Welcome to your Bolton CAMRA Branch Update
May Branch Meeting
The next branch meeting will be held on Thursday 2 May 2024 at Bolton Ukrainian Social Club, 99 Castle Street, Bolton BL2 1JP. The evening will start with the presentation to the club of the Club of the Year Award at 7.30pm and the meeting will follow at 8.00pm.
Handpump Hijack
For generations, a handpump on the bar has been a sign of quality cask ale. Where cask is well kept, consumers can be sure of a spotless cellar, well-trained bar staff and a commitment to offering the best of UK brewing.
Now, Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company – one of the world’s largest brewery conglomerates – has resorted to misleading consumers by hijacking the handpump to serve its “Fresh Ale” product. CMBC says this is “preserving the beloved hand pull ritual that delivers the traditional theatre of serve that ale is famed for”.
What is ‘Fresh Ale’?
One of the factors that makes cask unique is that it doesn’t leave the brewery as a finished product. Instead, the conditioning that completes the brewing process is done at the pub, and relies on the skills, timing and experience of the staff and licensee.
On the other hand, most beers, including lagers, some kegged beers, and ‘Fresh Ale’ are ready to drink when they leave the brewery. These beers have a longer shelf life, and can be easier to serve, usually through a keg tap.
Brewers often make both these types of beer, and CAMRA believes they should market them accordingly, so consumers know what they’re getting. ‘Fresh Ale’ is not a cask beer, and hijacking a handpump to sell it as if it were is unfair and misleading to pub-goers.
So far, CMBC has three beers in their ‘Fresh Ale’ range. They are Wainwright Gold, Wainwright Amber and Hobgoblin IPA. At least one other brewer has launched a ‘Fresh Ale’ product designed to look like a cask beer at the bar.
CAMRA believes consumers deserve better than CMBC play acting at serving cask – a product they claim to champion while closing breweries and removing cask lines from bars. Our handpump hijack campaign calls on brewers to be proud of all their whole range of beers by serving them in a way that won’t mislead their customers. CAMRA has written to National Trading Standards and Trading Standards Scotland asking for an investigation into the products, and whether the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations have been breached. It’s hoped that Trading Standards bodies across Great Britain will take coordinated national action to address this misleading practice.
You can help by:
- Letting us know if you come across ‘Fresh Ale’ in your local. You can do this by using the ‘Send an email to the CAMRA branch’ button at the bottom of the relevant WhatPub venue page to alert your local branch.
- Send us photos of ‘Fresh Ale’ pump clips. We need to find examples! Email or tag us on social media.
- If in doubt, Ask if it’s Cask. We need consumers to make licensees aware of the issue of misleading dispense and explain why you won’t be buying it.
For more information go to CAMRA’s Handpump Hijack page.
Local Elections
Elections to Bolton Council take place next Thursday 2 May and candidates from a number of parties will be seeking your vote. The Council is responsible for planning and licensing and therefore even individual councillors can have an influence on decisions which affect Bolton’s hospitality industry. If candidates come knocking on your door, why not take the opportunity to ask them what they would do, if elected, to protect Bolton’s pubs and clubs and encourage a thriving hospitality sector in the borough.
Clubs
There are currently around 50 clubs of various kinds listed on WhatPub in the branch area, from sports and social clubs to political clubs and others. Unfortunately the information we have on many of these clubs is quite sparse. In particular, we want to know whether these clubs serve real ale and whether they are happy to welcome CAMRA members in to drink it. We have over 700 members in the branch and I’m sure some of you drink in these clubs. You may even drink in a club that isn’t listed at all. If you do, please go on to WhatPub and update the information. Even better, please score the beers and give your local club a chance of being selected as our branch Club of the Year next time.
Wherever you enjoy a tipple, keep on supporting quality beers, particularly those produced by our local breweries and keep an eye out for those Fresh Ale pumps!
Cheers
John Mitchell
Chair
Branch: Bolton