Cheers! 1,000th real ale enthusiast joins East Lancashire CAMRA

1:00pm Thursday 13th October 2011 in Food news Photograph of the Author By Jonathon Dillon, Assistant news editor

I'M IN CAMRA member Steven Banks, right, receives his certificate and tankard from branch chairman John Webster I'M IN CAMRA member Steven Banks, right, receives his certificate and tankard from branch chairman John Webster

REAL ale is pulling in more punters in East Lancashire than ever before, according to campaigners.

John Webster, chairman of East Lancashire branch of CAMRA, said cask ale was undergoing a revival thanks to local breweries such as Thwaites in Blackburn, Moorhouses in Burnley and pub chains such as Wetherspoons.

The popularity of real ale has seen the organisation, which campaigns for consumers rights with respect to the beer and drinks industry, welcome its 1,000th member Steven Banks, from Trawden.

Beer enthusiasts raised a toast when they presented him with a certificate at the Bridge Bier Huis in Burnley to mark the milestone.

John said: "The big pub companies such as Punch or Enterprise have realised that real ale is their best bet to avoid bankruptcy. "It is now the biggest growth area in wet sales for both companies.

"But until our governments stop using the drinks industry as a cash cow and refrain from imposing above inflation tax rises and they accept that binge drinking is caused by supermarkets selling cans at below cost price, we will continue to lose over two pubs per day.

“I hope the government are finally going to do something about the unfair system operated by the PubCo’s whereby licensees are charged up to 45 per cent more for a guest beer than a Freehouse would have to pay.”

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He said more young people were turning their backs on lager in favour of real ale as it was available in town centre pubs.

He added: “Love them or hate them, Weatherspoons have changed the whole pub scene in our town centres.

“An increasing number of pubs now sell real ale. Only few years ago the majority of town centre pubs only sold lager or keg, now many have at least one handpump.

"There is a general trend among British people to reject mass produced food and drink.”

Comments (7)

1:37pm Thu 13 Oct 11

QuarryGang78 says...

How many more lifes will be ruined by alcohol?
How many more lifes will be ruined by alcohol? QuarryGang78

1:51pm Thu 13 Oct 11

Jerzei Balowski says...

QuarryGang78 wrote:
How many more lifes will be ruined by alcohol?
Yes, because someone drinking a pint of Wainwright is just as much of an alcoholic as someone drinking a litre of Tesco's Value Vodka. How many people do you know whose lives have been ruined by cask ale then ?
[quote][p][bold]QuarryGang78[/bold] wrote: How many more lifes will be ruined by alcohol?[/p][/quote]Yes, because someone drinking a pint of Wainwright is just as much of an alcoholic as someone drinking a litre of Tesco's Value Vodka. How many people do you know whose lives have been ruined by cask ale then ? Jerzei Balowski

2:28pm Thu 13 Oct 11

happycyclist says...

Hey John, instead of waxing lyrical about big pub companies and Wetherspoons, how about you start letting people know about a certain local brewer from Darwen? You know which one I'm on about because you and your committee members in Witch Ale all ignored my email, and your Rolf-Harris look-a-like helper in Darwen studiously ignores Fallons even though he knows full well that they've been stalwarts in keeping real ale alive in Darwen over the past 15 years.

You're doing Darwen a disservice and denying real ale drinkers in East Lancs the opportunity to sample Fallons Ales by never mentioning them in Witch Ale.

Can you tell us why the Park pub in Darwen is in the Good Beer Guide as selling Hopstar (Darwen's other brewery) when in actual fact they've never had Hopstar on there, have always had Fallons on, and you all know that because it wasn't that long ago since you had a CAMRA meeting at the Park.
Sort yourself out and stop being so petty.
Hey John, instead of waxing lyrical about big pub companies and Wetherspoons, how about you start letting people know about a certain local brewer from Darwen? You know which one I'm on about because you and your committee members in Witch Ale all ignored my email, and your Rolf-Harris look-a-like helper in Darwen studiously ignores Fallons even though he knows full well that they've been stalwarts in keeping real ale alive in Darwen over the past 15 years. You're doing Darwen a disservice and denying real ale drinkers in East Lancs the opportunity to sample Fallons Ales by never mentioning them in Witch Ale. Can you tell us why the Park pub in Darwen is in the Good Beer Guide as selling Hopstar (Darwen's other brewery) when in actual fact they've never had Hopstar on there, have always had Fallons on, and you all know that because it wasn't that long ago since you had a CAMRA meeting at the Park. Sort yourself out and stop being so petty. happycyclist

5:56pm Thu 13 Oct 11

treetrunk says...

QuarryGang78 wrote:
How many more lifes will be ruined by alcohol?
You donnt have to get drunk to enjoy a decent pint.Moorhouses brewery is a great success story for Burnley and a cracking pint.Burnley needs some more of the same.I think you are wrong to make such a sweeping statement about drinkers.Get back to your copy of the Guardian and forgive the working man a little treat
[quote][p][bold]QuarryGang78[/bold] wrote: How many more lifes will be ruined by alcohol?[/p][/quote]You donnt have to get drunk to enjoy a decent pint.Moorhouses brewery is a great success story for Burnley and a cracking pint.Burnley needs some more of the same.I think you are wrong to make such a sweeping statement about drinkers.Get back to your copy of the Guardian and forgive the working man a little treat treetrunk

9:50am Fri 14 Oct 11

Not_at_towneley says...

You don't have to be a non drinker to read the Guardian. That's a sweeping statement about Guardian readers. I read the Guardian and get proper muntered every weekend. Moorhouses do great beer and also Mick at the Ministry of Ale makes some ace brews.
You don't have to be a non drinker to read the Guardian. That's a sweeping statement about Guardian readers. I read the Guardian and get proper muntered every weekend. Moorhouses do great beer and also Mick at the Ministry of Ale makes some ace brews. Not_at_towneley

10:00am Fri 14 Oct 11

QuarryGang78 says...

treetrunk wrote:
QuarryGang78 wrote:
How many more lifes will be ruined by alcohol?
You donnt have to get drunk to enjoy a decent pint.Moorhouses brewery is a great success story for Burnley and a cracking pint.Burnley needs some more of the same.I think you are wrong to make such a sweeping statement about drinkers.Get back to your copy of the Guardian and forgive the working man a little treat
Whether it's Tesco's value vodka or Moorhouses finest,all alcohol ROTS your internal organs at a massive cost to all of us and the NHS.
Stop kidding yourself and everyone else that its ok to drink alcohol.It's a selfish drug in the same way Heroin is.People who promote alcohol peddle death.
[quote][p][bold]treetrunk[/bold] wrote: [quote][p][bold]QuarryGang78[/bold] wrote: How many more lifes will be ruined by alcohol?[/p][/quote]You donnt have to get drunk to enjoy a decent pint.Moorhouses brewery is a great success story for Burnley and a cracking pint.Burnley needs some more of the same.I think you are wrong to make such a sweeping statement about drinkers.Get back to your copy of the Guardian and forgive the working man a little treat[/p][/quote]Whether it's Tesco's value vodka or Moorhouses finest,all alcohol ROTS your internal organs at a massive cost to all of us and the NHS. Stop kidding yourself and everyone else that its ok to drink alcohol.It's a selfish drug in the same way Heroin is.People who promote alcohol peddle death. QuarryGang78

10:33am Fri 14 Oct 11

Not_at_towneley says...

QuarryGang78 wrote:
treetrunk wrote:
QuarryGang78 wrote:
How many more lifes will be ruined by alcohol?
You donnt have to get drunk to enjoy a decent pint.Moorhouses brewery is a great success story for Burnley and a cracking pint.Burnley needs some more of the same.I think you are wrong to make such a sweeping statement about drinkers.Get back to your copy of the Guardian and forgive the working man a little treat
Whether it's Tesco's value vodka or Moorhouses finest,all alcohol ROTS your internal organs at a massive cost to all of us and the NHS.
Stop kidding yourself and everyone else that its ok to drink alcohol.It's a selfish drug in the same way Heroin is.People who promote alcohol peddle death.
Sounds like you got a problem with alcohol. Point taken. Sure there's a lot of problem drinkers and there's a lot of drinkers with problems, you can't argue with that. I think however you're talking to the wrong crowd here...
[quote][p][bold]QuarryGang78[/bold] wrote: [quote][p][bold]treetrunk[/bold] wrote: [quote][p][bold]QuarryGang78[/bold] wrote: How many more lifes will be ruined by alcohol?[/p][/quote]You donnt have to get drunk to enjoy a decent pint.Moorhouses brewery is a great success story for Burnley and a cracking pint.Burnley needs some more of the same.I think you are wrong to make such a sweeping statement about drinkers.Get back to your copy of the Guardian and forgive the working man a little treat[/p][/quote]Whether it's Tesco's value vodka or Moorhouses finest,all alcohol ROTS your internal organs at a massive cost to all of us and the NHS. Stop kidding yourself and everyone else that its ok to drink alcohol.It's a selfish drug in the same way Heroin is.People who promote alcohol peddle death.[/p][/quote]Sounds like you got a problem with alcohol. Point taken. Sure there's a lot of problem drinkers and there's a lot of drinkers with problems, you can't argue with that. I think however you're talking to the wrong crowd here... Not_at_towneley

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