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CAMRA Revamps Accreditation Scheme to Include More Great Beers

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) relaunches its ‘Real Ale in a Bottle’ accreditation scheme, with a new name and a bold new look.

One to Try will help consumers discover the very best beers available in bottles and cans, an invaluable tool in the fast-growing bottle and canned beer market, which has been fuelled in part by brewer’s need to adapt during the pandemic.

The One to Try accreditation will take a fresh approach to supporting and promoting brewers and their products, while helping consumers explore everything that “live” beer has to offer with confidence.

“Live” beer is any beer that adheres to the principle of continuing to condition in a final container to improve the flavour and character of the beer.

CAMRA will work directly with brewers to accredit their beers through a self-certification process, with no costs involved. Any brewer of live beer is invited to sign up to the One to Try scheme, from innovative start-ups to familiar favourites.

A range of exciting new resources to help consumers learn more about live beers will also be made available, including a directory of accredited beers, and videos and articles to dive deeper into beer styles, brewing processes, bottles and canning.

Commenting on the launch, Gillian Hough, CAMRA’s Real Ale, Cider and Perry Campaigns Director said:

“Live beer in all its formats is a varied and delightful product. One to Try aims to make exploring live beer styles in bottles or cans easier for everyone.

“When CAMRA was founded, there were only five real ales available in so-called ‘small pack,’ but bottle and can conditioned beers have come a long way since then. Today, there are hundreds of bottled and canned live beers for consumers to enjoy and we want to support and celebrate the brewers who make them.

“Look out for the One to Try logo, enjoy these fresh, living products, and find some new favourites while supporting UK breweries!”

Moor Beer, the first brewery to have a can conditioned beer accredited under Real Ale in a Bottle scheme, is just one of the many breweries who have already moved their accreditation to One to Try ahead of its public launch.

Justin Hawke, owner and head brewer at Moor Beer, said: “I’ve been a CAMRA member and volunteer for 25 years and moved to Britain for my love of real ale and pubs. Everything we brew is 100% naturally conditioned, and it is still one of my personal and professional life achievements to have been the first to be accredited for brewing real ale in a can. It’s a real point of difference achieved through an incredible amount of extra cost and work, but we firmly believe that you taste the difference with our Live Beer.”

More information, including details of how brewers can join the scheme, can be found at www.camra.org.uk/ott