Local breweries are tapping into our thirst for real ale

The Good Beer Guide 2013 is celebrating the launch of its 40th edition today amid a real ale revival and the highest number of breweries in the UK for more than 70 years. But on the downside, around a dozen pubs a week are closing as cheaper supermarket prices, changing public tastes and the lingering impact of the recession continue to take their toll.

The good news for beer connoisseurs and the guide, jointly sponsored by Cask Marque and the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), is that 158 new breweries have opened in just 12 months and there are double the number of breweries operating in Britain compared to a decade ago.

Yorkshire is thriving with 123 breweries, 19 of which have opened in the last year alone. “The Good Beer Guide has always been about celebrating the best community pubs serving a high standard of real ale, and the competition to become one of the 4,500 pubs included has never been greater,” says Mick Moss, Camra’s regional director for Yorkshire.

In 1974, when the Guide was first published, there were around a hundred breweries in the UK, whereas there are now more than 1,000. “A double dip recession has done nothing to halt the incredible surge in the number of brewers coming on stream, making the small brewing sector surely one of the most remarkable UK industry success stories of the last decade,” says the guide’s editor, Roger Protz.

“Back then most of them were producing bitters and mild, but today they’re making fantastic stouts, pale ales, golden ales, blonde ales and fruit beers – there’s been an explosion of innovation,” says Protz. “In fact, the boom in new breweries has, in many cases, made the term ‘micro’ obsolete, with some small brewers having become remarkably large, installing new equipment or doubling production to keep up with demand.”

The big, traditional breweries are increasingly being replaced by smaller and arguably more innovative ones. “We’ve lost big breweries like Tetley’s in Yorkshire, which was a terrible blow, but what we’re seeing now is smaller breweries filling the gap. There’s now a brewery in Leeds and there’s one in Saltaire, and these smaller breweries don’t have the same distribution or advertising costs as the big global brands, which means they can produce beer more cheaply.”

So what is driving this shift in drinking tastes and attitudes? “Although beer drinking in general is in decline, more people want real ale. There’s a green generation concerned with good food and drink and they don’t want imported beer from America that’s made from rice. They want good tasting beer that is locally sourced and made from the finest malted barley and hops, and we’re seeing a new breed of passionate producers tapping into this.”

But how can breweries be booming at a time when so many pubs are closing? “The answer is that most of these closures tend to be in areas of high unemployment where industry has disappeared. There are some towns where you see street after street with boarded-up pubs. But you have places like Leeds that are enjoying a real boom and there are exciting things happening all over the country,” he says.

“As a ratio there is now just under one brewery for every 50 pubs in the UK, so for certain pubs who are struggling in the current climate, there is a big opportunity to tap into this exciting market and work with a local brewery.”

Some pubs are doing very well. The Kelham Island Tavern, in Sheffield, is a former Camra National Pub of the Year and has been voted the best pub in Yorkshire by its local branches.

The pub was rescued from dereliction in 2002 and since then it has established itself as a firm favourite for its diverse range of beers and ales. “It never has the same beers from one week to the next and people travel from all over the country to go there and perhaps most importantly it sources beer from local breweries in South Yorkshire.”

However, Protz says something needs to be done about the “crippling” impact of tax if this renaissance is to continue. “It’s the elephant in the room. Unless the Government does something then all this good work could be lost. With the exception of Finland we are the most heavily-taxed country in the EU with half the price of every pint going to the Government.

“Britain is a great place to be making beer right now, and we want this to continue.”

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