Pouring your pint...
Pouring your pint...
The Brighton Real Ale Society is dedicated to the preservation, exploration, and celebration of traditional, living beer, closely aligning with the principles of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).
As officially defined by CAMRA, real ale is a natural product brewed using traditional ingredients and left to mature in the cask from which it is served in the pub through a process called secondary fermentation.
"Beer brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide."
Unlike mass-produced, kegged lagers that are filtered, pasteurized, and artificially carbonated, real ale is a living, breathing product. It continues to develop flavor and character inside the cellar, requiring genuine skill from the pub's cellar manager to serve it in peak condition.
Real ale contains live yeast in the cask. This enables secondary fermentation, giving the beer deeper, more complex flavors that evolve over time.
The beer is never heat-treated to kill off microorganisms. This preserves the delicate hop oils and malt profiles that are destroyed in commercial keg beers.
Served without extraneous CO2. The soft, gentle carbonation comes entirely from the yeast's natural activity, resulting in a smoother mouthfeel.
To truly appreciate the craft behind every pint, we highly encourage exploring CAMRA's official resources. They have been fighting to save traditional British beer since 1971.