Craft beer is booming in Burton with the number of people registering as a small brewer to produce their own ale brands increasing by a fifth last year. It comes as there is a huge appetite for craft beers across the country.
Here reporter Rhea Turner speaks to Jon Archer, brewer at one such craft ale firm in Repton's Boot Brewery about what he thinks has caused the surge and what he thinks the future holds for such brewing in Burton.
Nationally last year there was a whopping 2,000 registrations, up from 1,666 in 2015, which is the highest for a decade. Supermarkets selling new small-scale beer brands, as well as creating their own craft beer has helped fuel the increase.
Jeremy Drew of law firm RPC which has registered many new small firms, saying: "The craft beer sector has been booming and now there are not only a number of new entrants, but also more established breweries, larger drinks corporations and supermarkets all wanting to establish a share in the market."
Jon, 52, who is from Lichfield, joined the Boot Brewery back in May to follow his life-long passion for beer and brewing, having spent 34 years heading up business operations for a global IT company.
He says he is "not surprised at all" at the soaring popularity of craft beers and it was not unusual for small breweries to release new recipes every few weeks to keep up with such a high demand from the public for craft ales.
He said: "The number of new breweries opening continues at pace and the eight per cent growth seen during 2015 and 2016 sees no sign of abating with the total number of UK breweries rapidly approaching 2,000. This is a far cry from the low point of just 142 back in 1976. Gone are the days when only a small range of beers were available at the pubs in the locality and most breweries only serving three or four beers.
"The majority of these new breweries are producing relatively small batches and their 'craft' comes from exploiting a wealth of flavoursome new ingredients in their recipes from both the northern and southern hemispheres.
"As a small brewer I enjoy the flexibility and freedom to pack masses of new strain hops from the US, New Zealand and Australia into new styles such as double India pale ale, American pale ale, saison and sours without the limitations that corporate budgets or marketing schedules might impose.
"Pubs are increasingly searching for new and interesting beers to help them differentiate themselves and meet growing customer demand.
"New breweries and their recipes are often in high demand so that publicans can offer something new. It is not unusual for a small brewery to release a new recipe very few weeks. These beers will often appear as a one-off on the guest pump.
"At the Boot Inn, the brewer will select a regularly changing guest craft ale on the hand pump, as well as five Boot beers. This has proved a very popular compliment to our Boot Beer range and our customers are interested to find out what new beer is on that week with more and more becoming aware of the new styles that the craft movement has to offer."
So what are the most popular choices?
According to Jon, best bitter remains a strong favourite of the traditionalists, and an increasing number of customers are favouring quality and flavour over price.
He said: "Production costs of these new craft beers are often much greater due to increased levels of premium ingredients and labour, however more and more customers are keen to explore all that this new territory has to offer.
"Even the glassware is changing to capture and concentrate the aromas. Swirl a hazy New England IPA around a Teku glass and release all those juicy citrus notes from the citra or mosaic hops. A really good craft beer is becoming more complex and refreshing than wine and it is no wonder that drinkers are being converted."
Jon says the craft beer movement has an "experimental, arty" approach to it and customers have a big role to play.
He said: "Customers are part of it, creating the demand and feeling really good about supporting small and dynamic brewers. They feel connected to the flavours we are creating and because of their support, we go out of our way to source even more great new ingredients and mix them up to bring them exciting new flavour combinations.
"It is hard physical work creating great beer on a small scale, and a craft beer drinker truly understands the care and attention we put into our beer. They appreciate the hard graft to bring them the freshest and best beer and respond with support for the beer, which creates a really good vibe.”
So what does this mean for commercial brewers, according to Jon?
"The resurgence of the local artisan brewer does challenge the big commercial breweries in Burton but this could be a balancing out of the monopoly created by big commerce and a natural return to the traditional craft of making beer for the village by the village brewer," he said.
He added: "Craft beer, when it is made well, is amazingly fresh and because it is made in small batches, people eagerly await the latest batch.
"The craft beer movement lets the local village brewer flourish again and while it might make a dent in the local market share for the big Burton breweries, it shouldn't be an issue because it’s just a more even distribution of local business.
"The biggest potential impact to Burton might be pressure on traditional recipes as consumers explore new flavours and styles and wider market share across the country gets swallowed up by craft brewers getting big enough to go mainstream, just look at the exponential growth of Cloudwater, Moors and Tiny Rebel."
So how is The Boot making the most of the changes?
Jon said: "In response to the craft beer movement, I have recently developed and launched 'Reboot', a flavoursome hoppy American pale ale loaded with Chinook, Centennial and Cascade hops. It has proved hugely popular and has even converted those who are not normally fans of beer.
"The craft beer revolution is heavily influencing what is available in our local pubs. A craft guest beer on hand pull complements the existing portfolio of Boot Beers and at the end of September we will launch two further craft keg beers along with a comprehensive range of bottle beers that represent the best from craft breweries from across the UK and the world."
Jon believes the growth of craft beer popularity is good news for home-brewers too.
He said: "Local home brew stores used to stock a handful of ingredients that sat on the shelf until sold. With today's world of next day deliveries, home brewers can select the finest malt and hops to create their own ‘craft’ beers while a wealth of information is available on the internet to help with methods and recipes.
"Home-brewers have the resources to make beer as good as any commercial brewery. Fellow brewers are ever helpful in supporting this community and most importantly their recipes are not driven by accountants so they can create the very finest tasting beers."
Jon is currently looking for someone, male or female and of any age, who is also passionate about beer and brewing to learn the trade by covering all aspects of brewing on site at the Boot Brewery in Repton.
Beer drinkers want to know where their tipple is being brewed
Most beer drinkers want greater clarity on who is brewing their favourite tipple after an increase in the popularity of craft beer and a number of buy-outs of independent breweries by global firms, a survey has shown.
A poll of more than 1,000 beer drinkers by the Society of Independent Brewers showed that almost two out of three of drinkers surveyed cared who brewed their beer and backed having a logo on beer pumps, bottles and cans, to identify drinks as being brewed by an independent craft brewer rather than a global beer company.
Mike Benner, societ's chief executive, said: "Quality, flavoursome beer from independent British craft breweries has never been in greater demand, with more people than ever drinking more discerningly and choosing full-flavoured beer.
"This has of course attracted the attention of the global brewers, who have been buying out previously independent breweries and trying to get their own slice of this growing sector.
"What this survey clearly shows is consumers care whether the beer they are drinking was brewed by a truly independent British craft brewer or not."
Craft beers on the up at the Heritage Brewing Company
Terry Boland, Sales Executive at the Heritage Brewing Company in Horninlow Street, has also seen the love for craft beers soar.
He said: "We have definitely noticed a massive increase in craft beers and I am not certain if Burton will always lead the way in craft beers. I would have thought that London would be a hot bed for craft breweries."
