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The term has history
“Real ale” was created as a campaigning label in a very particular period of British beer history.
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Real ale explained: what the phrase means now.
CAMRA coined “real ale” in the 1970s to distinguish traditional live beer from the heavily processed keg beer then dominating many pubs. The beer world has changed since, so the useful modern question is what remains alive and conditioning in its final container.
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Live yeast is central
The classic cask version continues conditioning before service rather than being completely stabilised earlier.
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Handpull is a clue, not the definition
Most pub cask ale is hand-pulled, but gravity dispense exists and live beer can also condition in bottles or other containers.
Why did CAMRA invent the phrase?
The term gave drinkers a simple way to distinguish traditional cask-conditioned beer from the processed, filtered and highly carbonated keg products that had become widespread in the mid-twentieth century.
Is “real ale” exactly the same as cask ale?
In everyday pub language the two are often used almost interchangeably. CAMRA now uses the broader term “live beer” for beer that continues conditioning in its final container, while cask-conditioned beer remains the classic form most people mean by real ale.
Can a bottle or can be live beer?
Yes. Bottle-conditioned or can-conditioned beer can contain live yeast and continue developing after packaging. That does not make it cask ale, but it follows the same broad principle of final-container conditioning.
Does “real” mean keg beer is fake?
No. The old campaigning language reflected a specific industry battle. Modern keg beer can be carefully brewed, characterful and excellent; it simply uses a different route to conditioning and dispense.
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