Campaigning for pubs, pints and people since 1971
Since the first one opened in 2005, micropubs have been springing up all over the country. In 2012, I wrote about Just Beer, the one in Newark, which had been named CAMRA’s East Midlands Pub of the Year.
And now, at last, Lincoln has a micropub. The Hop & Barley, located at 417 High Street, opened its doors at the end of May, and it’s proving to be a great success. Continue reading “Lincoln’s first micropub”
Anyone who turned up to the recent Lincoln Beer Festival after 2pm on the Friday would have had to queue to get in. This is an annual occurrence, and I spent much of my time that afternoon walking up and down the queue explaining why. Continue reading “Remain or Leave?”
It was Bank Holiday Monday and, after a 70-hour week working at the beer festival, I was slumped in front of my laptop catching up on emails. And then I read it! Continue reading “Why do we bother?”
Cathedral Heights brewer, Steve Marston and Lincoln CAMRA committee member, Ashley Sewell, mashing the Festival ale Tritton Tank, brewed to mark 100 years since the first operational use of the tank, during the First World War. The Tank Mark 1 was based on “Little Willie” (The Lincoln Machine) which was built at William Foster and Company of Lincoln.
The tank-themed beers at the festival are:
The Campaign for Real Ale was founded in 1971 by four young men who wanted to protect the quality and diversity in British brewing. At that time, there were 175 breweries in the UK, but six of them produced 80% of the country’s beer and owned most of the pubs that sold it. The “Big Six” breweries were ditching traditional cask-conditioned beer in favour of processed and carbonated keg beer.
In the intervening 45 years, CAMRA’s activities have helped to revolutionise the beer landscape. There are now more than 1,500 breweries producing more than 11,000 beers. The vast majority of pubs sell at least one real ale, and in some cases a dozen or more. And CAMRA has grown to become one of the largest, single-issue consumer groups in the world.
So isn’t it time for CAMRA to raise a glass to a job well done and stand down? Continue reading “What next for CAMRA?”
