More women drinkers opt for real ale, says CAMRA

4th August 2009, 10:20am

The number of female real ale drinkers has doubled in the last year, according to latest research by CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale.

Some 30% of women drinkers have now tried real ale compared to just 16% in 2008.

Last year CAMRA released research documenting why women drinkers had never tried real ale, with 13% not knowing where to start, 12% not knowing what real ale is, 12% thinking real ale would be too bitter, and 9% not liking the appeal of beer in general.

Since this research was conducted, initiatives such as 'FemALE day' during National Cask Ale Week in April, the continuing introduction of third pint measures into Britain's pubs and bars, and record attendance figures at some of CAMRA's 150+ beer festivals have been the catalyst for this radical change in female drinking trends.

Members of CAMRA, organisers of this week's Great British Beer Festival are hoping for record numbers of female visitors.

Louise Ashworth, CAMRA head of marketing, said: "CAMRA's efforts to convince women that real ale is not just for the boys are paying off. These research findings are very significant, with the number of female drinkers trying real ale for the first time doubling in only one year.

"Last year we launched the Girls Guide to the Great British Beer Festival because we were concerned that women drinkers were missing out on the pleasures of our national drink. But in the past year real ale brewers, alongside CAMRA, have really stepped up their drive to recruit more women to give real ale a try, and this hard work has paid dividends."

This year at the Great British Beer Festival, beer writer and tutor, Melissa Cole, will be taking female drinkers round the Festival in Girl's Guide themed tours to further build upon these new findings.

Cole commented on the latest research: "It's really gratifying to see more and more women discovering the delights of real ale. On the grounds of taste and flavour there's no reason why more women shouldn't drink real ale, the reason they haven't been doing so over the last few decades is a combination of macho marketing, poor product information and urban myths."

"Fortunately the combined work of bodies like CAMRA and beer writers like myself has meant that more and more women now understand much more about real ale; they now get that it isn't gassy or bloating, is lower in calories than wine and most importantly, because of the category's immense diversity, women know there's a style of real ale out there for them."

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