CAMRA London celebrates 20 years since the first John Young Memorial Award

It’s 20 years since John Young, Chairman of Young’s Brewery for 44 years. died at the age of 85. The Ram Brewery site in Wandsworth, where Young’s was based, has a brewing history dating back to 1533, making it one of the oldest breweries in the UK.

Even today, Mr John is revered as the father of the ‘real ale revolution’, a unique man who believed in good traditional beer drunk in good traditional pubs. He steered the Young’s family brewery on a different course from the rest of the industry in the 1970s when most breweries were turning away from cask beer.

In his honour, the London Branches of CAMRA set up the John Young Memorial Award where, each year, the branches vote for an organisation, or an individual, who has made a major impact on real ale and pubs across London.

Twenty years later, previous recipients of the award have been invited to the public celebration when the award certificate and engraved shield will be handed over to this year’s winner, the London Brewing Company in North Finchley. John Young’s nephew, Torquil Sligo-Young and Greater London CAMRA Regional Director, Ellie Eames, made the presentation on Thursday 1 October at 7pm at the Bohemia, 762-764 High Road, N12 9QH, home of the London Brewing Company.

Ellie Eames said, “The London Brewing Company deserves this Award in recognition for its commitment to cask beer. They opened a second pub near Aldgate (Ye Three Lords) and put in handpumps when they could have easily just sold keg. They also have a reputation for developing brewers. These include Jenna Dunseath, who is now Technical Director at Real Drinks Ltd, Rich White, who went on to set up Werewolf Brewery in Camden and George Boustred, who is now the head brewer at Exale in Black Horse Lane. And to put the icing on the cake, London Brewing Company’s Beer Street won CAMRA’s Winter Champion Beer of Britain earlier this year, beating thousands of beers to get this accolade. They are the only London Brewer to have ever won it”.

Senan Sexton, Managing Director of the London Brewing Company, said, "I’d like to say a huge thank you to CAMRA for their support and for this incredible award. Being Irish, cask beer isn’t part of my heritage, but it’s such an important part of Britain’s pub culture. For me, a British pub just isn’t quite the same without a great pint of cask ale. I’m incredibly proud of my team, for their passion and hard work, in helping us achieve this award and it is very humbling to follow in the footsteps of so many previous amazing winners."

Additional Information:

• CAMRA is the Campaign for Real Ale and is a volunteer membership organisation with over 180 volunteer branches across the UK and over 140,000 members.

• CAMRA nationally was formed in 1971. It exists to promote good beer, protect pubs and defend consumer rights.

• The London Brewing Company is based at the Bohemia, 762-764 High Rd, London N12 9QH

Past Winners

• 2006

  John Young (posthumously; commemorated on the shield as donated by Torquil

• 2007

  Michael Hardman: One of CAMRA’s founders and responsible for Young’s PR for many years

• 2008

  Tim Martin: Chairman of Wetherspoons, the national pub chain that started in London

• 2009

  The London Drinker Team: Volunteers in charge of producing the free magazine that has CAMRA’s largest circulation in print in the UK

• 2010

  Binnie Walsh: Owner of the multi award-winning pub, the Harp, near Charing Cross. Binnie is now sadly deceased

• 2011

  Duncan Sambrook and David Welsh: Founders of Sambrook’s Brewery in Wandsworth and one of the leaders in the expansion of microbreweries in London. Sambrook’s now brew within the old Young’s Brewery site

• 2012

  Andy Moffat: Founder of Redemption Brewery in Tottenham, the first new brewery in north London for many decades

• 2013

  Steve Barnes and Will Williams: Original owners of the Wenlock Arms near Old Street, leading light in promoting cask beer

• 2014

  John Keeling: Past Brewing Director of Fuller’s at Chiswick and first Chairman of the London Brewers' Alliance

• (2015 No winning candidate)

• 2016

  Tom Copley: Past Member of the London Assembly and a leading advocate in saving the family-run Golden Lion pub in Camden

• 2017

  Pauline Forster: Landlady of the Grade II-listed George in Stepney. Pauline fought for over nine years to keep live music in the pub

• 2018

  Derek Prentice: Brewer who spent most of his life with London breweries (Truman, Young’s and Fuller’s) before helping to set up Wimbledon Brewery

• 2019

  Martin Hayes: Founder of Craft Beer Co. which remains a proudly independent group promoting a vast range of good beers in exciting pubs across London

• 2020

  John Hatch: Brewer who used a tiny kit on the old Young's Brewery site, thus ensuring continual brewing on London's oldest brewing site (Wandsworth).

• (2021 No award owing to Covid shutdowns)

• 2022

  Steve Brown: Founder of Twickenham Fine Ales, the oldest microbrewery in Greater London (2004)

• 2023

  Rodger Molyneux: Publican with the founding group who rescued the Hope in Carshalton, going on to win Greater London Pub of the Year a total of seven times

• 2024

  Paddy Johnson: One of the four founders of Windsor & Eton Brewery and a founder member of the London Brewers’ Alliance, regularly supplying London outlets

• 2025

  Robert Thomas: Founder of the Remarkable Pub Company with 17 impressively restored pubs, many of them previously unloved, mainly in East and North London

For further information please contact Ellie Eames via elleneames@yahoo.co.uk.

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