Camra pledges support for National Brewing Museum

The Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) has pledged financial support to help transform the Coors Visitor Centre, closed at the end of June, into a National Brewing Museum.

Camra has given its full backing to the steering group, led by Burton MP Janet Dean, trying to keep the centre open and will donate the majority of the proceeds from the Burton Beer Festival to the cause.

The centre has been in existence since 1977 but Coors took the decision to shut it this June as part of a cost cutting exercise to save £1m a year.

However, the brewer has promised to offer to lease the building free of charge to a new organisation, pay £100,000 a year to help with the upkeep and donate a one-off payment of £200,000 to a new organisation.

Camra is urging all brewers and pubcos to consider the benefits of a national brewing museum. Licensing minister Gerry Sutcliffe recently said it could be a "potential public front door for the brewing industry".

Camra regional director Nik Antona said: "Renowned brewing nations such as Belgium, Poland and Denmark all have brewing museums, the Czech Republic even has two, so how can we sit alongside these revered nations without a monument of our own?"

She added: "There have been many brewers rumoured to be considering support for the plans, and I think it must be stressed that this Museum will celebrate the history of British brewing as a whole, and not just Bass and Coors as some have suggested.

"Burton has been immortalised throughout history as Britain's brewing capital, and we hope to contribute to a local economy that has traditionally thrived thanks to real ale and beer."