They included the Jolly Butchers, and a part of their description caught my eye. They wrote:
2010's thoroughly modern spruce-up has seen the Jolly Butchers reborn as one of north London's premier "craft beer" spots, becoming something of a flagbearer for a post-Camra generation of drinkersI haven't seen a bar described as 'post-Camra' before. Are these new freehouses and small chains 'post-Camra'? It seems to me they attract a mixed clientele, though perhaps a predominantly younger generation of drinkers. Drinkers who like beer but aren't connected to 'tradition' or the battle for cask. Good beer is good beer, regardless of dispense, keg fonts sharing top billing with the beer engines.
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I think the crux is that (many of) the younger generation of beer enthusiasts and (some of) the old school CAMRA types may have a rather different view of what constitutes good beer. That said, most of the "craft beer spots", such as the Jolly Butchers, do get into the Good Beer Guide, provided they sell some cask beer of course.
Hmmm. I know what they are getting at, but methinks they are being a little too clever. With CAMRA looming larger then ever, it seems odd to use the term "post" in its normal sense in relation to them.
And, as Chriso points out, places such as the JB do get into the GBG. So it's not even as if it's some new type of pub that CAMRA ignores.
Yes, it struck me that The Evening Star (which is beloved of its local branch) would to me be similar to the likes of the JB in terms of offer, yet is desctibed in part as "thankfully free of... real ale snobbery...".
I note that Cask won their local branch POTY award in London. Camra can't really ignore good pubs in their area because they sell keg as well as cask, can they? I suppose that would be up to branches...
It's probably fair to say that, in these "new wave" establishments, much of the enthusiasm for drinking there hasn't been channelled through CAMRA, which is a significant change from the traditional sixteen-handpump beer exhibition pub. To sum it up, Sheffield Tap vs Maltings.
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