Cheers! Britain’s craft beer boom

IT’S good news for those who can tell a milk stout from a coffee porter.

For the rising popularity of craft beer has caused the number of UK breweries to reach its highest level in 80 years.

There are now more than 2,000 for the first time since the 1930s – a 64 per cent rise in the past five years alone.

Pubs and in supermarkets have seen booming sales of craft beers – artisanstyle brews made by small businesses – that have helped spur more entrepreneurs to enter the market. Figures show that between 2015 and 2016 the number of breweries jumped 18 per cent from 1,692 to 1,994. Accountants UHY Hacker Young, which carried out the research, said micro-breweries had also benefited from a 2002 tax break as well as investment by big names including Carlsberg.

James Simmonds, of the firm, said: ‘The craft beer boom has reversed years of consolidation in the brewing industry. ‘The craft brewers can’t afford to rest on their laurels they will need to work hard to get their product into that limited shelf space and bar space.’

In 2014, Londoner Lee Hammerton decided to go into business with his own beer – almost 150 years after his ances- tors first began a brewery, which later closed in the 1950s. The 38-year-old set up Hammerton Brewery on an industrial estate in Islington, north London, after growing disillusioned with his career in insurance. Three years on, the firm produces an award-winning range of ten beers and has its own pub in Islington.

He said: ‘I woke up one morning and thought, “I like beer, why not start a brewery”. I was a bit fed up with what I was doing at work – I didn’t want to be stuck in the office for the rest of my life. I drew up a business plan, and a year and a half later the first pint was served.’