Draft:Worth a Butchers

Worth a Butchers (W.A.B) is an annual pub rating competition which ranks every pub within one mile of the centre of Maidstone, scoring each pub off of five unique categories: Real Ale, Friendliness of Staff, Facilities, Value for Money, and Atmosphere. The competition has been running during the summer months annually since 2013, however the 2023 competition was held in December.

Every pub is visited within one standard trading day, although exceptions have been allowed in the past if a pub couldn't be visited on the day.

The current 2023 winner was The Rifle Volunteers who won the competition for the forth time.

Rules
WAB rules state that every pub must be visited within one trading day. However if there is a reason why the pub cannot be visited during the 24 hours, for example if the pub was closed on the day of judging, then the pub may be visited up to one week in advance.

Judges must have visited a minimum of 60% of the available pubs open on the day in order for their scores to be included.

Definition of a pub

W.A.B defines a pub as being a designated building dedicated to the primary consumption of serving alcohol and drinks and registered as a Public House. A pub may serve food, and have a function room but this should not be at the expense or prevent people from having a drink.

Restaurants, bars, clubs or hotels are all excluded from the competition.

Over the years there has been exceptions where pubs have been refurbished to become bars or restaurants.

Categories

The competition is ranked using the average scores of five categories; Real Ale, Friendliness of Staff, Facilities, Value for Money, and Atmosphere. Every category is marked out of a score of 100, giving every pub a maximum of 500 points to score.

Over recent years, minor amendements have been made to the categories with clarification over how to score.

Real Ale

Judges should look for drinks selections on offer, with higher points being awarded for a range of real ales available. Although pubs without real ale may not score as highly, consideration must be made to not unfairly score a pub which may have a brewery tie which prevents certain drinks being available.

Facilities

Judges should judge the pub based on the facilities which are available for the pub, taking into account it's size and space available. A smaller pub may not be able to fit in certain facilities and should not be marked down unfairly for this. Judges should look out for events happening in the pub including live music or quizzes.

Value for Money

Judges should take into account the drinks which are being ordered and the prices based off of these drinks, rather than round totals.

Atmosphere

Judges should take into account the time of day that they are visiting, and not unfairly score down pubs which may be quieter due to early morning visits.

Friendliness of Staff

Judges should be aware of other customers or incidents which may be distracting staff, and should look to engage in fair conversation at each pub to fairly judge staff friendliness. Judges should take into account agency staff within certain venues.

History
The competition originally started in 2013, with the aim to bring a group of friends back to the Maidstone area. Since then the competition has grown with many pubs using the annual event as a way to see which is the highest ranked pub in Maidstone.

Winners
The current 2023 winner is The Rifle Volunteers.

Full winners are as follows:

2013 - The Swan

2014 - The Style and Winch

2015 - The Brickmaker's Arms

2016 - The Flower Pot

2017 - Ye Olde Thirsty Pig

2018 - The Rifle Volunteers

2019 - The Rifle Volunteers

2020 - The Rifle Volunteers

2021 - Ye Olde Thirsty Pig

2022 - Ye Olde Thirsty Pig

2023 - The Rifle Volunteers