Jeremy Clarkson’s Cotswolds pub has failed to earn a place in the prestigious Good Beer Guide 2026, despite its strong popularity with visitors and locals since opening its doors last year.
The former Top Gear and Grand Tour host purchased The Windmill, a historic pub in Asthall near Burford in Oxfordshire, for around £1 million in 2023. After acquiring the property, Clarkson invested heavily in renovations, with the aim of turning the building into a thriving community hub. Following months of redecoration and preparation, the revamped pub — renamed The Farmer’s Dog — officially opened to the public in August 2024.
Since then, the pub has enjoyed considerable attention, not just from fans of Clarkson’s Amazon Prime series Clarkson’s Farm, but also from Cotswolds locals and tourists alike. Serving his Hawkstone brand in several varieties — including lager, cider, IPA, and stout — The Farmer’s Dog has become known as both a destination spot for fans of the show and a lively village watering hole. Its popularity was further boosted when the pub featured prominently in the fourth season of Clarkson’s Farm, where the television star showcased the challenges of running a rural pub alongside his farming ventures.
However, despite the buzz and glowing customer reviews, the pub has been overlooked in the Good Beer Guide 2026, published annually by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). The guide is regarded as the definitive handbook for beer lovers across the UK, listing 4,500 pubs considered to offer the very best cask beer. This year, Oxfordshire received 67 entries in total, but Clarkson’s establishment was not among them.
The omission has raised eyebrows, particularly as The Farmer’s Dog is not the only high-profile venue to be excluded. Also absent from the Oxfordshire list is The Bull in Charlbury, an acclaimed country pub led by Michelin-starred chef Sally Abé. The Bull made headlines earlier in 2025 when former US Vice President Kamala Harris dined there during a visit to the UK.
When asked why both of these popular pubs failed to make the cut, CAMRA stressed the rigorous and impartial nature of its selection process. A spokesperson for the organisation told the Oxford Mail:
“The Good Beer Guide is the definitive guidebook to pubs that serve great cask beer, and it relies on an independent, volunteer-led selection process. That’s what makes it the authoritative and trusted voice of cask beer drinkers in the UK. Listings are extremely competitive and change every year, with local CAMRA branches carefully deciding which pubs make it into the guide.”
For Clarkson, the snub marks a setback in his latest business venture, though it is unlikely to dent the pub’s commercial success given its steady trade and fan following. For CAMRA, meanwhile, the decision reinforces its reputation for impartiality, reminding readers that even celebrity-owned establishments must meet the same strict standards as any other contender.
