Liam's write-only LJ

When I learned about this petition (see at the end), I wrote to CAMRA's "What's Brewing" magazine. Probably a futile effort, but WTH.

Dear Sirs

I have to wonder at the association between enjoying ale and enjoying other, perhaps more harmful activities. I never cease to be amazed at the number of miserable, antisocial smokers who write to you saying that they'd rather sit at home and drink alone than go to the pub and forego smoking with their pint when they're inside the pub. Let them stay there. We sociable, social drinkers won't miss them: pubs are much more pleasant places now that they don't reek of tobacco smoke. I don't begrudge the smokers their "smirting" outside during their fag breaks, any more than I begrudge my coworkers' occasional interludes to feed their pathetic nicotine addiction. After all, statistically, most of them will die younger than we non-smokers, leaving more for us.

But there's another association that your writers, editors and readers seem to forget. That between enjoying ale and enjoying meat.

I don't, as you have probably guessed, smoke. I don't take caffeine, either. Both are nasty addicitions. I've tried both, for many years, and life is much better without them. (Not that the addicts, deep in the grip of their habit, can allow themselves to believe this.)

But I do love good food, the same as I love good ale. For me, though, good food tastes better when I know that no sentient being suffered or died to create it. I ate meat, reluctantly, for my first 15 years or so of life, but I never particularly liked it and I've been much happier in the last 25 years since I gave it up.

/What's Brewing/, though, when it mentions food, revolves around loving descriptions of part-burned lumps of animal carcase, which genuinely turns my stomach with disgust - which is hardly what one wants reading a journal about one's favoured form of drink! At best there's occasional mention of "there's a vegetarian option, too". Well whoop-de-doo.

But although I adore good food and travel widely in search of it, I don't expect to find good vegetarian nosh in association with good ale. That's fine. I prefer the sort of pub or bar that doesn't do food at all, generally.

I am very much bothered by the presence of animal derivatives in my beer, though.

I am not so strict or evangelistic a vegetarian as in my youth, though, and I regretfully have to turn a blind eye to the presence of animal contaminants in my ale. It's that or never enjoy a pint with my friends: vegetarian ale is regrettably very scarce.

I write, of course, of finings, which generally means isinglass. It's a fish byproduct and whatever some misled individuals and companies claim, fish is an animal - therefore anything with fish in is not vegetarian - and if something made from a dead animal is in contact with vegetarian food or drink then that food or drink isn't vegetarian. Fry a mushroom in a pan alongside a rasher of bacon, that's no longer a veggie-suitable mushroom. Mix 100% plant-and-fungus origin beer with bits of dead fish and that's no longer vegetarian beer.

We don't need finings in our beer. It's only done for looks, to produce a clear, bright product. I'd rather something uncontaminated, thanks. Surely if no finings were used and this processing step eliminated, then the result would be money savings for the brewer?

I'm not alone in this. There are millions of vegetarians in Britain alone, and most would, if they knew of it and were given the choice, prefer not to have a fishy pint.

There's even a petition and groups on the major social networking sites:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/155403103
http://www.myspace.com/realaleforall
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=22613765137

This is something I'd really like to see CAMRA pay more attention to. It's an important issue for beer fans. Sure, I'd like to see more mention of vegetarian food and ale in WB and the GBG, but the issue of animal finings in ale is a more general one.

May I suggest that CAMRA looks at this issue, instead of, say, harping on about short measures. Less-than-full vessels have been a worldwide phenomenon since the idea of selling drink first appeared, and one which isn't going to go away. CAMRA's strident hectoring seems like pointless abuse of the bar trade, the very group that CAMRA should be encouraging and supporting.

Drop the "short pints" campaign. It's not only a waste of effort, it's attacking our friends and allies.

And let's see CAMRA thinking and talking and acting in favour of unadulterated ale.