The weekend of 23/24/25 April was the CAMRA AGM and Members’ weekend, held this year at Southport. Three of our branch spent the weekend listening to the debates and sampling the Beer Ex.

There were originally 15 motions tabled, but to these were added a further 4. Most motions were accepted without much debate, but a small number caused a great deal of discussion, for example the proposal that CAMRA beer festivals should have lower prices for lower gravity beers (which was carried). Only a handful of motions were defeated. One motion that was passed was to allow the Executive Committee to increase the subscription rate from next year, so now is the time to join if you are considering it.

As well as the debates, there were also workshops to attend. I attended a very interesting workshop on Tasting Panels, which has inspired me to look at how these are run in Cumbria.

But enough of the debating and workshops. What about the beer? The Beer Ex, which was sponsored by Cains Brewery, had beers from 26 breweries, with Dent representing Cumbria. There were two beers from the new Southport brewery, which were very popular, and very good, especially their Sandgrounder 3.8 ABV. My favourite was Cains Fine Raisin 5.0 ABV, the beer equivalent of a dessert wine!

If all this has whetted your appetite, next year’s AGM is to be held at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow on the weekend of 22/23/24th April. Make it a date and have your say in how CAMRA is run…… and maybe sample a beer or two.

Stephen Walker.

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