Editorale

Wow, what a summer we’ve had! It seemed that every weekend saw a beer festival in progress; demonstrating that real ale is well and truly in demand; and that we could really do with more days in the weekend to visit all these events! Congratulations must go to the Tiny Rebel Brewery in Newport who brewed the Champion Beer of Britain, Cwtch, which was announced in August at CAMRA’s Great British Beer Festival.  Let’s continue to support our pubs and clubs over the coming darker months; and remember that pubs aren’t just places to visit when the sun comes out.

Good news for cider drinkers; in our Summer edition we reported that the EU demanded that the UK government remove the tax exemption in place for small cider makers; making production uneconomical for many producers and force them into closure. CAMRA began a campaign to support small cider makers; and a petition quickly grew in size to over 26,000 signatures which was presented to Downing Street in June. During the July budget announcements; Chancellor George Osborne pledged to keep the tax exemption in place, thereby protecting the British tradition of cider making.  

We’ve dedicated the centre-fold of this season’s edition to celebrate the Ruby Anniversary of the Redditch & Bromsgrove Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale. The branch was formed in 1975, and has since grown with the help of over a thousand members alongside pub licensees and the general public supporting their beer festivals, events and campaigns. And there’s always time to join in over the next forty years!

Even if you’re not a CAMRA member; you can do your bit for your local pub by getting it listed as an Asset of Community Value. This offers pubs an extra level of protection against developers wishing to convert pubs into shops or other uses; and requires them to seek planning permission before any alteration work takes place. More importantly, it also halts any plans to convert the pub for six months; allowing the local community a chance to put in a bid to save it. CAMRA has dedicated a large part of its campaigning team to support people who would like to get their pub listed; for more information please contact your local CAMRA branch.

Thanks for reading; hope you enjoy the magazine!