The term micropub was originally devised by the Campaign for Real Ale, in the 1976 edition of its Good Beer Guide, simply as a description for an unusually small but otherwise traditional pub.
[1] In more recent years, the term came to be redefined much more tightly, as a very small, modern, one-room pub, serving no food other than snacks, and "based upon good ale and lively banter".
It proved to be a catalyst, with the Rat Race Ale House in Hartlepool six months later[4] and Just Beer Micropub in Newark-on-Trent opening August 2010, soon after followed by The Conqueror Alehouse the same year.
Once accepted a personalised certificate, with one year's validity, is issued for display in the establishment to demonstrate to visitors that it is promoting the ethics and tenets of what it means to be a micropub.
In April 2015, CAMRA announced that Martyn Hillier had been chosen as the Campaigner of the Year at its 2015 AGM for his work giving advice to others interested in establishing new pubs and for founding the Micropub Association.
"The Micropub Guide : Enjoying the pint-sized pub revolution" is a 350 page paperback published by Duncan Petersen,[8] which describes the concept, its history and development, with venue listings and has a foreword written by Martyn Hillier.