CAMRA calls for new direction on beer

A call for a new direction for CAMRA – the Campaign for Real Ale – has come from the steering group running the far-reaching Revitalisation Programme. The key recommendation is a softening of CAMRA’s long-standing opposition to keg beers: it says modern “craft keg” should be allowed at the campaign’s beer festivals.

The proposals follow many months of consultation with CAMRA’s 183,000 members who voted on-line and also attended meetings throughout the country.

The report by the steering group, chaired by CAMRA founder Michael Hardman, says the campaign will continue to advocate cask ale as “the pinnacle of the brewers’ craft” but keg beers and foreign beer should be allowed at festivals.

The recommendations follow the recent decision to approve Moor Beer’s live canned beers and support given in 2015 for KeyKeg dispense, which CAMRA says is compatible with its definition of real ale.

The group’s report says: “CAMRA should seek to promote an awareness and understanding of the different factors that contribute to beer quality to help consumers make an informed judgement about the relative merits of different types of beer.”

The report also calls for a harder stance to be taken against the anti-alcohol lobby and will seek media opportunities to challenge attacks on moderate drinking.

The report says CAMRA should continue to support well-run community pubs and fight to stop the decline in their numbers.

It calls on the campaign’s national executive to consider a quality mark for real ale.

The proposals will be debated at the campaign’s annual meeting in 2017 followed by further consultation and a final vote at the 2018 conference.