Andrew Vine: Osborne’s duty is to boost the British brewing boom

Sir would indeed, thank you very much, and sir couldn’t help but smile at seeing a good selection of some of the finest bottled ales brewed in Yorkshire given its own place on the menu of one of the county’s chicest eateries.

Not so very long ago, a request for real ale in a place like this would very likely have produced the same sort of incredulous reaction as an enquiry as to why the menu failed to feature Pot Noodles.

But here amid the power-lunching and networking, beer is afforded the same status as the most expensive wines in the house, with a menu of its own and a description of each ale’s distinctive hoppiness.

It’s the sort of restaurant in which George Osborne would feel at home, where deals are done and relationships forged. I don’t for a moment believe the Chancellor of the Exchequer has ever spent much time in pubs where real ale rules the roost – photo-opportunities apart – but he’d fit right in here.

And the existence of a beer menu 
in this sort of context might just pique 
his interest sufficiently for him to try 
a glass.

If he did, Mr Osborne might usefully reflect that his Budget tomorrow offers a golden opportunity for him to give a boost to a great Yorkshire success story – the boom in brewing, which has not only created some wonderful ales, but jobs as well and given the pub trade a much-needed shot in the arm.

He did the industry a favour last year by abolishing the beer duty escalator, which relentlessly pushed up the price of a pint. If he’s sensible, he’ll freeze the level of duty and do another good turn for a growing sector that’s worth celebrating and encouraging to prosper.

Here in Yorkshire, we’ve been at the forefront of a renaissance in brewing, and in the vanguard of a renewed appreciation of quality ales that has seen them take a rightful place on the menus of upmarket restaurants as well as helping to transform a lot of pubs from dingy dives where nobody except hard-core boozers would want to go into bright, attractive, sociable places.

Only a few years ago, the outlook for brewing in Yorkshire was pessimistic. A lot of the old giants were closing – Tetley in Leeds, Wards and Whitbread in Sheffield, Darley’s in Thorne. With their passing, a tradition that reached back to the 18th century in our county appeared to be under threat.

Not any longer. That proud tradition is alive, well and thriving. We now have about 160 breweries, varying in size but all united by a commitment to producing beers of the highest quality.

There is no more energetic, enterprising and imaginative brewing community to be found anywhere in the country than ours.

It’s a triumph of what a passion for quality can achieve, and the public is growing ever more appreciative. The Society of Independent Brewers reported that sales of ale rose by eight per cent last year, and retail analysts Kantar have identified a similar trend in the big supermarkets.

Some of the independent brewers have branched out into running pubs, and they have brought a refreshing energy and realism to the trade.

In too many cases, visiting a pub could feel like walking into a business on its last legs, where the owners had given up trying and were simply milking the last cash out of the tills before going under.

There was no earthly reason for customers to spend money in scruffy and uninviting places when they could buy better-quality and cheaper drinks from the supermarket and enjoy them in the comfort of their own home.

The independents deserve a cheer for recognising this and going back to the basics of what made a pub a traditional place to socialise, and in some cases, a focal point of its community – good and sensibly-priced products, attractive and comfortable surroundings, and friendly staff.

The hard economic facts underlying these good pubs and the ales they serve support the case for the Chancellor to leave the level of beer duty where it is.

The trade is worth £22bn to the Treasury in taxes every year. If the boom in independent brewing and pub ownership continues – and there is every reason to suppose it will – then the public purse will benefit.

Increasing the duty on beer would potentially jeopardise a growing, buoyant industry with its roots in the past but its sights firmly fixed on the future.

I’ll raise a glass to that positive and enterprising outlook. And I’ll raise another one to the Chancellor if he has the good sense to encourage this wonderful Yorkshire success story by doing the easiest thing he can tomorrow – precisely nothing when it comes to this particular tax.