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BADRAG - What's That?
BADRAG, the Bristol and District Rare Ales Group, is an award-winning campaigning group within the local branch of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale. Our aim is to promote the rarer styles of real ale to brewers, publicans and drinkers, in particular - but not exclusively - dark beers such as milds, stouts and porters, plus the even rarer old ales and barley wines.
The group was launched at the 2007 Bristol Beer Festival.
NEWS! BADRAG on Tour: Forthcoming events
BADRAG members will be travelling to a number of CAMRA and pub beer festivals in the coming months. Why not join us for a social in the city, or day/weekend trips from Bristol by public transport. Buy tickets in advance or on the door as specified in the further details.
Tewkesbury Winter Ales Festival. Friday 7 February lunchtime session. Watson Hall, Tewkesbury GL20 5PX. From Bristol Temple Meads (09:13 train) or Parkway (09:26). Alight at Gloucester and take no. 71 bus from opposite the station at 10:12, arrives Tewkesbury 10:46. Doors open 11:00. More details
The 26th Gryphon MetAle Festival. 5-9 March at The Gryphon, central Bristol BS1 5AP. Check their Facebook page for latest updates. On gravity (upstairs) and handpump on the bar, usually a dozen real ales including several dark. We will probably be there for at least the first and second days. Doors open from 16:00
Chippenham Beer Festival 2025. Saturday 26 April lunchtime session. Olympiad Sports Hall, Chippenham, SN15 3PA. A short walk from Chippenham Railway Station. Our annual pilgrimage to this well-established festival. Easily accessed by direct train from Bristol Temple Meads. Doors 11:00-16:00. More details and tickets from Chippenham CAMRA
CAMRA Members' Weekend, AGM and Conference 2025.. Friday 11-Sunday 13 April. Riviera Centre, Torquay TQ2 5LZ. Another annual fixture, this year organised by South West CAMRA branches. The members' bar can usually be relied on to offer 40 or so real ales, ciders and perry. Details and registration from CAMRA members' weekend web pages
You may think that these styles aren’t really rare; BADRAG's campaigning over the years has helped them become less so, but there are still parts of the Bristol & District branch area where they are hard to find. You could help with this vital campaign …
As a customer please keep asking for milds, porters, stouts and other ‘rare’ styles of real ale to show licensees that there is a demand.
As a licensee introduce one of these styles and see what your customers think. There is a wide range of strengths and flavours to complement the rest of your beer range. Ask your local suppliers or brewery contacts what they can offer (and let us know so we can promote your pub to our members).
As a brewer let us know if you brew one or more of these styles and where we might be able to drink them.
If we know about them, we’re more than happy to encourage members and others to visit pubs, brewery taps and beer festivals serving these styles of real ales via:
... about different beer styles at CAMRA's national website's Breweries and beers page - scroll down and click on a style, eg Porters, to see which beers of that style are brewed and by whom.
You may also be interested in the following, but these legacy pages are no longer kept up to date.
In the past we maintained a list of bars that support BADRAG by stocking these kind of ales. If you can't get out to the pub, try At Home with Our Kind of Beer for a take-away.
You can also see details of current and previous Mild Ale Promotion Campaigns, Mild Time.