Campaign for Real Ale: Difference between revisions

|image = [[File:CAMRAlogo.svg|frameless|upright=0.5|class=skin-invert]]

|membership = 152147,932517 (as of 014 JuneSeptember 20232024)

|leader_name = Nik AntonaVacancy / Tom Stainer

The '''Campaign for Real Ale''' ('''CAMRA''') is an independent voluntary [[consumer organisation]] headquartered in [[St Albans]], England, which promotes [[real ale]], [[real cider|cider]] and [[perry]] and traditional British [[pub]]s and clubs. With just overunder 150,000 members, it is the largest single-issue consumer group in the UK,<ref>

The organisation was founded on 16 March 1971 in Kruger's Bar, [[Dunquin]], [[County Kerry|Kerry]], Ireland,<ref>{{cite web|title=Key Events in CAMRA's History |url=http://www.camra.org.uk/camrahistory |access-date=25 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919234946/http://camra.org.uk/camrahistory |archive-date=19 September 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35917816|work=[[BBC News]]|title=Should there be a crusade to save British pubs?|first=Harry|last=Low|date=31 March 2016|access-date=31 March 2016}}</ref> 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 British [[brewing]] industry. The original name was the Campaign for the Revitalisation of Ale.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/4810832/Still-bitter-after-all-these-years.html|title=Still bitter after all these years|newspaper=The Telegraph|access-date=17 July 2009|last=Neill|first=Richard| location=London| date=9 November 2000}}</ref> Following the formation of the Campaign, the first annual general meeting took place in 1972, at the Rose Inn in Coton Road, [[Nuneaton]].

In 1991, CAMRA reachedhad 30,000 members across the UK and abroad and, a year later, helped to launch the European Beer Consumers Union. CAMRA remains EBCU's largest contributor, despite the UK's exit from the European Union.

CAMRA published a history book on its 50th birthday, 16 March 2021, written by Laura Hadland and entitled ''50 Years of CAMRA''. <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://camra.org.uk/50-years/50th-anniversary-book/|title=50th Anniversary Book|website=CAMRA - Campaign for Real Ale}}</ref>

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 both [[cask]] and [[keg]] 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cromarty, CAMRA and crazy cask cancellation|url=http://refreshingbeer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/cromarty-and-camra-we-are-not-all-idiots.html|website=I might have a glass of beer|date=15 March 2013}}</ref>

For many years, CAMRA also organised the National Winter Ales Festival. However, in 2017 this was re-branded as the [[National Winter Ales Festival|Great British Beer Festival Winter]] where they award the [[Champion 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 been [[Derby]] and [[Norwich]], 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 the [[National 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 looks at beer quality, aesthetic, and welcome. The four finalists are announced each year before a ceremony to crown the winner in the spring.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2020/02/12/250-year-old-family-gem-wins-CAMRA-s-pub-of-the-year|title=250-year-old family gem wins CAMRA's pub of the year|last=morningadvertiser.co.uk|website=morningadvertiser.co.uk|date=12 February 2020 |language=en-GB|access-date=2020-03-03}}</ref> There are also the [[Pub Design Awards]], which are held in association with [[English Heritage]] and the [[Victorian Society]]. These comprise several categories, including new build, refurbished and converted pubs.

CAMRA members may join the CAMRA Members' Investment Club which, since 1989, has invested in real ale breweries and pub chains.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/02318099|website=[[Companies House]]|access-date=18 December 2017|title=Company Information}}</ref> As of January 2021 the club had over 3,000 members and owned investments worth over £2017 million. Although all investors must be CAMRA members,<ref>{{cite web|title=Club Rules|url=https://cmic.uk.com/rules/|website=CAMRA Members' Investment Club|access-date=9 May 2023}}</ref> the CAMRA Members' Investment Club is not part of CAMRA Ltd.