Welcome to Reading CAMRA

The Campaign for Real Ale in Reading & Mid-Berkshire

WELCOME TO THE WEB SITE of Reading CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale in Reading and Mid-Berkshire. CAMRA is the pub-goers champion, we promote fine beers in great pubs and defend the rights of the drinker. If you drink beer or like pubs CAMRA is the place for you!

Click here to download a copy of the new guide to Real Ale on the 127 Bus Route, sponsored by Thames Travel.

 

Reading Beer and Cider Festival - Volunteers Wanted

As always, the beer festival is Staffed entirely by unpaid volunteers. If you are interested in getting involved, please visit the Beer Festival website which, oddly enough, looks rather similar to this one.
This year's festival will take place at King's Meadow between 29 April - 2 May 2010.
See the festival website (currently under development) at www.readingbeerfestival.org.uk.

The 2009 festival was another record-breaker, with 15,601 people coming through the doors (up 5.9% on 2008). An amazing 61,200 pints of real ale and 12,800 pints of cider and perry were sold, along with 2,976 litres of foreign beer and 1,404 bottles of wine and mead. 113 new members were signed up to CAMRA and, more importantly, everyone had a good time.

Reopen(ed) the Jolly Anglers

After a very active local campaign, the Jolly Anglers reopened for business on 1 March. The pub was closed last June by Enterprise Inns with less than 24 hours notice. If there's one way to bring a community together, it's to close their pub down! Congratulations to CAMRA, Jollydarity and, above all, local people for their part in the campaign. Visit www.jollydarity.co.uk to find out what happened.

Ale Trail

Watch out for this year's Ale Trail, launched on 14 February. It featuring 28 pubs this year. You can pick up a trail leaflet at any of the participating pubs listed on the Ale Trail page. Each year we aim to include a number of different pubs so as to give people new places to visit. But with over 150 pubs in the area serving real ale, that regrettably means that not all of the old favourites can be included every time. Please do keep supporting your local pubs, even if they're not on the trail this year.

Also, why not come along to the launch event at the Cunning Man pub at Burghfield Bridge? Take a 2 or 2a Vitality bus from Reading and the bus stop is right outside. The launch is at 15.00 on Saturday 13 February and all are welcome.

Pictured left: The Three Chrises. Our LocAle launch at the Nags Head was well supported and we had the unusual sight of three brewers, all from different breweries and all called Chris. Luckily they all get along! Seen here are Chris Hearn from Loddon, Chris Bingham from Hogs Back and Chris Gill from Ascot Ales. You can read more about LocAle and see a list of accredited pubs here.

Do you enjoy Real Ale in Real Pubs? Do you prefer to drink cask-conditioned ale to mass produced, mass market keg beer and lager? Does the continued threat against the unique flavours of real ale worry you? CAMRA is a national organization devoted to promoting real ale in real pubs, and Reading CAMRA, the local branch, is active both in campaigning for real ale, but also socially.

If any of these sound like you then CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, may be a just up your street. If you live in or near Reading, then Reading & Mid-Berkshire CAMRA are busy working to protect your pleasure. This web site will show you who we are, what we do and how to join us. If you don't live in this area please visit CAMRA's national website.

CAMRA exists:

• To maintain consumer rights
• To promote quality, choice and value for money
• To support the public house as a focus of community life
• To campaign for greater appreciation of traditional beers, ciders and perries as part of national heritage and culture

CAMRA is a volunteer organization with over 109,000 members. CAMRA exists to promote good quality cask ales in good pubs. CAMRA has been described as the most successful consumer organization in Europe.

More importantly than all of this, though, is that being a member of CAMRA is fun. Enjoying the finest quality cask ales in Britain's best pubs is both a pleasure and a hobby. The fact that we are saving our unique heritage happens almost by accident.

CAMRA turned the tide of bland keg beer in the 1970s, when it looked likely that real ale might cease to exist. We have helped in the fight to stop breweries and pubs closing, and were instrumental in the introduction of all-day opening.

We are by no means complacent though. There are many fights still to be won - getting a full pint, or cutting the excessive UK duty on beer. You can help by joining CAMRA today. Our voice is listened to by government because we have so many members. Joining will further strengthen that voice.

If you want to carry on drinking good beer in great pubs, join CAMRA and protect your pleasure.

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