h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

One of the pubs here, and one I happen to frequent, last night tried something different.

They had a mini-single-brewery beer festival. All eight pumps were selling beers from Moorhouse's. They even got one of the guys from Moorhouse's to come along and give a talk on the history of the brewery and hang around having a few beers with the customers, chatting about things and answering their questions.

This itself isn't a new thing, but it is new up here. And I thouroughly enjoyed it. I even got from freebie merchandising out of it. A nice new pen, a couple of glasses and a t-shirt. I must have been drinking slowly though as it was the last t-shirt left and I only just got it as another customer came to the bar just as I was leaving and they'd run out.

So, I got to chat to the chap from Moorhouse's and discuss several beer related issues, mainly the current state of CAMRA. Stange, but his view of its current state is almost exactly like mine.

A really weird thing then happened, a rep chap from Refresh UK (owners of Wychwood and Brakspears breweries) came into the pub for a few sociable drinks and joined in with us. So there we were our little group, the missus and me (hopefully after tonight two of the committee members of the local CAMRA branch), the owner of Lancaster Brewery, the sales chap from Moorhouse's and the chap from Refresh sitting down and enjoying some very good ale and chatting about the current state of CAMRA, the pub trade and the brewery trade. And we were all pretty much of the same mind.
1) CAMRA has a serious image problem.
Well this is obvious. When anyone mentions CAMRA the first image that comes to mind is bearded blokes with huge beer guts and sandles with socks.
2) The Freehouse is still dying out.
The Freehouse has never been strong, but they are usually the best pubs for beer range. If a house is tied to a brewery then the landlord/manager is limited in the range of beers that they can get in. Smaller breweries have to deal with the larger breweries of the pub chains that own these pubs if they want to sell their beer in them, and they usually don't come out too well.
3) The are some very good beers and breweries around that don't get the recognition that they deserve.
Can anyone who's drunk Wychwood Hobgoblin believe that it's never won a national CAMRA award?!! This beer is probably why a lot of younger drinkers start drinking real ale. The advertising campaigns they've used have always refused to be defensive about drinking ale, and in spring 2003 they started becoming actively aggressive, using the slogon "What's the matter Lagerboy, afraid you might taste something?" The beer itself is superb, a near perfect example of how a stronger beer can not only have a tremendous amount of smooth, caramelly, hop/malt balanced but also be incredibly drinkable. This beer goes down so well you don't even realise that it's 5% And yet it's never had any recognition from CAMRA at a national level.

In a way the Hobgoblin problem encompasses all three of the issues above. Ale (well mostly CAMRA) has a bad image, Wychwood deal with this by going on the offence, and it works. There are fewer outlets each year where brewers can sell their beer, Wychwood is large enough that they can make the amounts needed to deal with the large chains. But they're not getting the recognition they deserve, like so many other beers and breweries.

The outcome of the chatting last night was that CAMRA needs to stop being defensive and start going on the offense. Marketing campaigns like they've had in recent years don't work, and probably never will work. "Beards and Sandles not included" above a picture of lasses in twin-sets and pearls happily (well they were smiling at least) drinking pints of beer, is not going to work. All they're saying is "We're not all bearded with no dress sense." Although why they'd aim at the twin-set market I've no idea. They need to stop defending themselves and do what they were set up to do. Promote Real Ale, support the breweries that brew them and the pubs that sell them. Sod the image problem, once you become proactive and people see who you are and know what you're doing, the image problem will go away. Become aggressive, rather than saying how lovely ale is, let them know how crud the stuff they're currently drinking is. Make people realise that the "imported" lager is actually brewed in Nottingham or somewhere else over here. Basically educate people, but don't limit it to those that want to learn.

Right, rant over for now. It's the branch AGM tonight and I've got to finish the agenda and print out lots of copies of that and minutes of previous meetings. The joy of not having anything better to do.

*nods sagely* I think part of the problem is that CAMRa was set up origionally, and achieved a lot of its goals; more pubs having some* real ale, which has kinda left it a bit washe dup in terms of its current defiantee aims, its time they had some new cast iron objectives to look at getting through. The lack of freehold pubs drives me bonkers, : a pubs just come up on the market a few mins walk from my house, and of course, as its in Cambridge its a b****y Gr**n k**g pub How quite some of the big pub chains, esp people like Green king and ohters are allowed to have such a monopoly is beyond me; not only in that they seem to own every pub in town, but that this then gives their beer/brewery such over the top airing in those pubs at the expense of all the wonderful small microbrewrys, and even the medium sized brewrys too Hobgoblin is a wonderful example, I've had it bought from the supermarket in bottles many many times, but the only time I can remember ever seeing it on pump in a pub was down in Bognor regis I know too many people, such as my Brother, who loves real ale, but regularly drinks lager or c**p keg beer as the pubs he's going to and where he's now at Uni, just don't seem to do any real ale I was forced to drink a pint of John Smiths last night