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Real Ale: CAMRA |
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#1 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: nottingham
Posts: 9,460
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Real Ale: CAMRA
I was wondering what people thought of CAMRA, the real ale group. I enjoy real ale but I have always thought that many of the pubs they recommend are not the best pubs around.
They seem to choose pubs purely on the quality of the beer and on no other considerations. The local, Nottingham, pub of the year, is the NewsHouse which is a fairly grim place, the clientele being almost exclusively elderly men sitting on their own slowly sipping pints. No doubt the beer is good but it is not my idea of a good pub. About 200m away is a lively pub, with Sky tv and a good mixture of ages, always busy, and a selection of real ales. It is quite difficult if you go to an unfamiliar town to know what kind of place you will come across if you go purely by the CAMRA guide. CAMRA seem to hate any pubs with music or Sky TV, and that of course is their prerogative. But I do wish they would give a better indication of the type of pub they are recommending in their guides. |
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#2 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Fort William
Posts: 22,296
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Quote:
I was wondering what people thought of CAMRA, the real ale group. I enjoy real ale but I have always thought that many of the pubs they recommend are not the best pubs around.
They seem to choose pubs purely on the quality of the beer and on no other considerations. The local, Nottingham, pub of the year, is the NewsHouse which is a fairly grim place, the clientele being almost exclusively elderly men sitting on their own slowly sipping pints. No doubt the beer is good but it is not my idea of a good pub. About 200m away is a lively pub, with Sky tv and a good mixture of ages, always busy, and a selection of real ales. It is quite difficult if you go to an unfamiliar town to know what kind of place you will come across if you go purely by the CAMRA guide. CAMRA seem to hate any pubs with music or Sky TV, and that of course is their prerogative. But I do wish they would give a better indication of the type of pub they are recommending in their guides. Good beer guide It probably answers your question There are publications called good pub guides, but these don't concenntrate on the beer |
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#3 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: nottingham
Posts: 9,460
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I appreciate that CAMRA's main interest is in good beer , and there are guides out there telling you about good pubs, but Camra publish a guide which is sold in mainstream shops and give the impression that they are recommending good pubs.
As I said , they do actively oppose any pub which has Sky TV and they also campaigned FOR the smoking ban which means they are not just interested in good beer. Why they cannot tell you something about the pub in their guides, for instance whether it is a place for 18 year olds or for the over 65s, baffles me. Why can't they give a simple summary of the type of pub they are recommending rather than saying it has great beer , because we know that anyway. |
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#4 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Above the clouds
Posts: 22,453
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I get what you mean but if thats not their MO then you cant really berate them, maybe you've spotted a gap in the market for something others would also appreciate.
PM me if you need any testing staff
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#5 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Buckingham
Posts: 28,599
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Quote:
they also campaigned FOR the smoking ban which means they are not just interested in good beer.
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#6 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Above the clouds
Posts: 22,453
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haha but doesnt a nice foaming glass of proper ale leave you longing for a capstan's full strength?
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#7 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Fort William
Posts: 22,296
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If you look at the symbols in the guide, then they'll tell you if it is quiet, has a family room, a fire and a few other things. They even include chain pubs - page 381 of the 2010 guide even has 2 Wetherspoons on it!
Camra is about the beer, but they also campaign to keep traditional pubs. Central Nottingham has 9 pubs listed from the tourist trap Olde Trip to Jerusalem, the Newshouse where they show sport on large screens, the Salutation Inn with live rock music and a few smaller and more intimate places. It seems there's a good range listed. |
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#8 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 550
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Music and TV make any pub crap. The music drowns out conversation, and the TV attracts knuckle-dragging football fans.
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#9 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 8,802
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Quote:
I was wondering what people thought of CAMRA, the real ale group. I enjoy real ale but I have always thought that many of the pubs they recommend are not the best pubs around.
They seem to choose pubs purely on the quality of the beer and on no other considerations. The local, Nottingham, pub of the year, is the NewsHouse which is a fairly grim place, the clientele being almost exclusively elderly men sitting on their own slowly sipping pints. No doubt the beer is good but it is not my idea of a good pub. About 200m away is a lively pub, with Sky tv and a good mixture of ages, always busy, and a selection of real ales. It is quite difficult if you go to an unfamiliar town to know what kind of place you will come across if you go purely by the CAMRA guide. CAMRA seem to hate any pubs with music or Sky TV, and that of course is their prerogative. But I do wish they would give a better indication of the type of pub they are recommending in their guides. I do agree with you, their ratings should be on the whole pub not just the quality of beer.However I do think that Wetherspoons are the best chain pub group for Real Ales, they take the seriously unlike a lot of others that seem to offer one or two mainstream brands (In London this tends to be London Pride and/or Wells Bombardier) on the handpump as a token gesture to Ale Lovers. |
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#10 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 3,597
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CAMRA deserve support.
Real ale is a British tradition. I love real ale, stout and proper good lager although not all at once. ![]() Real ale has so much more flavour than the mass produced brews supplied by the nasty beer globalists. |
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#11 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 8,802
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Quote:
CAMRA deserve support.
Real ale is a British tradition. I love real ale, stout and proper good lager although not all at once. ![]() Real ale has so much more flavour than the mass produced brews supplied by the nasty beer globalists.
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#12 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Milton Keynes
Posts: 5,741
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Quote:
Here, Here! agree with you entirely! I am a Real Ale newbie after going to the Greenwich Beer Festival last year I became hooked on Ale after many years of drinking nasty lager.
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#13 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: sussex
Posts: 4,641
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thought i'd bump this with some real ale news;
http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-e...1634-30848933/ camra causing a bit of a sh*t storm up north. |
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#14 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,457
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I like Wetherspoons attitude to real ale too. You always get 5 or 6 decent beers and they often have only a barrel of each so they can change even during the night.
Obviously not all Wetherspoons are nice cosy little places but if you are out with a group of like minded friends who want to drink decent beer and chat about nonsense for a few hours then they are ideal. My bro is a CAMRA person and he always chooses the pubs when we meet up. I am usually disappointed as yes they will sell real ale but it is generally only 1 or 2 types and often they are from big breweries - I like that Wetherspoons seem to bring in beers from all sorts of tiny breweries. Their beer festivals are generally good too. And they seem to bet he cheapest places around (although this does lead to some dodgy clients!) |
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#15 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Manchester
Posts: 6,151
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Quote:
thought i'd bump this with some real ale news;
http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-e...1634-30848933/ camra causing a bit of a sh*t storm up north. Also the dig at the Wetherspoons vouchers that CAMRA members upon joining or renewing is rather unfair, as Gooby has rightly pointed out many of their outlets offer an excellent range of well-kept real ale these days. It sounds like there's more than one or two people a little "set in their ways" in the Tyneside and Northumberland branch! |
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#16 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 12,882
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For me the first requisite of a good pub is good beer.
I don't mind quiet and appropriate music. Techno is not right for a pub, background jazz or blues can be. TV ok as long as the sound is down. I never knock Wetherspoons. When they started even a 'Free House' would normally offer a fairly limited range of ales (and these were often lazily kept). Wetherspoons forced them to buck up their ideas - I think there are far more good pubs now than 30 years ago. If I'm somewhere new, fancy a pint and don't have the bible or electronic assistance on me I know Wetherspoons will provide me with a reliable, and often very good pint and several options. It's a very good fall back. |
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