There are hundreds of small brewers that will benefit from the Budget duty cuts. Ben McFarland suggests just a few local tipples to stock up on. Small brewers were one of the very few groups within the drinks industry left with a smile on their faces following Gordon Brown's Budget speech last month.The Chancellor announced that, from June, beer duty is to be cut in half for brewers producing up to 500,000 litres (880,000 pints) and that duty savings worth more than £120,000 will be made for brewers producing up to three million litres (5.3m pints) of beer per year.While the decision was dismissed by many within the trade as a PR-spun half-measure, it was warmly welcomed by hundreds of small craft brewers up and down the country and can only aid them in their struggle to get their beers to market.Without the marketing clout of their regional and national counterparts, small brewers have had their hands tied when it comes to shouting about their beers. In spite of the hardened efforts of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) and the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), a huge number of licensees and pub-goers are blissfully unaware of what they're missing in terms of choice.Whether the reduction in tax will be transferred to the consumer or swallowed up by the margin-chasing pub groups remains to be seen, but hopefully it will go some way to stem the flow of small brewers going out of business - currently estimated to be around one a week. So, in an effort to get more British beers on the bars of the nation's pubs and oil the wheels of communication between small brewers and licensees, The Publican Newspaper has teamed up with 16 of CAMRA's regional directors to recommend some great tasting beers from each of their respective areas. Each beer listed is produced by a brewer set to reap the benefits of Gordon Brown's generosity. An A-Z of all the small craft beers available in the UK was unfortunately rendered unfeasible due to the lack of space, so each regional director was asked to keep his or her suggestions to a maximum of five.Some chose their favourites, some chose the most popular and some chose one from each county in their region, but all were anxious to stress that the selection of beers below is by no means exhaustive.A complete list of craft beers, including tasting notes and how to get hold of them, can be found in the Good Beer Guide available from CAMRA on 01727 867201.
