Good beer guide announces 1000 breweries!

CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide 2013 – out today (September 13^th) – is celebrating the perfect 40^th anniversary as its research finds there are now more than 1,000 breweries (1,009) operational across the UK, the highest number for over 70 years.

Exhaustively compiled by CAMRA’s 143,000 members, this anniversary edition of the Good Beer Guide reports a record shattering 158 breweries have opened up in the space of just 12 months, the highest rate of new openings ever recorded in the Guide’s 40 year history.

Such an astonishing number is put into context when considering that 1,009 is five times more breweries than there were in operation 30 years ago, four times more than there were 20 years ago, and more than twice as many as there were a decade ago!

Speaking about this monumental landmark coinciding with the Good Beer Guide’s 40^th anniversary, Roger Protz, Good Beer Guide editor, said:

‘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. 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.

‘Beer drinkers in the present day are faced with an enormous variety and choice like never seen before on these shores. Whilst historically there were more breweries in the UK pre-1930s, the distribution and communication networks of the modern day mean that real ale has never been so accessible to consumers, or to pubs wanting to meet demand for serving locally produced beer.

‘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. In many cases, a pub serving quality real ale at the bar is an indicator of quality in other areas of the business, and this is apparent with the 4,500 outstanding pubs that are listed in the Good Beer Guide’s 40^th anniversary edition.’

The nation’s 1,009 breweries are comprehensively featured in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide 2013, jointly sponsored by industry bodies Cask Marque and SIBA (Society of Independent Brewers).