Camra founder Michael Hardman granted MBE

Jan 2 2009 by Alastair Gilmour, The Journal

BOW down, curtsey, genuflect and make obeisance. The man who popularised the term “real ale” has been recognised with the highest of commendations.

Michael Hardman has been made MBE for services to the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) and the brewing industry, marking the best part of 37 years of dedication.

It was in March 1971 that he and three fellow beer enthusiasts – Bill Mellor, Graham Lees and Jim Makin – took the first steps in founding Britain’s long-serving and most successful consumer organisation when they met up in Chester before heading off to Ireland “for a seven-day boozing holiday”.

In the early 1970s, big brewers were pushing traditional beer to the edge of extinction by concentrating on bland, processed keg products. Consumer choice was diminishing in the mistaken belief that our national drink could be served without character and with a universal flavour profile that would satisfy every drinker from Brighton to Ballykissangel.

As the quartet traipsed from pub to pub, they developed a consensus of opinion about the poor quality of much of the beer they were offered. Despite developing a taste for Guinness in Dublin, they found native Irish beers to be no better than those at home and the murmurings of a campaign for improved beer began.

“Campaign For... something... Ale,” announced Hardman as they struggled to take photographs in the Guinness St James’s Gate Brewery yard. “Restoration of Ale,” suggested Mellor. “Revitalisation of Ale,” insisted Lees, “it’s more of a laugh.”

Hardman says: “We were playing at secret societies. The idea stuck, however, and on the evening of March 16, 1971, we held the first meeting of our new brotherhood – with no inkling of the far-reaching effects that our actions would one day have on the pattern of drinking and brewing throughout Britain.”

But it wasn’t until 1973 that the organisation formally adopted Real Ale in its title to describe Britain’s unique, living beers.

Another significant early cask beer voice was Chris Hutt who was writing a book called The Death of the English Pub. He had a dramatic impact on what Hardman admits was “a jokey little drinking club... we knew little about beer”. Together they created What’s Brewing, now a monthly newspaper distributed to 90,000-plus Camra members, and the Good Beer Guide, the annual bestseller – now 896 pages thick – that lists pubs serving real ale, along with breweries and their products. (In the first, typewritten guide a pub that served after-hours drinks was indicated by a code – two full stops at the end of the listing.)

After virtually abandoning the traditional product for keg ales, the big brewers quietly reversed their strategy. Charrington brought out an India Pale Ale, Courage produced Best and Directors Bitter, and Watney’s responded with Stag and Tap, quite simply through Harman and co’s consumer revolt channeling the gut reaction of thousands of drinkers through Camra.

They were not the only ones to raise concerns, though. The Guardian columnist Richard Boston had been complaining about the proliferation of keg beer for years. But, as he wrote in his 1976 book Beer And Skittles, “what was needed was some kind of organised body, and this was provided with skill and some panache by Camra.

“I think that three years ago the most anyone hoped for was that our protests and derision might, if ever so slightly, slow down what the big brewers were doing to beer and pubs. Within two years it was apparent not only that this was happening but also that the brewers were actually changing tack and reversing previous policies.”

Boston had his critical moments too, adding: “It (Camra) has often been too doctrinaire and at times shown signs of confusing beer with religion.”

The propaganda offensive against keg beers effectively destroyed the credibility of brands which had been built by massive ad campaigns, most notably Watney’s Red Barrel. Grand Met, which owned it, had gone so far as to extend the branding to its pubs, which all had a little red barrel hanging outside. That was eventually withdrawn along with the beer itself.

Michael Hardman trained as a journalist in regional newspapers in his native Warrington then in Scunthorpe, Blackpool and Blackburn before moving to Fleet Street and BBC radio, mainly in Parliament. He helped to found the British Guild of Beer Writers; has been Beer Writer of the Year for his work with the Daily Mirror; is a judge at national and regional beer competitions, and is the author of the book Beer Naturally. He worked with Young’s Brewery in London and its charismatic chairman John Young for 27 years, and expertly handled regular royal visits. Until recently he was media relations manager for the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) and he now runs a communications and publications consultancy in Reigate, Surrey.

As in its earliest days, Camra’s strength lies in its grassroots membership, the people who nominate entries for the Good Beer Guide and those who monitor pubs and breweries for quality. Whatever you think of the results (they do have their faults), you have to admit that they’re a dedicated lot. In Michael Hardman, though, they have a big man to thank.

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