Camra,,, wtf?

[Sadfield]

CAMRA needs a good bashing
The problem with CAMRA is that membership doesn't guarantee beer knowledge, but they're to busy in-fighting to educate members, who view membership as a qualification.

Funniest comment from CAMRA member I've heard is 'I don't drink canned beer is I can taste the metal' Erm what are casks made from.

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[Chippy_Tea]

Funniest comment from CAMRA member I've heard is 'I don't drink canned beer is I can taste the metal' Erm what are casks made from.

That is exactly the sort of thing i assumed they would say.

Looks like this is going to turn into another CAMRA bashing thread. :lol:

 

[Druncan]

Ohnoooooooo! what have I created,,,,, :twisted:

Can I just say, as a fully paid up CAMRA member, I resent anyone threatening acts of online violence to me and my stuck up, luddite, non-lager drinking brethren.

I place my hand on the great northern journal of common sense called the VIZ and opening "The Real Ale *wats" page have gained great insight as to how I should be conducting my imbibications. I include the link for those seeking enlightenment to follow the holy path; http://viz.co.uk/category/cartoons/strip-cartoons/real-ale-twats/

 

[trueblue]

I started my drinking career a few years before CAMRA started. The beers I drank at first were from what was known as the big six brewery's who were trying to impose their keg beers as for several reasons, mainly economic, at the expense of cask beers. Massive advertising campaigns and aggressive take overs were reducing consumers choice without them realizing.
It was during the miners strike in the early 1970's when my local pub, a Watney's house, could not use their kegged beers during the power cuts as the system used electricity as so the landlord was allowed to serve beer straight from the barrel from another brewery. To say my life changed over that short period is an understatement. CAMRA was starting to become known and established around that time and I joined and so started a life long obsession. Within a few years I had started to brew myself so as my visits to pubs became less frequent I stopped the subscription.
I know a lot of people believe they are a bunch of stuck in the past old farts and there may be some truth in that but the fact there stood up against the corporate greed of the big six means we have the choices we have today. We should raise a glass to the most successful consumer revolution the world has known. I just wish I knew what the beer was I drank in the dark many years back.

 

[The Idiot]

Stop bashing CAMRA, better, stop brewing your own beer and get down your local pub to support it!

Don't get me wrong; I do love a local pub but much like local shops there are many that simply don't deserve support.

All too often their products are limited to the boringly mass produced options, their efforts to make the place a social hub fall way short of most peoples' expectations and a pervading layer of laziness exists because the simply 'expect' people to support them.

Yes, there are those that make an effort, and they usually thrive. But for those who make minimal effort, I'd rather see them close because they offer me nothing.

As for stopping brewing our own beer, you might have backed a loser around here. I can make beer that is tailored to what I want to drink, I can do it cheaply and easily and I don't have to walk into town and sit with a bunch of people staring at big screens or stained carpets to do so. Unless a pub offers something extra - entertainment, good food, great beer, a good atmosphere, etc. - then as a business it's failing to deliver the goods.

Unfortunately, the CAMRA mentality that we should all get out and support local pubs is blinkered, because they only want us to support the pubs they say we can! Both the pubs (and owning breweries) and CAMRA need to park up their high horses and look at what people want. If certain pubs are empty, that's a sign.

Before anyone raises the issue of VAT and duty on pubs, many of use go to restaurants and pay well over the odds when you consider the raw materials being used and staffing costs. Why? Because they deliver on so many fronts alongside the food itself. The same is true of cinema, theatre, sport, and so on. I'd pay over the odds for a good pub experience and so would many others. However, I won't pay for a dull and limited experience when I can brew better myself and imbibe in a convivial environment!

 

[BeerCat]

CAMRA needs a good bashing
The problem with CAMRA is that membership doesn't guarantee beer knowledge, but they're to busy in-fighting to educate members, who view membership as a qualification.

Funniest comment from CAMRA member I've heard is 'I don't drink canned beer is I can taste the metal' Erm what are casks made from.

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Lol. Call me a Luddite but i clicked on this thinking it was a thread about cameras misspelled. As far as i know tins are lined and i stopped drinking them as i don't like the taste either. Could never drink the last bit.
https://craftbeercellar.com/blog/blog/2013/07/22/whats-the-deal-with-bpa-in-craft-beer-cans/

 

[Vambrace]

I'm less keen on tins too as I can taste something unpleasant - whether that's in my mind or something real I couldn't say. Cask is definitely my preferred way of serving but I've had plenty of excellent bottled beer.

 

[Vambrace]

Also, I'm a member of CAMRA and have supported their objectives for almost 30 years. They do have a slightly fusty image and sometimes can be a little too rigid for their own good, but overall they are still a force for good.

 

[Sadfield]

Lol. Call me a Luddite but i clicked on this thinking it was a thread about cameras misspelled. As far as i know tins are lined and i stopped drinking them as i don't like the taste either. Could never drink the last bit.
https://craftbeercellar.com/blog/blog/2013/07/22/whats-the-deal-with-bpa-in-craft-beer-cans/

Exactly, can taste the metal in a plastic lined can, but not from a metal cask. Really? Secondly, are commonly used plastic eco casks BPA free? Or the now CAMRA accepted keykegs?

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[peebee]

Whenever i see CAMRA i always think boring beer snobs i do not make beer so wonder where i got that impression. :wink:

Was that you taking sides? I might have to take back my compliment about "doing a grand job" ;-)

Anyway, you're right. There is very little in the way of CAMRA bashing on this site and folk here are very polite even when taking the odd snipe. You need to go back to the original CAMRA/Brewdog fisticuffs in 2011 (I think) to find the hot-under-the-collar stuff and then (being current affairs) it would have been acceptable.

So I was speaking from a "cumulative" memory of other sites when I made my comments earlier in this thread. The best (only?) example of bun-fighting on the subject within this site is ... well this thread!

 

[Druncan]

Was that you taking sides? I might have to take back my compliment about "doing a grand job" ;-)

The best (only?) example of bun-fighting on the subject within this site is ... well this thread!

:thumb::thumb: :twisted:

Sadly the CAMRA forum is so cluttered I am getting frustrated tying to find the good bits,,,, Makes me realize how well this one works:)

Ongoing CAMRA delving,,,,,,:ugeek:

 

[Sandimas]

I'm a long-time CAMRA member. I come from the dark ages of the 70s and 80s when 99% of pubs had no decent beer: it was tasteless dishwater, the likes of Double Diamond, Watneys, John Smith, Whitbread. We used to tour around just trying to find a pub with 1 handpump. So in that respect, CAMRA did a fantastic job, now there's decent ale everywhere thanks to the consumer revolution.

But that's now a long time ago. There has been a 2nd beer revolution (craft) which CAMRA has largely ignored. You can now get fantastic bottled and canned beers, something which just didn't exist in the 70s/80s: canned beer was budget rubbish. CAMRA haven't moved with the times and I find them a frustrating bunch these days, still sticking to rules and values that are long outdated. And all they seem to do is argue (look at the letters page in their monthly paper). I think they're an organisation looking for a purpose these days, as the beer war has been won.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I think they're an organisation looking for a purpose these days, as the beer war has been won.

:clap:

.

 

[Sadfield]

Saving pubs is a worthwhile cause, but they seem to be trying to save the wrong ones, for the wrong reasons.



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[peebee]

Despite my efforts to the contrary, the thread is descending into a CAMRA bashing session. Let's just dispel some myths...

... There has been a 2nd beer revolution (craft) which CAMRA has largely ignored ...

Can't say I was paying much attention in the early stages, but I was in USA for the beginning of the "craft revolution" <sic> and the beer was pretty mundane and all tasted of Cascade hops. It wasn't until years later when the new hop varieties came out it did it start to get interesting.

Neither was I wasn't paying much attention to what CAMRA were up to back then, but reading a lot of their documented output now there was interest in what was going on. To say CAMRA ignored the changes is twaddle. Initially they seemed quite supportive.

But then we get the likes of Brewdog kicking up a stink because what they were doing was outside CAMRA's philosophies; and so it was. If you produce keg beer and expect immediate acceptance from a group who's founding principles are "no keg beer", change is going to take a while. Or you stamp your little feet and that way ensure CAMRA can't take you seriously.

And then there is "craft brewing". A term that is worse than meaningless. The term is defined by the "American Brewers Association" which would allow some 1960-70s keg beer past but would block a lot of beer that might be described as "Real Ale". Sure enough the term is now being abused and drinkers seriously mislead.

 

[Sadfield]

And then there is "craft brewing". A term that is worse than meaningless. The term is defined by the "American Brewers Association" which would allow some 1960-70s keg beer past but would block a lot of beer that might be described as "Real Ale". Sure enough the term is now being abused and drinkers seriously mislead.

Agree that it is a nonsense term, and most who consider themselves as "craft" think that, but it is currently the best term there is. There may be some blurring of lines, but I'm not sure how drinkers are being seriously mislead. No more than they are by "Real Ale" breweries who filter and pasteurise for the retail sector. It's also interesting to note how many traditional "real ale" breweries have started adding the world "Crafted" to their products in recent years.

Robinson's Trooper a prime example, from a brewery that claims on they're website to have 'a worldwide reputation for real ale', this beer is crafted, implies that it is real ale, yet contains no yeast in the list of ingredients. Blurred lines.

 

[peebee]

...
Robinson's Trooper a prime example, ...

Hardly "blurred lines", that's out-right deception. Shame it comes from a brewery that has a good reputation. A good example of using "craft" to mislead, and an example of using just about any technique to mislead.
Fortunately that label is a good indicator that what you're getting is pigswill.

 

[BeerisGOD]

I'm a long-time CAMRA member. I come from the dark ages of the 70s and 80s when 99% of pubs had no decent beer: it was tasteless dishwater, the likes of Double Diamond, Watneys, John Smith, Whitbread. We used to tour around just trying to find a pub with 1 handpump. So in that respect, CAMRA did a fantastic job, now there's decent ale everywhere thanks to the consumer revolution.

But that's now a long time ago. There has been a 2nd beer revolution (craft) which CAMRA has largely ignored. You can now get fantastic bottled and canned beers, something which just didn't exist in the 70s/80s: canned beer was budget rubbish. CAMRA haven't moved with the times and I find them a frustrating bunch these days, still sticking to rules and values that are long outdated. And all they seem to do is argue (look at the letters page in their monthly paper). I think they're an organisation looking for a purpose these days, as the beer war has been won.

I would read the mag but I only recieved one, and the newsletter s stopped about the same time. Joined in April.
Sent an email off two weeks ago to no avail.
Me thinks I'll not be renewing my membership. The vouchers were helpful though

 

[BarnBrian]

Shouldn't their name be Campaign for Real Ale and Pubs????

 

[Norfolk79]

Shouldn't their name be Campaign for Real Ale and Pubs????

Camrap? Sounds like a YouTube video of David Cameron rapping [emoji23]