Pub of the Year presentation

Top awards have been achieved by the Andover Tap at the Lamb, as the local Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) announced its Pub of the Year Awards for 2026.
The community-focused pub was voted to be the best pub in the North Hampshire area for both beers and ciders. The awards also recognise aspects such as community support, facilities, service and social inclusivity.

Presentation
A presentation was held at the pub where publican Tim Abram and team were handed certificates for:

• North Hampshire (West area) Pub of the Year 2026
• North Hampshire Overall Pub of the Year 2026
• North Hampshire Cider Pub of the Year 2026
  
  

  

  Publican Tim Abram with his Pub of the Year Awards

Over 200 pubs eligible
Over 200 pubs are eligible for the awards in an area that stretches across the northern reaches of Hampshire including the main centres of Andover and Basingstoke. Hartley Wintney and Odiham are included to the east; Whitchurch, Sutton Scotney and Stockbridge are towards the west; and Tadley and Kingsclere are to the north.

Pride in its service
Tim and his committed team have created a unique community-style pub that prides itself on quality ales, craft beers and ciders. The pub also has a small in house occasional brewery and produces some excellent tasty ales. 

A real social centre
Regular activities are held ranging from the fortnightly themed food nights to brewery visits, silent discos, tasting sessions and charity fund-raising. Last year around £20,000 was raised for the local hospice Naomi House & Jack's Place. This year several thousand has already been raised for the Andover Young Carers charity. Beer festivals are also arranged along with meets for folk evenings and games nights, while the pub is a lively venue for the Andover Rocks charity music event.

The Andover Tap at the Lamb

Onwards and upwards
The pub now progresses in CAMRA's County competition with the final possible accolade being the top pub in the country!

MASSIVE CONGRATULATIONS

Picture of Tim Abram courtesy Ben Tuffin

Andover pub wins 'Cider Pub of the Year 2025'

Congratulations are in order for the Andover Tap at the Lamb for having been voted as North Hampshire Cider Pub of the Year for 2025.

Applause rang out as the coveted award was made to publican Tim Abram on behalf of the local CAMRA group by long standing Andover CAMRA member Martin Bennett.

Anniversary
This year is the 50th Anniversary of the Campaign for Real Ale's commitment to supporting traditional cider within its campaigning activities. In 1975 real cider was first made available at CAMRA Beer Festivals and has remained a core part of the Campaign since.

Presentation to Tim Abram (R) by Martin Bennett (L)

(click picture to enlarge)

Traditional cider is rarely available in the north Hampshire area but the Andover Tap at the Lamb always has a wide selection on the bar to enjoy alongside its cask and craft beers.

Real Cider
Most ciders in pubs are poor imitations, created from essences, extracts and concentrates in large industrial factories then served up by the addition of gasses.
Real Cider should be fermented from the whole fruit of pressed apples, without the use of concentrates or chaptalised* juices. 

Real Cider is what can be found in the Tap; traditional, tasty, and extremely enjoyable.

The Andover Tap at the Lamb will now progress through further rounds of the National Cider Pub of the Year Competition.

* The word ‘chaptalised’ as used in the definition refers to a process where the alcohol level in a cider or perry is increased by the addition of sugar to an unnatural level for storage, before it is diluted with water to the desired alcohol content for sale.

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.

CIDER WINNER

It was a close call in this year's Wessex area CAMRA Regional Cider Pub of the Year with five finalists vying for the coveted award with entries from Hampshire, Dorset and Wiltshire.

As reported earlier, locally the Andover Tap at The Lamb had made the finals of the regional round with its fine selection of real ciders and perries.
See:
Andover Pub wins cider award


The competition recognises the best pubs or clubs that promote and encourage the sale of quality real cider and perry across the country. 

This week the regional winner was announced as:

The Woodman Inn, Bridport, Dorset

It now goes forward into the national competition.

The Woodman Inn is an independent traditional pub serving a changing selection of beers and ciders, as well as providing a home for events ranging from folk nights, plays and story-telling. It really is a home from home and well worth visiting.  

The five finalists were:

Saxon Bar, Christchurch, Dorset
Woodman Inn, Bridport, Dorset
Lawrence Arms, Southsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire
Andover Tap at The Lamb Inn, Andover, Hampshire
Cuckoo Inn, Hamptworth, Salisbury, Wiltshire

 

CIDER PUB OF THE YEAR

Congratulations must go to the team at The Andover Tap at the Lamb for achieving the local award for Cider Pub of the Year, presented by the north Hampshire group of the Campaign for Real Ale. 

The pub, under the enthusiastic ownership of Tim Abrams has become the 'go-to' outlet in the area to try traditional ciders and perries.
Up to a dozen traditional ciders and perries are usually available including from such artisanal producers as Newton Court, Snails Bank, and Farmer Jim's.

Not all Cider is Real
In fact only a very small amount of cider produced these days can be considered real cider and this award recognises those who produced and support the 'real thing'.

In order to be real, cider and perry should never be concentrated then diluted – either in terms of the juice used, or the alcohol content.

The ciders at the Andover Tap at the Lamb comply with this definition and will always be served in the traditional manner. The pub now goes on the compete against other venues in the Wessex Regional Round of the competition.

Let us pop in and enjoy and cider and wish them the best in the competition. 

CAMRA has details on what constitutes real cider here:
https://camra.org.uk/beer-and-cider/cider/promoting-real-cider-and-perry/

Pictured: Tim Abram who has brought traditional ciders and perries to the Andover Tap at the Lamb.