People in the UK like a drink. This much is known. If there’s one thing pretty much any Brit can do, it’s neck a pint. So it should come as no surprise that the ‘real ale capital of the world’ is right here in Britain.
A new report looking into the amount of breweries per capita discovered that, drumroll please… Sheffield is the place to be if you’re into your beer! There are 58 breweries in and around the city, which make more than 1800 different ales every single year. That’s a lot of pints, more than anywhere else, in fact.
For some perspective, London has 0.4 breweries per 100,000 people, and Edinburgh, which came second, has just over 1. Sheffield has four. Again, that’s a lot of pints. Pete Brown, the author of the report which was commissioned by the University of Sheffield, said the city is ‘having a bit of a moment right now, punching massively above its weight, culturally’.
Despite the amount of beer being produced by industrious northerners, most of Sheffield’s breweries are only just about surviving. Only a fifth of those surveyed had plans to expand in the next few months, and a lack of support from local authorities means that a lot of these businesses are at risk of closing in the coming years.
So head to Sheffield if you want a change up from your usual Stella or Carlsberg. They’ve got loads to choose from. And, best of all, you’ll probably pay less than a tenner for it, which is something that can’t be said for much of the south. Keep brewing, steel city!
Drinks with Time Out
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