Brief report from the National CAMRA Members Weekend & AGM

A few of us from Sheffield & District branch spent the weekend in Nottingham for the national CAMRA Members Weekend. As well as enjoying some good beer and wonderful pubs and bars with CAMRA members from across the UK, we also attended the AGM conference. A good proportion of this is spent debating and voting on motions, which is how the campaign’s policy and direction is formed. There were very few motions this year that split the membership or caused excitement, however a few things did come out of it: – a new point of sale labelling scheme is to be developed to help drinkers recognise beer that is real ale but not served from a handpump (for example bottle conditioned beers and naturally carbonated key keg beers) – Branches will be offered more assistance in campaigning against local authorities imposing late night levies – CAMRA will continue to recognise cider as ‘real’ with added flavourings such as fruits, herbs and vegetables as long as they are natural, fresh additives and the cider is still 90% fermented fresh apple juice. The success of the cider motion did however dismay a lot of the more passionate cider campaigners so this position may well change again next year!