Hampshire Pub of the Year, 2026

The Flower Pots Inn, Cheriton

Affectionately called "The Pots", the Flower Pots Inn in the pretty Hampshire village of Cheriton is a friendly traditional style country inn, serving fine beers, excellent food and above all offering a welcome to everyone. 

This pub should not be missed
This is definitely not a pub to miss and has been announced as a worthy winner of the Campaign for Real Ale's (CAMRA) Hampshire Pub of the Year for 2026. It now proceeds in the next round of the competition which leads towards being the national winner. Along with the other nominations, it was visited by a dedicated team of judges several times over the past few months using a detailed and trusted set of criteria ranging from quality of beer and community commitment to standard of service and range of facilities.

Widely recognised as a top pub
As a free house it is unrestrained by the excesses of the national pub companies, and has been a regular entry in the Good Beer Guide – in fact it has been more than regular having been in the last 52 editions, and incredible achievement.

Flower Pots Brewery
Set just off the village centre, the Pots also brews its own beer through the Flower Pots Brewery, which is found in many of the county's better pubs. A wide range of its own beers are also available at its annual beer festival on the end of August Bank Holiday which sees visitors flock from far and wide to enjoy music, food and over 100 different beers.

https://www.theflowerpots.co.uk/

Full results CAMRA Hampshire Pub of the Year – congratulations.

Overall Winner: 

FLOWER POTS INN, Cheriton 

Runner-up:                                   

ANDOVER TAP AT THE LAMB, Andover

Highly Commended Finalists:    

STAR INN, Bentley

JUNCTION TAVERN, Gosport

ALE HOUSE, Cowes IOW 

The annual beer festival with over 100 beers
28th – 30th August 2026

Beer Festival returns to Andover

The joint beer festival by the Andover Tap at the Lamb and the local Campaign for Real Ale returns this year and will be held over the first weekend of April (Friday 4th – Sunday 6th April).

With around 20 cask and craft ales, along with a selection of traditional ciders, this friendly event caters for all. There will be traditional bitters, IPAs, porters, stouts as well as modern keg styles to enjoy over the three days. 

There will be a selection of food to purchase and music on Sunday afternoon.

Entry to the festival is free.

The festival opens on Friday April 4th April at 11.00am and runs through until early Sunday evening on the 6th.

The Andover Tap has also won the local Cider Pub of the Year Award for its selection of real traditionally produced ciders. A Presentation is to be made on the Saturday afternoon of this event.

Beer Festival in Andover

A beer festival featuring a wide range of traditional cask beers, flavoursome keg beers and a selection of real ciders is to be held over three days in March.

Click to enlarge

A joint initiative
The Andover Tap at the Lamb is hosting this special joint venture with the North Hampshire Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale over the weekend of Friday 8th March to Sunday 10th March. 

A leading beer venue
The 'Tap', in Winchester Street, is the town's leading venue for beers from local and regional independent breweries and always has a range of styles from traditional bitters, IPAs and craft lagers through to stouts, porters, and even sour ales. 

Beers are served from cask, keg or in cans and bottles. In addition there is a range of various ciders with differing tastes from traditional hazy styles to fruity varieties.

The Campaign for Real Ale
CAMRA is one of the most successful consumer organisations, dating back to 1971 and has Branches throughout the country.
This Festival will see members of the North Hampshire Branch providing an increased selection of traditional beers which will be served direct from the cask, ie by gravity, supplementing the Tap's range, making this an event not to miss.
Around eight beers will be served this way with others on handpump and craft keg fonts.

A full range
There is also a full bar available including top quality gins from the neighbouring on-site distillery of Wessex Spirit's Gin Palace as well as some food to supplement the drinks.

The doors open at 11.00am on both Friday and Saturday and the event runs to 10.30pm each day, while on Sunday it opens at noon and continues through to around 6.00pm, although the beers on gravity dispense may finish before or around mid-afternoon.

This will be a weekend to savour all those wonderful tastes and enjoy the hospitality and friendship of this community pub.

Entry is FREE – just turn up. 😄