Yorkshire brewers accuse CAMRA of 'undermining' real ale beers and pubs

However CAMRA is now accused of undermining the very ales it was established to champion.

A total of 110 independent brewers - including some who have won CAMRA awards for their beer - have come together to pen an open letter to the CAMRA, accusing it pushing drinkers into large corporate chains and imperilling small breweries and pubs.

The source of the brewers disquiet is CAMRA’s use of vouchers for its members which allow them to claim discounted pints of ale.

All CAMRA members are sent sixty vouchers a year for use at a selection of large bar chains with each voucher offering 50p off the price of a pint of real ale, cider or perry.

One extract of the letter, seen by The Yorkshire Post, reads: “It is dangerously inconsistent for CAMRA to promote real ale as the pinnacle of the brewer’s art while simultaneously making it the cheapest beer on the bar.

“The policy also undermines CAMRA’s public image, as it promotes that which it was established to overhaul: a limited range of beers from large breweries, served-up cheaply by pub chains.”

Another reads: “CAMRA will win more support from the wider brewing and pub industries when it stops driving people to chain pubs for cheap beer, and when it instead respects real ale, respect the pubs that showcase it, and respects the brewers who produce it.”

The anger has deepened in recent days after the Scarborough Branch of CAMRA proposed a motion on this issue for the forthcoming AGM in York, only for CAMRA to reject it from the order paper.

An appeal has been lodged, but will not be heard until the night before the AGM.

Scarborough Branch member Phil Saltonstall, who owns Brass Castle Brewery in Malton and who proposed the motion, said: “As a CAMRA member who firmly believes in real ale and its position as the most interesting and characterful way of showcasing beer, I’ve always been offended every time I am sent discount vouchers with my membership renewal.

“The discount vouchers run counter to my desire to support high-quality real ale and I am particularly worried that they drive members away from the very pubs that need their support.

“I love real ale and these discount vouchers cheapen it.”

CAMRA said that any impact the voucher scheme would have on the beer market is “vanishingly small”.

Its chief executive Tom Stainer said: “At the present time we’re confident that the schemes encourage people to drink real ale in good pubs and give our members a thank you for their support.

"Both schemes only involve a discount on the price of a pint, at whatever price a pub chooses to set, rather than promoting cheap beer.

“CAMRA’s National Executive intends to hold a policy discussion group on the wider issue of pricing of real ale at our forthcoming Members’ Weekend in York in April.”