAMRA members have been visiting pubs that have been nominated for this award and the Magic Dragon Brewery Tap was the winner! Brian explained that the pub will now go forward to the regional competition against other winners in the North Wales area.

Richard Lever, owner of the bar and brewery said: “This award is testament to our hard-working manager, Dave Sailsbury and his staff. It was a great shame Dave couldn’t be at the awards presentation, as he’s made this bar a success with his passion for craft beer, ale and live music.”

Chester & South Clwyd branch is quite unusual in having two Pub of the Year awards. Straddling the border means they are allowed to have both an English and a Welsh winner. These then go forward into the voting for the Merseyside, Cheshire & North Wales Regional Pub of the Year. The winners from each region then progress into the national voting to decide the overall CAMRA Pub of the Year.

Ale lovers will also get to enjoy the Chester Real Ale & Cider festival 2023 which takes place at The Queen Hotel, Chester, on Friday June 30 and Saturday July 1. This is an event for all real ale and cider lovers and the venue is located opposite Chester station and bus stop for services arriving from Wrexham and Mold. Tickets can be found here: https://tckty.camra.org.uk/e/126/chester-camra-real-ale-and-cider-festival