Arguably?? It's in the name!Originally Posted by Conrad
If the craft keg people want to form and organise their own version of CAMRA, then they're welcome to and I'm sure the two will rub along fine. However, promoting craft keg beer alongside real ale is not (and should not) be what CAMRA is about.
Would post a longer rant but am off out
By that token they shouldn't have anything to do with pubs, they are already involved beyond their name.
Edit: Everything else you say is fine, but it is nothing to do with their name.
Kind of following on from Conrad, CAMRA is stiffling beer evolution if it thinks Real Ale is the only possible beer format. As he says there are now some very interesting craft keg beers. I see this not as a return to the bad old days of keg but more an evolution into a new format. Kegging beer requires alot of capital investment in equipment which is why only large breweries have done it in the past. Now a new wave is dawning with breweries like Thornbridge and Brewdog kegging their beers. Down here Moor Brewery does it as well. Is CAMRA going to throw them out of competitions like the Champion beer of Britain because they keg?
That band wagon just keeps rolling, this one from a brewer presumably aggrieved that CAMRA won't advertise his "craft beer" for free. Craft beer is a tiny, tiny subset of the tiny niche market for real ale, important only to a load of bloggers, twitterers and brewers like Meantime and Greenwich who miss out on CAMRA support. Maybe this is where they're going to end up?
If CAMRA is so out of touch and sleepwalking into oblivion why do these brewers and bloggers get so upset about it not supporting a nebulous concept like craft beer? As I said below (or above) it's a shame CAMRA aka The Hobbits, ever existed then we wouldn't have to put up with this tosh.
I did love this bit though,
"At branch level you rule by fear, I know licensees who are afraid of addressing their concerns to CAMRA branches as they fear their business will suffer as a result, you have become a toothless self-interest group riddled with politics & resistance to change."
So why are licensees scared of something toothless? Watch out for the (toothless) Beer Police!
Only their kegged beer as it doesn't meet CAMRA's definition of Real Ale; it's their competition so it's their rules.
Shouldn't a pressure group like CAMRA be prepared to support or engage with a tiny, tiny subset of a tiny niche market for real ale though? Certainly a more interesting proposition than worrying about whether your glass is full.
Yeah that bit was poorly thought out, stuck out like a sore thumb to me. The truth is CAMRA has some finely honed teeth.
You beat me to it OB
Hence SIBA organising one this week featuring 50 kegged beers from the UK.
*insert something clever/humorous/interesting here*
Correct me if I'm wrong but SIBA is a trade organisation for brewers, and I quote from their website 'formed in 1980 as the Small Independent Brewers’ Association, to represent the interests of the emerging new wave of microbrewers'.
As such they will push their product and encourage all to drink it in the same way as the big brewers did in the past. They may well have a kegged beer festival this weekend, presumably to try to convert us all to keg beer as, as has been mentioned before, kegged is easier to keep that cask ales etc etc.
CAMRA is an independent organisation, not funded, nor therefore influenced, by the brewers. CAMRA's mission is to protect the interests of cask ale drinkers.
Like someone (OB?) said of CAMRA, their competition, their rules.
Quite, so wouldn't it be their job to promote "craft beer" from the likes of Summer Wine, rather than an organisation set up to promote cask conditioned beers and the places it is sold?
What ever happened to the Licensed Victuallers Association? They were supposed to look after landlord's interests.
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