CAMRA: the next generation

As CAMRA's Revitalisation Project finally grinds towards its conclusion I must confess I find it hard to generate much interest in the whole thing. Fortunately my favourite nephew Tom is full of youthful enthusiasm and has been paying close attention so I was able to get the low down from him.

Awesome Lamborghinis #LOL

He has long been a craft beer enthusiast and was delighted to see Brewdog burst onto the beer scene. "Real ale had become stuck in a rut" he said. "The innovation of the craft beer scene has made this a far more exciting time to be a beer drinker than when bitter or mild were the only beers you'd find. It's high time CAMRA acknowledged this and accepted that modern craft beers are quality drinks, whatever their dispense methods".

He does however, still think Real Ale is something worth defending and has no problem with it being seen as the pinnacle of the brewer's art. "Strong beers with high hop rates can hide a lot of faults that would be obvious in weaker, more balanced beers. Similarly it's been said that with pilsners there's nowhere to hide, but making a lightly flavoured lager that's filtered, pumped full of extraneous CO2 and served at close to freezing temperature is more a technical challenge than anything else. Making a cask ale at less than 4% ABV that's packed full of flavour and gets better with each pint shows real art."

So it's a thumbs up for the revitalisation proposals from Tom and I'd like to thank him for his considered insight into it.