Category: News

The CAMRA 2018 national AGM & Conference and Members’ Weekend took place at the University of Warwick over the weekend of 20-22 April – at the time of writing this was still a couple of weeks away. A theme that dominates the conference this year is the Revitalisation Project which is designed to update CAMRA’s article of association, policies and objectives of an organisation that is over 40 years old to better reflect the modern world and re-enthuse the membership to get involved. The changes proposed aren’t too dramatic – CAMRA will still be a member-led consumer campaign organisation representing pub goers and promoting the availability of real ale, real cider and real perry. However, with a lot of campaigning these days being more about protecting pubs than saving real ale CAMRA wishes to be seen to represent all pub-goers. It also recognises that pubs are not the only on-trade premises for drinking good beer – for example, as well as clubs there has been a growth in specialist beer shops with tasting counters and brewery tap rooms. Another change over the years is we no longer have a situation of “real ale is good, all other beer is bad”, with the craft revolution there is so much more in-between with some of the better keg beers basically being real ale but with a higher level of carbonation (of course, not forgetting some craft beer in key keg actually is by definition real ale!). Whilst CAMRA will still be about keeping the real ale tradition alive, it will recognise that what else is out there these days isn’t all terrible! There are also indications that many CAMRA members want the organisation to offer something of an educational angle, an opportunity to learn more about beer – what is good and bad beer, the different styles available, what flavours to expect, how it is brewed, etc. – basically to enjoy and experience beer with like-minded individuals and understand more about the beers on a bar. You can read more about what was being proposed nationally at revitalisation.camra.org.uk and the results of the debates and voting at the Members’ Weekend are likely to become available very soon. Here in Sheffield & District branch we expect to be using inspiration from the Revitalisation project to make some subtle changes that we hope will see more people coming to meetings, attending socials, helping on the committee and generally getting involved. We will be planning a varied social programme for the year ahead and hopefully branch meetings will see some of the less interesting business side of things trimmed off and left for the committee to deal with at their separate meeting and the time used instead to do things like beer tastings and hearing from guest speakers. If you are a local member please get in touch to let us know what you’d like to see us doing as a branch. What actually is real ale? In the early 1970s CAMRA coined the term “real ale” for traditional draught cask beers to distinguish them from processed and highly carbonated beers being promoted by big brewers. CAMRA defines real ale as beer that is produced and stored in the traditional way and ferments in the dispense container to produce a reduction in gravity. It is also dispensed by a system that does not apply any gas or gas mixture to the beer other than by the traditional Scottish air pressure system. You can read more about this at camra.org.uk/about-real-ale. Andy Cullen

One of the motions passed during the recent Annual General Meeting instructed the new committee to review the format of our monthly branch meetings. These are the meetings that take place on the first Tuesday of each month in a different pub around Sheffield, and to which all branch members are invited. However, current attendance levels have led to the conclusion that a change in format might be needed to attract more members to come along. Prior to the meeting, then-chairman Mick Saxton sent an email to all branch members asking for opinions on this subject. We have received some really useful feedback, so thank you to everyone who responded to the email or contributed to the discussion at the AGM – all your ideas are greatly appreciated. Suggestions included combining branch meetings with other events such as meet the brewer evenings, beer tastings or brewery visits; restructuring the format of the meetings so that more emphasis is on local pub and brewery news rather than administrative matters; and ensuring that the venues are varied and accessible. The new committee will take all these ideas forward into future committee meetings but we are always open to ideas to encourage more members to get actively involved. If you have any suggestions, please get in touch with any committee member (details can be found at the back of Beer Matters or on our website) or come along to the next branch meeting (please see the branch diary for venues and times). We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Sheffield & District CAMRA’s Annual General Meeting for 2018 took place on 3 April at Shakespeares on Gibraltar Street. Around 20 members were in attendance, despite resurfacing works on West Bar roundabout making it a little trickier than usual to get to the pub (not to mention causing several disruptions during the meeting!). Following the customary apologies for absence, declarations of interest, appointment of tellers and confirmation of the minutes from last year’s AGM, departing chairman Mick Saxton gave a report of the branch business from the past twelve months. This started by singing the praises of last year’s Steel City Beer & Cider Festival, which saw more than 6,000 visitors over the four days and attracted a record number of new campaign members joining at the membership stall. Next up was recognition of the huge success of the recent Sheffield’s Real Heritage Pubs e-book, which at the time of writing has been downloaded more than 58,000 times. Its success has paved the way for other CAMRA pub heritage books to be released in the same format, with editor Dave Pickersgill leading a national task group on this front. An updated edition of the book is currently being prepared and is set to be released at this year’s Steel City Festival. Mick also mentioned the improvements made to Beer Matters magazine in the last twelve months, with a move to a new local printer bringing with it enhanced paper quality and more reliable deliveries. Demand for the magazine is increasing across the city, with more pubs than ever now receiving copies every month. In June 2017, we undertook our annual Beer Census, visiting as many pubs as possible on one day in order to get a snapshot of the range of real ales available around Sheffield. Although we were not able to make it to quite as many pubs as in previous years due to a decrease in surveyors, we did still visit 136 pubs and found 590 handpumps with 360 unique real ales. The average cost of a pint was £3.12 and the most popular ale was Abbeydale’s Moonshine. After the chairman’s report came an update on branch finances from treasurer Paul Crofts. The balance sheets showed that the festival had made a good surplus, which was enough to cover other branch expenses. We were also able to send funds back to the central CAMRA campaign office. The accounts will be audited externally before being approved. The next action was to appoint the branch committee for 2018/19. With a number of committee members leaving their roles, some restructuring will take place with existing members taking on new responsibilities. More details will be given following the next committee meeting at the end of April. The departing committee members were thanked for their efforts over the last year. After a short beer break, it was time to announce the results of the Pub of the Year, District Pub of the Year, Club of the Year and Cider Pub of the Year awards. The winners were the Kelham Island Tavern, the Red Lion at Litton, Interval Bar at the University of Sheffield Students’ Union and the Clubhouse on London Road respectively. Congratulations were extended to all the winners and runners-up. The last point on the agenda for the evening was to vote on a number of motions for debate. Firstly, an updated branch constitution in line with the CAMRA model constitution (submitted by Dave Pickersgill) was accepted by the members present by a 17-3 vote. Next was a motion moving that the rules for the Pub of the Month competition be updated so that a pub which is no longer eligible can be removed from the running without the consent of the nominator. Again, this motion was passed (15 votes in favour, 0 against). The final two motions instructed the new committee to investigate two issues. The first involved looking at possible changes to the format of the Pub of the Year competition to give pubs outside the more popular parts of the city an equal chance of winning. The second instructed the committee to review the format of branch meetings. These motions were both passed unanimously. We would like to say thank you to all members who attended the AGM. More details about the new committee for 2018/19 will be included in next month’s Beer Matters. Dominic Nelson

A number of Sheffield’s brewers were among the winners in the Champion Beer of Yorkshire awards which took place during the recent Baas, Bands and Beers festival at Magna in Rotherham. To mark the 25^th anniversary of the Rotherham CAMRA festival, each of the previous Gold medal winners was invited back and entered into the blind taste test. Abbeydale’s well-known Moonshine, invited back as the overall winner from 2012, won Gold in the Best Bitter category and was awarded Silver in the overall Champion of Champions competition. The Gold award was taken by Rotherham brewery Chantry, with their Two Magpies porter. Fuggle Bunny Brew House, based at Halfway, picked up two awards, with their Chapter 4 – 24 Carrot taking Gold in the Golden Ale category, while Chapter 8 – Jammy Dodger came second in Best Bitter. Meanwhile, Bradfield took Gold in the Stout category with Farmers Stout, which has been a longstanding feature in their core range. Finally, the top prize in the Speciality category was won by relative newcomers Little Critters, with their chocolate and hazelnut milk stout Nutty Ambassador (also a recent entry in my Casks of the Month column!). Congratulations to all the winners on their success. Dominic Nelson