Fact Sheets

My CAMRA new members pack contained two A4 double sided fact sheets with information about beer. One of these is educational to new members and explains the brewing process and defines what 'Real Ale' is. It also concedes that 'Real Ale' is a marketing term devised solely by CAMRA - fair enough this is solid information, good stuff.
The other fact sheet asks the question "Is standard British lager real ale?". Hmmm now I would assume that if someone had gone to the trouble to become a CAMRA member, then they would be able to tell the difference between ale and lager. Apparently "lager is weak in flavour and usually overpriced". This is a pretty big claim to make given that lager can be defined as any beer that has been allowed to mature by ageing. Even expanding the definition to include only beers that have been fermented with a bottom fermenting yeast does not support this statement, this blog describes many flavoursome lagers. Product pricing is a direct reflection of what consumers are prepared to pay for a product - I guess people are willing to pay more for lager. Either that or they don't consider a crate of Carling for £6 in Tesco expensive. Of course cask conditioned lagers such as Cain's Lager, Harviestoun Schiehallion and Atlas Latitude are exceptions to the rule as they are produced by independent brewers and are served from a cask rather than a keg. Lagers from Europe are acceptable as well as they have honourable tradition abroad, even though the brands are owned and produced by the same megacorps who own and brew weak flavoured, overpriced beverages in Britain. The example of Budvar Dark is given as a form of acceptable lager, even though it is owned distributed and marketed by InBev Anheuser-Busch who also produce leading UK lager brands Stella Artois, Becks and Staropramen. Yes honourable tradition indeed!
I also find the following quote hard to swallow;
"British lagers are not given the lengthy conditioning necessary to bring out the flavour of the lager style, because it costs more money".
I have a few issues here. Firstly lagering for a length of time does not bring out the flavour of the lager style, it mellows the flavour and makes it smoother. Lagering does costs more money, but UK generic lager comprises a grist which is cut with adjuncts and bittered with hop extract. The beer is ready for drinking sooner as it has less flavour to mellow.
The rest of the fact sheet complains about the rise in lager sales and market share over the last two decades and why it is more expensive, giving the reason that more money is spent on advertising. This is true, but most lager drinkers have strong brand loyalty. The products may be more expensive in the pub, but in the off licence trade they are usually less than half the price of bottled ale. The chap who buys a crate of Carling for £6 in Tesco is the same one who is willing to remain loyal to his brand and pay £3.50 a pint in the pub. I'm sure if he could buy mass produced real ale such as Green King IPA for £6 a crate he would drink it down the pub in draught form.
The flip side of the fact sheet asks the question "How can you be sure you are buying real ale?"
The text describes a few ways to differentiate cask dispense from keg dispense, even though the definition of 'Real Ale' does not have a problem with kegs for packaging as such with the issue being more with dispense by extraneous gas. I'm not going to get caught up in the push vs pull argument and if or how it makes beer better or worse as that is stupid. Beer is not better or worse because of the way it is dispensed. Anyhow the point I object to is that the terms 'real beer' and 'real ale' are used interchangeably. Somehow if a beer is not by definition 'real ale', then it is not 'real beer'. We all know that this is simply not true.
The rest of the fact sheet is devoted to bottled ales, and how pasteurized bottles and canned beer are not 'real'. I think most consumers would buy a beer based upon brand rather than how it was carbonated prior or post filling the bottle. Some ales that are pasteurised such as bottled and canned Fuller's ESB are generally regarded as better than the cask conditioned versions of the same beer. I feel that the whole "CAMRA says this is real ale" RAIB branding is more to do with raising money for the campaign than based upon any fact.

My Verdict: The CAMRA fact sheets are a practical education tool for new members who may not spend their days reading about beer on the Internet. For the fact sheets to be useful they need get the facts correct first rather than perpetuate rumours with misguided information. For the record, I think the facts sheets are a good idea, they just need to be prepared in a non prejudiced manner.