Campaign for Real Ale Campaign for Real Ale The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, real cider and the traditional British pub. With over 191,000 members, it is now the largest single-issue consumer group in the UK, and is a founding member of the European Beer Consumers Union (EBCU). The organisation was founded in 1971 in Kruger's bar in Dunquin, Kerry, Ireland by Michael Hardman, Graham Lees, Jim Makin, and Bill Mellor, who were opposed to the growing mass production of beer and the homogenisation of the British brewing industry.
Campaign for Real Ale real ale can only be served without the use of additional carbonation. This policy means that "any beer brand which is produced in both cask and keg versions" is not admitted to CAMRA festivals if the brewery's marketing is deemed to imply an equivalence of quality or character between the two versions. In 2009, CAMRA announced that it had reached the 100,000 members mark and subsequently went on to pass the 150,000 members mark in 2013. Member benefits include a monthly newspaper, "What's Brewing" and a quarterly "BEER" magazine, and free or reduced price admission to CAMRA-organised beer festivals. In