Nottingham’s Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA) has become the first in the country to reach 5,000 members.
With over 1,000 more members than the next largest branch in Cambridgeshire, the Nottingham CAMRA branch has risen to become highly regarded over the last few years.
The Campaign for Real Ale is an independent organisation with the aim of promoting real ale and cider and the traditional British pub.
With annual beer festivals such as the Robin Hood Beer and Cider Festival at Nottingham Castle putting the city on the map for beer drinkers, city centre pubs are now increasing the range of beers they have on offer.
CAMRA will be holding its annual Members Weekend and AGM in Nottingham this April which will see nearly 2,000 members attend, something Nottingham members hope will be great news for local pubs, restaurant and hotels.
Many city pubs are already contemplating putting on events such as small beer festivals to welcome the visiting beer enthusiasts.
To measure the range of beers Nottingham city pubs offer, the local CAMRA branch carries out an annual beer and cider census.
Census Results
- This year the amount of beers on sale in the 133 pubs visited had increased by 87 compared to last year’s results.
- A total of 334 different beers were on sale at the surveyed pubs, more than 20% higher than last year’s figure.
- Of the 334 beers, 110 of them were ‘LocAle’- a beer brewed within 20 miles of the pub selling it.
- Of the pubs surveyed, 100 of them had at least one ‘LocAle’ on sale.
Despite the good results found in the census, the average price of beer does continue to rise at a faster rate than inflation with pints now costing £2.98.
CAMRA, which now has a worldwide membership of over 168,000, said the Nottingham census results are great news however and they demonstrate that drinkers are now demanding quality, choice and diversity and that the pub landlords are responding to this.