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Welcome to Cheltenham CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale. We are a voluntary organisation campaigning for real ale, community pubs and consumer rights.The Cheltenham Branch has around 1,000 members in the GL50, GL51, GL52 and GL53 postcode areas.

Next 5 Diary Events
26th September, 2018 - Ale Amble - September
27th September to 28th September, 2018 - Visit to the Great Welsh Beer Festival
2nd October, 2018 - Branch Business Meeting - October
11th October, 2018 - Branch Social - October
13th October, 2018 - National Cider & Perry Trip
Full Branch Diary

Good Beer Guide 2019

29 Aug 2018 Rob Coldwell

The 2019 edition of The Good Beer Guide was published on 13th September.

As usual, the branch has obtained a stock of the Good Beer Guides for sale to members at a reduced rate. The price to members is £10 as opposed to the cover price of £15.99. You must be a member of Cheltenham branch to obtain copies from us.

If you are interested in obtaining a copy and being one of the first people to know which of the town’s pubs have made the guide this year, please contact us secretary{AT}cheltenhamcamra.org.uk and we will reserve a copy for you.

Update – Following the launch event, we only have a few copies left for sale at the member’s price.  First come first served.

 

Have your say and choose your Champion Beer of Britain

24 Aug 2018 Rob Coldwell

The first round is regionalised and all south-west CAMRA members (based on your registered address) have the chance to nominate beers from our region via the CBoB voting website. This means that beers from all parts of the country have an equal chance to be nominated. The voting period opens on 1st September, and CAMRA would like as many members as possible submitting their votes for their favourite local beers.

You can nominate up to 5 beers in each of the 11 categories to be put forward for the CBoB competition, but if you only want to nominate beers in one category, or even just one beer, that’s fine. The more votes we get, the better the results will be. You do not have to nominate all the beers in one go. You can alter your selections anytime up to the deadline at midnight on 1st November.

Not all beers are eligible for CBoB; mainstream beer styles like Bitters, Best Bitters, Strong Bitters & Golden Ales have to be available for at least 7 months of the year. Other beer styles have to be available for a lesser period depending on the rarity and seasonality of the beer style. CAMRA is currently carrying out a complete root and branch revision of our beer styles, but the current styles will be used this and next year.

How to Vote

Any CAMRA member can login into the CBOB website using their member login details. If you have forgotten these details you can reset your password by either contacting the Membership Services team by emailing membership@camra.org.uk or calling 01727 798 8440. Having logged in you will be able to access information about the nomination schedule.

The CBoB voting system gives every CAMRA member the opportunity to have a say in who wins and becomes CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Britain, don’t moan about which beers get judged at GBBF, get involved and vote for your favourites.

If you have any technical problems entering your selection, or with the website, please contact support@cbobvoting.org.uk for help. For any general non-technical issues please contact marketing@camra.org.uk.

This year the nomination period runs from Saturday, 1st September 2018 to midnight on Thursday, 1st November 2018. Thanks for taking part.

URGENT UPDATE – DUE TO SECURITY UPGRADES THE CBOB VOTING SECTION ON THE CAMRA WEBSITE IS CURRENTLY OFFLINE.

 

South West Pub-of-the-Year

19 Aug 2018 Ian Scott

Gloucestershire pub is the SW POTY.

Once again, a Gloucestershire pub has come top in the voting in the 2018 South West CAMRA pub-of-the-year competition. Congratulations to Rod, Karen and the team at the The Fleece at Hillesley. Now in the final 16 for the whole of the UK, the competition gets even tougher. An amazing pub, in the heart of the country; well worth a visit if you have not been there before. A warm welcome awaits as well as a great choice of ales and ciders.

Photo courtesy of North Cotswold CAMRA taken during the judging tour.

Woolpack Wins!

24 May 2018 Ian Scott


Congratulations to Cotswold Lion Brewery whose new beer “Woolpack” was judged as beer of the festival at the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railways Spring Ale & Steam Festival. The 4% ABV brew is described as a light golden summer ale.

Changes to What’s Brewing and Beer distribution

2 May 2018 Rob Coldwell

All members should have received an email from HQ advising of the following but in case you haven’t here is some important news.

Starting with the June edition, HQ will no longer assume that you want to receive a printed copy of What’s Brewing and BEER magazine by post. You will therefore need to let them know if you would like to continue to receive printed copies of the publications either by contacting them online, over the phone, by email or post – see below for details.

CAMRA are asking members to “opt-in” to the printed service because it currently sends out more than 100,000 publications a month by post to members. This costs the Campaign a large amount of money, which could be used to fund other activities. It also has a significant environmental cost. Our research suggests a large proportion of the copies we print and post, and therefore the money we spend, is being wasted on unwanted and unread publications.

If you are happy to not receive a printed copy of What’s Brewing and BEER, you can still stay up-to-date with all of the latest news at wb.camra.org.uk. Here, you will find digital versions of What’s Brewing and BEER along with regular updates in between issues.

Click here to visit the What’s Brewing website!

If you have already opted out of getting these publications by post or are happy to switch to online today you don’t need to do anything further at this stage.

If you still wish to receive a printed copy of What’s Brewing and BEER you will still be able to do so, but you will need to get in touch. You can contact CAMRA:

  • Online – log into the Members’ Section at www.camra.org.uk with your membership number and password. Click “edit my membership information” then “amend my details” and under the “preferences” tab you can switch WB and/or BEER back to “by post”.
  • By phone – call 0330 058 3130 and follow the automated instructions to change your WB/BEER preference.
  • By email – send an email to membership@camra.org.uk with the subject “BEER/WB Preferences” and indicate if you still want to receive BEER, WB, or both, by post.
  • Write – send your membership number and preference for receiving WB, BEER or both by post to: Membership Contact Preferences, 230 Hatfield Road, St Albans Herts, Al1 4LW.

Notice of Special General Meeting

12 Apr 2018 Ian Scott

The May business meeting takes place in Cheltenham’s newest pub, The Old Courthouse, Regent Street, on Tuesday 8th May. The meeting will start with a Special General Meeting with the purpose of amending the Branch Constitution to change the date for the end of the Financial Year.

The meeting will start promptly at 8pm. All branch members are welcome. Please bring your CAMRA membership card to vote on any resolution presented.