Good Beer Guide: brewery numbers rise

Fifty-six more breweries operate in Britain than one year ago, as the "real-ale revolution" continues apace.

That's the message from the Campaign for Real Ale's (CAMRA) Good Beer Guide 2011, published today.

It says there are now 767 breweries operating in Britain — four times the number in existence when CAMRA was founded in 1971.

Seventy-eight new breweries opened in the past year. Allowing for closures, that's a net increase of 56.

Guide editor Roger Protz said: "The real-ale revolution goes on in spite of all the problems facing the brewing industry such as the often anti-competitive behaviour of the large pub companies, the heavy and continuing rise in tax on beer, grossly unfair competition from supermarkets, and the smoking ban in pubs.

"Yet, against all the odds, craft breweries continue to sprout like mushrooms at dawn. The main reason is simple: craft brewers are responding to consumer demand. More and more people want to think local and drink local and real ale meets that demand."

The 2011 guide, the 38th edition of the popular book, lists 4,500 of Britain's best real-ale pubs.