The Mermaid is handed major CAMRA award for its cider and perry

St Albans’ The Mermaid pub has been named CAMRA’s East Central Regional Cider and Perry Pub of the Year – ranking it among the top 16 pubs in the entire country for real cider and perry.

This huge achievement was celebrated on Saturday when the award was presented at their annual Bank Holiday Cider & Perry Festival, which was attended by various representatives from South Hertfordshire CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) alongside county and regional members.

Manager Grace Simpson said: “This is a huge win for us as we’ve worked so hard at upping our cider selection, improving our options and having all our staff become little cider gurus to help us win this award.

“The day began with the CAMRA cheese social which saw lots of CAMRA members come down to the pub to celebrate the cider festival. Then came the awards where branch cider representative Ian Boyd opened the presentation with awarding us the South Hertfordshire CAMRA Cider and Perry Pub of the Year, then South Herts branch cider representative and Hertfordshire county cider representative Janet Tansley presented us with the Hertfordshire CAMRA County Cider and Perry Pub of the Year.

“Finally regional cider coordinator Timara Easter presented the big one: East Central CAMRA Regional Cider and Perry Pub of the Year which we won out of all the other pubs in Herts, Beds, Bucks and Northamptonshire. It was such a fun, satisfying and proud day!”