Twelve Newcastle pubs for a proper pint, and why each one

Order a pint of Fyne Ales Jarl under the Bodega’s two stained-glass domes and you have Newcastle drinking in one go: an old room, a beer that isn’t from round here but might as well be, and a match on the telly. The city’s pubs fall into four kinds, and the best of each are below, plus one in Gosforth that the local beer campaigners voted the best on Tyneside this year.

How we chose: the Tyneside CAMRA branch’s 2026 Pub of the Year vote, the 2027 Good Beer Guide’s new entries, national heritage ratings and the Telegraph’s 2026 pub list.

The Victorian rooms

Crown Posada

Built in 1880 on Side for the short-lived Sanderson brewery, this narrow pub is Grade II listed and holds the beer campaign’s top heritage rating, three stars, for an interior of outstanding national importance. Look up at the deep-panelled moulded ceiling, then at the two Pre-Raphaelite-style windows by the door: a woman pouring, a man raising his glass. Six cask ales rotate, with local brewers first in line. Take the snug if it’s free.

Side, Quayside · open from 11am daily · walk-in

The Bodega

Along Westgate Road from the Tyne Theatre, the Bodega made the Telegraph’s list of the UK’s best pubs for the first time in 2026. Its domes went up in 1906 and 1937, and it was called the Black Bull until 1995. Eight handpumps pour Oakham and Fyne Ales, with Jarl, a 3.8% golden ale, the fixture. It won the branch’s Tyneside Cider Pub of the Year for 2026 as well, so the cider drinker in your group is covered.

Westgate Road, city centre · open from 11am daily · walk-in · dogs welcome

The Cumberland Arms

Perched above the Ouseburn, this three-storey pub was rebuilt in 1898–9 by James T. Cackett and has changed little since. The house cask beer is Tashy Bob, a session pale brewed by Allendale with The Old Coal Yard, and there are up to eight ciders and perries. Go on a folk night, when the back room fills with musicians, and sit by the open fire.

James Place Street, Byker · folk nights in the back room · walk-in

The river views

Free Trade Inn

From the windows on St Lawrence Road you look straight along the Tyne to its bridges, and the beer garden across the road has an even better view. Up to nine cask ales and five ciders are on, and the staff will fetch others from the cellar if you ask. Food is sandwiches from a local deli. It came second in Tyneside’s 2026 cider vote and was the branch’s Pub of the Year back in 2013.

St Lawrence Road, Byker · open 11am–11pm daily · walk-in · dogs welcome

Tyne Bar

Where the Ouseburn meets the Tyne, the old Ship Tavern pours at least three Wylam beers and sometimes ten. It has put on free live music since 1994, every Sunday and some weeknights, and it is listed as an Asset of Community Value. The beer can mean a queue at the bar, and the outside tables go first.

Maling Street, Ouseburn · live music Sun · walk-in

The Broad Chare

The Quayside’s Bib Gourmand pub joined the Good Beer Guide for the 2027 edition. The ground-floor bar has its own snack menu, and this month the bar pours Paulaner Münchner Hell at £6.90 a pint or £14 a stein, with a Bavarian bratwurst lunch for £15 on weekdays.

Broad Chare, Quayside · Paulaner £6.90 a pint · walk-in to the bar

The small rooms

Town Mouse Ale House

Jon Sibley opened this basement on St Mary’s Place in February 2017, in a former coffee shop with room for about 50. Six casks rotate, at least two of them from local breweries, alongside keg lines and British ciders, and it was the branch’s Tyneside Pub of the Year in 2018 and 2023. Ask for whatever Two by Two has on.

St Mary’s Place, near Haymarket · opens 2pm Mon–Fri, noon Sat · walk-in · dogs welcome

Mean Eyed Cat

A one-room bar in a former newsagent’s opposite Haymarket bus station, it opened in 2018 and came joint third in this year’s Tyneside Pub of the Year vote. Eight craft keg lines sit beside the casks and up to six ciders, all on a blackboard that takes a while to read.

St Thomas Street, near Haymarket · opens noon (1pm Sun) · walk-in

Beer Street

Behind Central Station, in a railway arch on Forth Street, this 50-seat micropub has five handpumps and a mezzanine reached by stairs lined with old pump clips. The walls borrow from Hogarth’s Beer Street and Gin Lane. It is one of the new entries in the 2027 Good Beer Guide, and it keeps short hours.

Forth Street, by Central Station · closed Sun–Mon, opens 5pm Tue–Thu · walk-in · dogs welcome

The brewers’ own

Wylam Brewery

Wylam moved into the Palace of Arts in Exhibition Park on 27 May 2016, the only building left from the 1929 North East Coast Exhibition. The tap opens Friday to Sunday by the lake, and the grill does burgers such as the Jakey B, two beef patties with bacon and caramelised onion, at £12 on Friday and Saturday. Sundays are roasts.

Exhibition Park · burgers £12 · Fri–Sun · walk-in

Brinkburn Street Brewery Bar & Kitchen

This Ouseburn microbrewery spreads over two floors on Ford Street, with a taproom, a garden, tasting flights and tours, and it is new in the 2027 Good Beer Guide. Come Monday to Thursday, when any three small plates cost £20.

Ford Street, Ouseburn · three small plates £20 Mon–Thu · walk-in

Out in Gosforth

The County

Tyneside’s beer campaigners voted the County on Gosforth High Street their Pub of the Year for 2026, a year after naming it the best in Newcastle. It is a Greene King pub, and it gives card-carrying CAMRA members a discount on real ale.

High Street, Gosforth · walk-in

Checked October 2026.