I wont pretend to know how establishments make their way into the CAMRA guide, but it’s a decent starting place for finding pubs to drink real ale in, isn’t it? Happy to be shown that I’m wrong. No, happy isn’t the right word, because I will be sorely disappointed, but…
I think it depends what you’re looking for. If you’re just looking for the beer, served to standard, I think you’re right, but there’s a lot more to the atmosphere than that. None of the pubs that make Aberystwyth, Aberystwyth will be in there.
I did find this: http://aberpubs.blogspot.com/ . Not sure how current it is.
If I had to choose between atmosphere and real ale, I’d choose atmosphere. When you say"pubs that make Aberystwyth, Aberystwyth" - do you mean that as a good thing, or in a bad way, such as they’re student-oriented pubs that I might find annoying after a certain hour?
Since when was Wetherspoons mid-range? 
It’s the lowest common denominator of pubs, where you go when you can’t agree on anything else but you know you want to drink. It may as well have the slogan ‘Oh well, there’s always Wetherspoons I suppose’ or ‘Wetherspoons- always adequate.’
It’s certainly a typical British institution, but going out of your way to go there isn’t doing it right.
Kind of both Y Cwps (The Coopers’ Arms) was dingy and smoky and kind of unpleasant to be in, but THE place for the Welsh-language / pan-Celtic stuff. (There were a couple of other Welsh-language pubs, but not so accommodating of foreigners.)
As for Wetherspoons, I meant in terms of price, not quality!
Dr. Drake you may be thinking of the Good Pub Guide. The pubs that get into the CAMRA Good Beer Guide are chosen and voted on by the members of the local CAMRA branch. Active CAMRA members tend to be real ale zealots so pubs with real ale and cider are considered ahead of otherwise excellent pubs. A Wetherspoons pub usually gets in because until recently Wetherspoons would provide £20 worth of beer vouchers to CAMRA members when they renewed. A 'Spoons is the McDonald’s of pubs. Cheap, consistent, and the same everywhere. However, they usually do have the best toilets of any pub in a town.
I’m going to combine the CAMRA guide(s) with Yelp reviews and my own eyeballs walking around the mean streets of Aberystwyth. I like to have some ideas before I get somewhere, not just for my own eating/drinking needs but also so that if I’m trying to make friends with someone(s) I am travelling with I can say “Hey, I’m thinking of going to Super Awesome Pub for a bite and a beer. Any interest?”
Wetherspoons pubs attract people who like cheap beer, and their food is often mediocre. However, they are serious about their beer, and make a point of reaching out to local breweries. If you’re wanting to drink Welsh beer, Hen Orsaf will probably be a pretty good bet. They’re often in historic buildings – not sure if that equates to atmosphere for you. I got curious and decided to check – it’s in the old railway building built in 1924.
It’s a nice space, and, depending on your budget, a good bookend if you’re taking the narrow-gauge railway up to Devil’s Bridge for a day (worth doing if you’re searching for stuff, but there’s enough to do in Aber itself if you don’t have much time).
Do any of you Aberystwyth experts know if the rain in October in Wales is likely to be drizzle, downpour, or something in between?
Trying to figure out if I need a waterproof jacket or if water resistant is enough
We went in September, and in our experience the old saying about “Don’t like the weather in the UK? Just wait an hour and it’ll be completely different!” is true. We went from sunny days to downpours in a single day.
A jacket is a good idea. It can be quite windy, so umbrellas are pointless. It kind of depends how wet you’re comfortable being: I would say constant drizzle is more likely than downpour, though of course anything can happen.
Waterproof is never a bad choice in mid Wales, whatever the time of year.