Ale lovers keeping it Real

Picture the scene: you’re sitting in a pub, drinking your first pint of lager of the night, when a stranger walks up to the bar. He orders a beer you’ve never heard of (probably called something like Butty Bach or Hoptimus Prime) and the bartender pumps it using one of those long handles that seem to reside in even the most obscure of pubs. A pint glass appears on the bar, filled with a mysterious brown liquid, looking suspiciously flat and warm, yet strangely mesmerising.

This stranger, along with many others, has discovered the wonders of real ale. Every day, many students around the country experience this same conversion. Most of us, however, still have very little idea what “real ale” even means. This article provides a bit of guidance for the intrepid explorer: what is real ale, where can I find it and what does Warwick have to do with it?

Real ale, or cask ale, is beer brewed and served in accordance with a few select rules. For example, the beer must be served in the same container it ferments in, and undergo a ‘secondary fermentation’ right up to the point when it’s served. Furthermore, all carbonation must be a natural result of the brewing process. In particular, this means it must be drawn manually from the cask – hence the extravagant pumps, as opposed to the much more modest lager taps. It is also generally served at around 12 degrees celcius.

Not only do these methods result in a purer product, but also prevent many of the processes keg beers, such as “standard” lagers, go through, which kill huge amounts of the flavour and texture. It only makes sense, then, that cask ale possesses more than a modicum of flavour.
I imagine that, by now, you probably can’t wait to try this delicious nectar, and have already marked the Warwick University Real Ale Festival (February 14-16) in your calendars in anticipation. Don’t worry – you aren’t alone. In 2011, 633 million pints of real ale were bought in the UK, and in the student demographic it is more popular than ever.

“The standard of real ale has improved dramatically,” said John Crossling, chairman of the Heart of Warwickshire branch of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale. “New breweries are appearing and many are producing good beer right from the off. Real ale is being recognised as a premium product.”

And, if you’re worried that “premium” is just a nice way of saying “expensive”, fear not – in many pubs, a pint of cask ale is the cheapest beer you can buy, and certain lagers cost upwards of £4 per pint.

At the forefront of the student real ale renaissance is our very own Warwick University. As well as serving several cask ales at The Dirty Duck, we also run the largest independent beer festival in the country, which gives most of its proceeds to charity. Mike Tierney, chairman of the Coventry & North Warwickshire branch of CAMRA, said: “It is generally recognised that the best way of encouraging people to try real ales [is] to hold a Beer Festival and you obviously do this very successfully.”

Our festival attracts not just students but people from across the neighbouring counties, and is a comfortable environment to get stuck into some proper beer. Every year we have people trying real ale for the first time, and they are often surprised at the variety of styles available – from warming winter stouts to flowery golden ales, there’s something for every occasion and every individual.

Why then, you might ask, is real ale not more popular? If it’s cheaper, more flavoursome, and easier to obtain, why aren’t more people drinking it? As a people, we have the privilege of a distinguished and delicious drink, crafted right here at home.

Unfortunately, there are certain misconceptions that seem to linger, regardless of how untrue they become. Like the cliché of triangular cucumber sandwiches and bowler hats, our nation has become associated abroad with flat, warm beer. What these three icons also have in common is that their representation of our country is largely false. While lots of breweries continue to craft traditional ale, the demographic of beer drinkers is becoming more inclusive, with ever greater numbers of women and young people joining in the fun.

“In the past it has been the image of the ale drinker as an old man in the Arran sweater with a huge beard and massive beer belly, but I think that is being shaken off at long last,” says Dr Thomas Thurnell-Read, lecturer in sociology at Coventry University and former Warwick student.

“Another common belief is that beer is something common and less-worthy than wine. There are a lot of celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver and Raymond Blanc making sure that quality beers are being given the respect they deserve that in the past might have been reserved solely for wine.”

Like Portugal and port, Russia and vodka, Germany and schnapps, or France and Champagne, we have something which is quintessentially ours and possesses the potential to be acclaimed worldwide.

Perhaps it’s all those handsome Europeans in suits talking about “chalices” who dupe us into thinking we’re being sophisticated and debonair, but the future of real ale rests upon the shoulders of our generation. Mr Tierney says: “The biggest barrier is the simple fact that most people who don’t drink real ale have never tried it.”

But this barrier is declining. Ale is being served in pubs across the country at an increasing rate.

People are waking up, real ale is starting to dominate, and our university is at the helm.