A PUB in Addiscombe which has served more than a million pints of the same bitter has been voted Croydon real ale drinkers' boozer of the year.
The Claret Free House, in Lower Addiscombe Road, is the 2014 Croydon CAMRA Pub of the Year – its sixth time of holding the title.
The pub has been a permanent fixture in the Good Beer Guide since 1989 and general manager Don Burton puts it down to a simple formula – cheap, tasty beer.
Mr Burton, 61, said: "We try and keep our customers happy by keeping the price down and by keeping everything in good condition.
"There's no real secret, but we just try and make sure it's a place people want to come back to."
The pub is run as a free house, meaning it has no ties to any brewery, allowing it to make decisions free of the financial shackles that has seen many Croydon pubs close in recent years.
And for all the pubs adapting to the modern world with jukeboxes, gastro-pub food and fancy cocktails, Mr Burton does not foresee that happening at The Claret.
"Well we'll never change it I don't think," he added.
"There would probably be uproar if we changed it.
"Even if anyone else came in and changed it, they'd have to change it back or they'd have no custom."
The pub made history in 2012 when it became the first pub in the world to serve one million pints of Palmers Best Bitter, having offered the Dorset ale since 1986.
It is this dependable range of bitters which Mr Burton thinks is key to its success as well as knowing what you will get from your visit there.
"It is a local pub and a regulars' pub where you don't get any trouble so people appreciate that. It is quite a male pub and you don't get too many women coming in here but those who do always feel welcome and safe."
The business is owned by three brothers but Mr Burton, originally from Yorkshire, runs both the Addiscombe boozer and its sister branch in Cheam.
