Instead of a newsletter for October 2026… Beer scoring and vintage ale

In this edition of Not a Newsletter we’ve got thoughts on the cask version of Fuller’s Vintage Ale and on having our arms gently twisted re: CAMRA beer scoring. We’ll start with beer scoring which came up in conversation when we bumped into Bridget, one of Jess’s pals from the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) Bristol and District Ladies group, in the pub. As we were finishing our pints and preparing to crawl on, she asked us a simple question: do we score the beers we drink in the pub? And if not, why not? It was a genuine attempt to understand what might be holding people back from doing this when the data is so valuable to CAMRA, and informs decision making for the annual Good Beer Guide book. We confessed that we could count the number of times we’ve ever scored beers on one hand and then reflected on our reluctance. Ray’s explanation was something like this: “When we’re in the pub we’re usually too busy chatting and debating to do our homework.” Jess said: “It’s another app, isn’t…