Below is a recently posted video with the title as listed above. An intro to the video: “This series isn’t a takedown — it’s a conversation. CAMRA has done vital work protecting pubs and cask beer, and that still matters. But caring about something also means being honest about where it struggles to connect with modern drinkers. Disagree by all means — just assume good faith, and keep it about beer and pubs.” I thought that James did a good job making this video. So, what do you think? What should CAMRA do to remain relevant? Cheers!
Wow, lots to say about this one... He talks around the main problem without ever explicitly stating: CAMRA and the UK craft beer movement are not friends. 20 years ago, when craft started making inroads in Britain, CAMRA decided it was the enemy. They supported British pubs and British beer styles, but CAMRA drew a line in the sand when it came to new British breweries: if they didn't brew cask they were heretics, and unworthy of consideration. Instead of seeing that a rising tide raises all ships, CAMRA sneered at craft beer's youth and American influence and trendiness. CAMRA Chairman Colin Valentine famously attacked beer bloggers, saying “40 years of [CAMRA] achievement means nothing, as the best beer they have ever had is the next.” Mostly they seemed peeved that something beer-related was happening without them. Thus you ended up with a non-sensical culture war: CAMRA and cask purists on the traditionalist side while IPAs and CO2 were for the hipsters. Rural breweries in place like East Anglia who had craft taprooms by any other measure - young owners, food trucks, etc. - would swear they wanted nothing to do with the craft label just because their range was a mild, a porter, a blonde and two bitters on cask. CAMRA became a single issue party with Stalinist zeal: method of dispense is all that matters. They've never really cared about serving quality (that's Cask Marque's job) or pub atmosphere (witness CAMRA's relationship to Wetherspoons, the Waffle House of pub chains). The Good Beer Guide will direct you even now to a dodgy hole-in-the-wall behind the train station for a pint of vinegar, but hey, it's cask! Yes, embracing British craft beer in 2009 would've meant expanding CAMRA's original remit, but that was the moment to do it. And there was some debate about it then (around the time I let my membership lapse) amid fears of "becoming a heritage railway." But they're still having the same debate now. To more directly address James' points, they've often handed leadership from one founding member to the next rather than bring in a new generation with fresh ideas and current sensibilities. Meanwhile, the number of breweries in Britain went from 500 in 2000 to 1850 in 2020, and CAMRA reaped none of the benefits. I still love a good CAMRA cask festival. But CAMRA doesn't "struggle to connect with modern drinkers," it actively spurns them. They had a window, and they didn't just let it pass, they closed it themselves. The question isn't, "Can CAMRA remain relevant?" it's "What have they done to deserve relevance?" </rant>
@JackHorzempa pinged me to comment here, and I took a little time to listen to the video. In the context of the ping, I was wishing that there would be more cask ales available in the future, though in America I doubted it. But I had hopes for the core location of pubs in Britain. So, I watched the video, and I think the quote summarizes where I sit, and where the YouTube poster's vibe seems to be. So, will CAMRA survive? Not sure I care. Will the core aspect of beer culture they are hoping to preserve survive? I do care and I hope so. I don't think the two are tied to each other, though.
Really great video and insightful presenter. Packs a lot of British beer recent history into 8 minutes. CAMRA I've known about for two decades, but hardly paid much attention... even during my last four months in London of enjoying ale from the engine. CAMRA seems like it needs an update; always struck me as not far from an Old Boys Club. Time to innovate. How about letting women run CAMRA. They are keeping Europe afloat while men are letting the U.S. sink.
*Puts on CAMRA officer hat* Well yes, no, maybe. Can you repeat the question. The Great British Beer Festival was an unmitigated disaster. It lost money because there was no local advertising and very little overall campaign strategy. The venue was way too big and volunteers seemed to ignore people. I had no engagement, other than the people that I already knew. There was no escaping the live music, which killed conversations. A lot of attendees had no idea about the American cask bar & the European bar as they were hidden away at a back corner. There were way too many ‘usual suspect’ regular beers, and they won far too many awards, although I suspect not many of customers checked the beer list before committing to attending but it probably effected casual return sales. I don’t think there was many “Oh wow today was amazing, I wonder if there any tickets for tomorrow”. London centric CAMRA national, when hosting the GBBF in the capital city was not possible, were rumoured to have said that they would never consider Manchester as a location. Then there is a burgeoning set of ‘Life members’ that stopped contributing membership fees decades ago. Some paid £70 in the early 80’s and are in there late 60’s. There are a few that donate the equivalent of the membership fee, though. That accounts for the financial situation. However what you have to bear in mind is that, CAMRA operates on national, regional and local levels. I think my branch is very forward thinking, with women holding the positions of membership secretary, treasurer & temporary secretary. But they aren’t all like my branch & there are some very deeply infected branches that are out of date toxic realms. the branch ran by committee, is also quite an old fashioned concept, but where it works, it works well. However nearby Salford has no committee, and therefore cannot elect committee members to give the branch in theory, a committee & host events. There also parts of the country with no CAMRA presence. I guess the real question is, should the mission objective of CAMRA change from safeguarding real ale as product of cultural significance. Because hand pumps are still pouring and possibly in far greater numbers than the group’s inception. To protecting pubs, independent outlets and small breweries. However a lot of CAMRA sponsorship comes from big breweries & pub chains. I also want to point out that gravity pour is a fantastic way to dispense beer, not a poor substitute for handpumps.
I'm working through CAMRA documents because the main focus of CAMRA is about casks, and handpumps, as they are a clear indicator of cask. I'm struggling to find any reference to actual beer styles, a lot of 'modern beer' here, is traditional elsewhere. That being said I am trying to make sure that a beer festival I am associated with has representations of Wee Heavy and Scottish Ale/Bitter. But it does lend the question, should CAMRA campaign/support none handpump draught, like key keg, that keeps the secondary fermentation but uses external carbon dioxide purely to assist the pressure to serve with it not coming into contact with the beer. As the air exposure is limited, and the temperatures controlled more, giving a sharper colder beer which is preferable to some beer styles.
