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Campaign For Real Ale | CAMRA |
 CAMRA campaigns for real ale, real pubs and consumer rights. It is an independent, voluntary organisation with over 85,000 members and has been described as the most successful consumer group in Europe. CAMRA promotes good-quality real ale and pubs, as well as acting as the consumer's champion in relation to the UK and European beer and drinks industry.
CAMRA was founded in the most Westerly pub in Europe - Kruger's Bar in Dunquin, Co Kerry, when four young men from the north west of England, Michael Hardman, Graham Lees, Bill Mellor and Jim Makin were on holiday. Fed up with the increasingly bad quality of beer in Britain, which was too fizzy, had no character and no taste, they decided to form a Campaign for the Revitalisation of Ale. |
 A year after the founding, the first AGM was held at The Rose Inn, Nuneaton; and membership started to grow. Articles by the late Richard Boston in the Guardian (Boston on Beer) boosted membership when Richard happened to mention the fledgling organisation CAMRA.
In 1973, to make the Campaign's name easier to say, it was changed to the Campaign for Real Ale. |
 CAMRA also lobbies at European level - the Commission's competition division is always interested in the tied house system, reform of the UK excise duty system which will require EC approval, European legislation as it affects ingredients, labelling and other such issues.
CAMRA is a founder member of the European Beer Consumers Union (EBCU) which brings together independent voluntary consumer groups from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Czech Republic, Sweden and Switzerland to lobby for drinkers interests at a European level. |
 The Good Beer Guide is more than just a pub guide. “Put together by CAMRA, it's the definitive rundown of the best places in the UK to get a pint of real ale, from cosy country inns to upmarket style bars," says Time Out. Britain's longest-running and best-selling guide not only contains the country's best pubs for real ale, iy also gives up-to-date information on beers and breweries - essential information for true beer afficionados. It's compiled by 82,000 dedicated volunteers in the Campaign for Real Ale; there are no fees for listings, and every pub is checked many times a year.
Listing the best pubs in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man that serve cask-conditioned real ale in tip-top condition, the Good Beer Guide gives full details of beer, food, entertainment, family facilities, history and architecture for each pub entry.
The unique Breweries section lists all the breweries -- micro, regional and national -- that produce cask beer, with tasting notes compiled by CAMRA-trained tasting teams. There's also information about beers suitable for vegetarians and vegans, as well as the growing number of organic beers. The Guide lists new breweries, closed breweries, mergers and takeovers, and keeps track of the new, powerful pub groups. |
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