Camra: local beers mean greener pints

Pubs should embrace ales from local breweries as the greenest way to serve a pint, according to the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra).

As the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) gets underway this week, a new Camra survey claims 46% of beer sales now come from cans or non-returnable bottles, which produce a huge amount of waste.

The survey also showed that 54% of adults would like to see at least one local beer in every pub.

Camra urged pubs to stock beers from local producers - to reduce their "beer miles", help local economies, and act as a counterweight to global brewers. Stocking local beers also reduces packaging waste because of reusable casks, Camra said. And because "superchilled" technology is not used, less energy is emitted keeping the beers cool.

"We're all becoming more environmentally conscious and drinking a local real ale in a pub is one way of making a small, but significant contribution to save the world and promote local economies in a food-and-drink market dominated by global companies," said Camra chief executive Mike Benner.

"Draught real ale means no wasted beer cans or bottles and if you choose a locally-brewed beer, you'll help reduce unnecessary beer miles.

"The real-ale revolution means there are around 600 real-ale breweries in Britain. That means there are few places without a truly local brewer on their doorstep, so why do we still see so many beers trunked up and down our motorways?

"The demand for local beer is clearly there, so the pub industry needs to act to deliver what consumers want and what the environment needs."

Beers for the girls

Camra is calling on brewers to make beer more appealing to female drinkers in a bid to boost the real-ale market.

Camra's research has shown one third of women believe that drinking from a pint glass is "unfeminine".

And more than one

third of female pub-goers aged 18-24 said they

would be more likely to drink real ale if it was served in a more stylish glass.

Camra's first female chairman, Paula Waters, said: "Beer is marketed at men - when was the last time you saw a press or TV advert for beer meant to attract women?"