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Real Ale in a Bottle
by John Cryne
There was so much going on at the Great British Beer Festival this summer, that it was hard to keep track. What with the intense heat and Tuesday night's floods, we certainly saw a range of weather. And there was also a range of initiatives from CAMRA, including the launch of the Real Ale in a Bottle Accreditation Scheme.
CAMRA has been a staunch supporter of bottled conditioned beers – as well as being eminently quaffable in a pub – it also represents the next best option for drinking beer at home, when you can't get to the pub.
So what's different now? Well, real ale in a pub has always been easy to spot by its traditional dispense system, the handpump. But finding the good stuff in the bottle has not always been easy, with a raft of different definitions and often poor point of sale information.
This should all change with the accreditation scheme that CAMRA has got underway. With the "CAMRA says this is real ale" hallmark, real ale in a bottle will now be easily identifiable. As Steve Draper of the City of Cambridge brewery said, "CAMRA is a publicly recognised organisation supporting quality produced real ale. By using the logo on our bottles this reinforces the message that the public are buying a genuine and traditionally produced bottle conditioned beer."
CAMRA is piloting the scheme with over 40 breweries, including Fuller's, Pitfield and Young's in London. The intention is that the identifiable mark will show drinkers what type the beer is, how it was made and how the beer should be stored and served. Consumers will be able to more easily differentiate real ale in a bottle from other bottled brands.
As well as having the logo on the bottle, CAMRA will be working with retailers to provide materials which will help them promote real ale in a bottle and promote and show which outlets stock it. Eventually, CAMRA would like to see these beers stocked as a separate category.
Hand-in-hand with the launch of the scheme, came the publication of CAMRA's Good Bottled Beer Guide, edited by Jeff Evans and sponsored by ASDA. It is a mark of how things are changing for the good, when the Guide now lists over 600 beers from 143 breweries – up more than 100 bottles and 30 breweries since the last edition. And miles away from the mere 5 beers that were produced when CAMRA started life in 1971. The Guide costs £9.99 and can be bought at www.camra.org.uk.
So where can you buy all this good stuff – well good pubs will have it on sale, most supermarkets will stock real ale in a bottle but also look out for specialist beer shops, mail order companies or even local corner shops, farmers' markets and garden centres, where small brewers now sell their beers. A small selection of specialist shops, details of the scheme's supporters and other information can be found at www.camra.org.uk/raib.
As I said at the outset, at lot was going on at Olympia – the Real Ale in a Bottle scheme might have passed you by – if so, check it out, check the beers out, get yourself a copy of Jeff Evans' guide and see just why CAMRA says this is real ale.
John Cryne
Reproduced from the Full Pint, Issue 27.
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