Pub Hub

WhatPub	LocAle	Social Media	Awards & Good Beer Guide
Real Cider & Perry	Newsletter	General Support & Requests	Campaigns

CAMRA National Website

The CAMRA National website contains a section for powered by WhatPub which is a database set-up to identify all pubs in the UK that serve real ale. It includes full details of the pub or club including opening times, what real ales are available, does it sell food etc as well as other amenities. The information is updated by the local CAMRA branch based on the information available to it.  This section of the CAMRA website is also one of the ways members will submit beer scores to help us identify which pubs will be shortlisted for awards and entry into the Good Beer Guide. We also use the scores to help us identify pubs that may need more support from the branch. If you are a CAMRA member you can view the average beer score for any pub once logged in (including your own). If you would like more information or a chat about your score contact the Pubs Officer. The website is often used to check a venue before someone visits an area and also to pull together a trail of pubs for a future visit. It’s always a good idea to check that the entry for your pub is up-to-date and accurate so please help us by letting us know if anything needs changing. You can submit updates directly via WhatPub or by emailing whatpub@sthelens.camra.org.uk 

LocAle

CAMRA’s LocAle initiative promotes pubs stocking locally brewed real ale in order to reduce the number of ‘beer miles’ from brewery to pub cellar in response to growing consumer demand for quality local produce. It is also a great way of supporting the local economy.

Some of the benefits of stocking locally produced real ale in local pubs include:

• Pubs can attract more visitors through their doors, including those from outside the area seeking out distinctive local products.
• Consumers can enjoy greater beer choice and diversity.
• Local brewers are supported with increased sales, creating more local jobs.
• More money is generated and spent locally, increasing the resilience of the local economy.

Within our branch we define a local ale as one brewed within 30 mile radius of St Helens Town Hall. You can see a list of all the breweries we currently have listed as LocAle here: LocAle Breweries for St Helens & Districts CAMRA

If you want to know more about being accredited as a LocAle pub contact our Pubs Officer.

Social Media

We’re active on Facebook, Instagram, and X, keeping our members—and anyone else interested in the local real ale scene—up to date with what’s happening in our area. We’re more than happy to help promote anything you’re doing that supports real ale, so be sure to follow our pages and tag us (or send it our way) if there’s something you’d like us to share. We aim to respond promptly to messages across all platforms. We’re also lucky to have a team member with experience in national media and communications—so if you’re after tips on making the most of social media, feel free to drop our Media Officer a message via the ‘Contact us’ form. 

Awards & Good Beer Guide

CAMRA’s awards and the Good Beer Guide often catch the attention of local, regional, and even national press—so it’s well worth making sure your pub or club is in the running! One of the best ways to boost your chances is by encouraging CAMRA members who visit your venue to score the beer they drink using CAMRA’s National Beer Scoring System. The simplest way to do this is              through WhatPub—it’s quick, easy, and helps put your venue on the radar for future recognition.

For a bit more information see the links below:

• Branch Awards
• How it works (Awards & GBG process)

Real Cider & Perry

Did you know that in the UK by law cider only has to contain 35% apple juice. That means many mass produced ciders can have all kinds of things added to produce the final product. They can have a large part of their content (and alcohol) derived from diluted fermented sugar syrup. They then have other things added to make it smell and taste as it finally does. Imagine buying a bottle of wine to then find that the main ingredient is water and that only 35% of it was made from grape juice, which has itself been watered back down from juice concentrate. Chances are you’d be thinking it wouldn’t be a great wine (and it would also be illegal in the UK).

CAMRA defines real cider or perry as being fermented from the whole juice of fresh pressed apples or pears, without the use of concentrated or chaptalised juices. In other words where the alcohol level in a cider or perry is increased by the addition of sugar to an unnatural level for storage, before it is diluted with water to the desired alcohol content for sale. In order to be real, cider and perry should never be concentrated then diluted – either in terms of the juice used, or the alcohol content. 
Why not stock a real cider or perry and give people the choice? It’s easy to stock with a good shelf life. Check out this national CAMRA website page for more information and a list of producers/suppliers. Contact us as well if you would like more information

Newsletter to members

Our downloadable PDF newsletter is packed with all the latest real ale news and events from the across the branch. You can read it online, or you might spot a printed copy in some of our local pubs who kindly share it with their customers. We also email a link directly to members who’ve opted in for email updates. Got something to share? Or fancy writing an article? Get in touch with our Newsletter Editor via the Contact us form. 

 

General Support & Requests

If you would just like to know more about CAMRA, how we can support you, need printed CAMRA leaflets or posters etc, or would just like to get in touch, please contact our Pubs Officer who will be happy to help and come to meet with you if you would like. 

Campaigns

Information on all the active campaigns that CAMRA is running is available via the national website, this link takes you to the political campaigns CAMRA is running but there are others you can explore on the website that are promotional (e.g. Mild month, real cider etc) or focussed on specific non-political areas. As a branch we decide which campaigns we think will have the biggest impact in our area. Not everything we do in support of real ale, pubs, clubs, brewers, cider makers and consumers is visible to all. Some of it involves lobbying and/or working with individuals or other organisations behinds the scenes.