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| Formation | 1971; 54 years ago (1971) |
|---|---|
| Type | Consumer organisation |
| Headquarters | St Albans |
| Location | |
| Membership | 144,900[1] |
Official language | English |
National Chairman /Chief Executive | Ash Corbett-Collins / Tom Stainer |
| Website | camra |
TheCampaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntaryconsumer organisation headquartered inSt Albans, which promotesreal ale,cider andperry and traditional Britishpubs and clubs.
The organisation was founded on 16 March 1971 in Kruger's Bar,Dunquin,County Kerry, Ireland,[2][3] by Michael Hardman, Graham Lees, Jim Makin, and Bill Mellor, who were opposed to the growing mass production of beer and the homogenisation of the Britishbrewing industry. The original name was the Campaign for the Revitalisation of Ale.[4] Following the formation of the Campaign, the first annual general meeting took place in 1972, at the Rose Inn in Coton Road,Nuneaton.
Early membership consisted of the four founders and their friends. Interest in CAMRA and its objectives spread rapidly, with 5,000 members signed up by 1973. Other early influential members included Christopher Hutt, author ofDeath of the English Pub, who succeeded Hardman as chairman, Frank Baillie, author ofThe Beer Drinker's Companion, and later the many timesGood Beer Guide editor,Roger Protz.[citation needed]
In 1991, CAMRA had 30,000 members across the UK and abroad and, a year later, helped to launch the European Beer Consumers Union.[5]
CAMRA's campaigns include promoting small brewing and pub businesses, reforming licensing laws, reducing tax on beer, and stopping continued consolidation among local British brewers.[6] It also makes an effort to promote less common varieties of beer, includingstout,porter, andmild,[7] as well as traditionalcider andperry.[8]
CAMRA's states that real ale should be served without the use of additional carbonation. This means that "any beer brand which is produced in bothcask andkeg versions" is not admitted to CAMRA festivals if the brewery's marketing is deemed to imply an equivalence of quality or character between the two versions.[9]
CAMRA is organised on a federal basis, over 200 local branches, each covering a particular geographical area of the UK, that contribute to the central body of the organisation based inSt Albans. It is governed by a National Executive, made up of 12 voluntary unpaid directors elected by the membership.[10] The local branches are grouped into 16 regions across the UK, such as theWest Midlands orWessex.[11]
CAMRA publishes theGood Beer Guide, an annually compiled directory of the best 4,500 real ale outlets and listing of real ale brewers.CAMRA members received a monthly newspaper calledWhat's Brewing until its April 2021 issue and there is a quarterly colour magazine calledBeer. It also maintains aNational Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors to help bring greater recognition and protection to Britain's most historic pubs.
CAMRA supports and promotes beer and cider festivals around the country, which are organised by local CAMRA branches. Generally, each festival charges an entry fee which either covers entry only or also includes a commemorative glass showing the details of the festival. A festival programme is usually also provided, with a list and description of the drinks available.[12] Members may get discounted entrance to CAMRA festivals.
The Campaign also organises the annualGreat British Beer Festival in August. It is now held in the Great, National & West Halls at theOlympia Exhibition Centre, inKensington, London, having been held for a few years atEarl's Court as well as regionally in the past at venues such asBrighton andLeeds. This is the UK's largest beer festival, with over 900 beers, ciders and perries available over the week long event.
For many years, CAMRA also organised the National Winter Ales Festival. However, in 2017 this was re-branded as theGreat British Beer Festival Winter where they award theChampion Winter Beer of Britain. Unlike the Great British Beer Festival, the Winter event does not have a permanent venue and is rotated throughout the country every three years. Recent hosts have beenDerby andNorwich, with the event currently held each February in Birmingham. In 2020 CAMRA also launched the Great Welsh Beer Festival, to be held in Cardiff in April.
CAMRA presents awards for beers and pubs, such as theNational Pub of the Year. The competition begins in the preceding year with branches choosing their local pub of the year through either a ballot or a panel of judges. The branch winners are entered into 16 regional competitions which are then visited by several individuals who agree the best using a scoring system that considers beer quality, aesthetic and welcome. The four finalists are announced each year before a ceremony to crown the winner in the spring.[13] There are also thePub Design Awards, which are held in association withEnglish Heritage and theVictorian Society. These comprise several categories, including new build, refurbished and converted pubs.
The best known CAMRA award is theChampion Beer of Britain,[14] which is selected at theGreat British Beer Festival. Other awards include theChampion Beer of Scotland and theChampion Beer of Wales.
CAMRA developed the National Beer Scoring Scheme[15] (NBSS) as an easy to use scheme for judging beer quality in pubs, to assist CAMRA branches in selecting pubs for theGood Beer Guide. CAMRA members input their beer scores online via WhatPub or through the Good Beer Guide app.
The CAMRA Pub Heritage Group identifies, records and helps to protectpub interiors of historic and/or architectural importance, and seeks to get themlisted.[16]
The group maintains two inventories of Heritage pubs, the National Inventory (NI), which contains only those pubs that have been maintained in their original condition (or have been modified very little) for at least thirty years, but usually since at leastWorld War II. The second, larger, inventory is the Regional Inventory (RI), which is broken down bycounty and contains both those pubs listed in the NI and other pubs that are not eligible for the NI, for reasons such as having been overly modified, but are still considered historically important, or have particular architectural value.
The LocAle scheme was launched in 2007[17][18][19] to promote locally brewed beers. The scheme functions slightly differently in each area, and is managed by each branch, but each is similar: if the beer is to be promoted as a LocAle it must come from a brewery within a predetermined number of miles set by each CAMRA branch, generally around 20,[20] although the NorthLondon branch has set it at 30 miles[21] from brewery to pub,[18] even if it comes from a distribution centre further away;[20] in addition, each participating pub must keep at least one LocAle for sale at all times.[20][21]
CAMRA members may join the CAMRA Members' Investment Club which, since 1989, has invested in real ale breweries and pub chains.[22] As of January 2021 the club had over 3,000 members and owned investments worth over £17 million. Although all investors must be CAMRA members,[23] the CAMRA Members' Investment Club is not part of CAMRA Ltd.
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