My friend Colin Carter, who has died from lung cancer aged 50, was truly passionate about real ale. Although he was a member of both the Campaign for Real Ale and the Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood for more than 20 years, Colin was never active in campaigning or branch affairs. Instead, his real interest lay in visiting beer festivals – he accumulated the programmes for more than 200 of them. In one year, he attended 30, beating his previous record of 26, this despite working full-time as a psychiatric nurse.
Colin was born in Hinckley, Leicestershire, a place of which he was very proud, invariably referring to it as the "big H". After leaving school with few formal qualifications, he had a variety of jobs, including working in an abattoir and at a local garage.
He became interested in mental health issues through voluntary work and took a counselling course at a local college, which gave him enough academic credits to be accepted for nursing training in Suffolk. On qualifying in 1994, Colin moved to London, which became his home.
He didn't suffer fools or pretentious people easily, but he also had a rather dry sense of humour, which was clearly demonstrated when he was asked to describe the taste of the beer that he was currently drinking. Regardless of the style of the brew, whether it was a golden ale, mild, bitter, stout or porter, his usual answer was that it had "roasty notes with strawberries in the finish".
He is survived by his parents, Roy and Christine, and a sister, Linda.