Brighton and South Downs CAMRA campaigning for real ale and real pubs.
Triskaidekaphobia isn't a word that trips easily off the tongue but Friday 13th September 1974 held no fears for a meeting of beer drinkers fed up with the lack of drinkable beer. Fizzy keg beer was every where and there were only two traditional brewers, brewing what today we would term real ale left in Sussex.
So on that evening at the Royal Pavilion Tavern, Brighton the Brighton & Southdowns branch of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) was born. The branch area spreads from Seaford in the east to Shoreham by Sea and northwards to Haywards Heath. CAMRA had been formed a few years earlier by four journalists who decided to form a pressure group called the Campaign for the Revitalisation of Ale and revitalisation didn't trip off the tongue either.
During the sixties large brewers who had been "merging" with small regional brewers discovered that if beer was pasteurised and served by a gas dispense, minimal expertise was needed in looking after it. Not so with real ale which is a living product and needs looking after.
CAMRA persuaded drinkers to insist on real ale, publicans to go back to stocking it and brewers to continue producing. Small brewers began to spring up, producing distinctive real ales aimed at discerning drinkers. Nationally there are nearly seven hundred such breweries who offer the customer a wider choice. Also it is the smaller brewers that innovate bringing back porters, stouts, golden ales, winter warmers and beers flavoured with exotic ingredients.
CAMRA also promotes traditional cider and perries (made from pears) with several producers in the county. Both these drinks are seeing a real resurgence and normally sell out festivals. A visit to Middle Farm, Ripe comes recommended!!
In our branch area there are four breweries Harveys in Lewes, Dark Star in Ansty, Kemptown in Brighton and Rectory based at Streat. In Sussex there are 21 breweries in total. The branch has over 1,000 members (nationally the total is over 97,000) with a thriving range of social activities at their regular meetings. The branch run the highly successful South Downs Beer and Cider Festival at Lewes every June, and along with the other four Sussex organise the Sussex Beer and Cider Festival at Hove in March. For more information go to www.brightoncamra.org.uk/ which also has links to the other branches in Sussex.
Also visit the main CAMRA website