North Manchester CAMRA Who we are and what we do

The Campaign for Real Ale - popularly known as CAMRA - was founded in 1971 as a consumer movement to protect Britain's brewing heritage. At the time, brewery takeovers and closures were commonplace and traditional British beer was on its way out. As the giant breweries were closing down small producers across the country, choice was diminishing and, in place of beers brewed for local palates, nationally advertised keg beers were finding their way on to the bar.

Unlike traditional beer (or real ale, as CAMRA christened it), keg beer is a dead product. It does not continue to mature in the keg because it has been filtered and pasteurised to remove all life-giving yeast. It even needs to be pumped full of gas to send it to the bar and give it some fizz. Real ale is drawn into the glass by simple methods which don't require extra gas. The handpump is the most common form of dispense, but electric pumps are also used, or beer can simply be tapped from the cask itself.

Continuous fermentation, or cask conditioning of real ale, creates its own effervescence as well as a good, fresh taste. Producing real ale takes skill and craftsmanship, which is reflected in the products of many of our local traditional breweries. Looking after real ale in a pub cellar is an equally important skill - otherwise, the fine beer that leaves the brewery gate can be an insipid disappointment when it arrives in your glass.

CAMRA has been extremely successful in its fight against keg and also against British "lagers", which are mostly just pale imitations of their European counterparts. Our greatest achievement is to spread the word about classic beers and new beers, friendly pubs, historic pubs. And not just ye olde worlde traditional inns and taverns either. We also celebrate the modern wave of café-bars and bistros that offer real choice and innovative beers - like the splendid organic beers and popular modern bars run by Marble Brewery based in our own branch area. And those run by Kro Bar on the south side of Manchester.

But to keep on spreading the word, CAMRA needs new members. If you enjoy beer and you want others to enjoy it too - join us! We all have a lot of fun in our campaigning, whether it's staffing beer festivals or surveying pubs, and it doesn't matter if you're eighteen years old or eighty.