page_title: Beer in England
section_title: 2000 to present: hops and hipsters
hierarchical_section_title: Beer in England / History / 2000 to present: hops and hipsters
caption_attribution_description: English: Hail to the Ale micropub, Claregate, Wolverhampton (Jan 2014)
context_page_description: Beer in England has been brewed for hundreds of years. As a beer brewing country, England is known for its top fermented cask beer which finishes maturing in the cellar of the pub rather than at the brewery and is served with only natural carbonation.
  English beer styles include bitter, mild, brown ale and old ale. Stout, porter and India Pale Ale were also originally brewed in London. Lager style beer has increased considerably in popularity since the mid 20th century. Other modern developments include consolidation of large brewers into multinational corporations; growth of beer consumerism; expansion of microbreweries and increased interest in bottle conditioned beers.
context_section_description: A change to beer taxation, Progressive Beer Duty was introduced by Gordon Brown in 2002. It was a reduction in beer duty based on a brewery's total production and aimed at helping smaller breweries. The legislation had been campaigned for by the Society of Independent Brewers (Siba). In 2009, the combined sales of Siba's 420-plus members increased by 4% compared with 2008. By 2011 the breweries in the UK, were recording an average growth in beer sales of 3% to 7% per annum.
  By 2004, the term real ale had been expanded to include bottle-conditioned beer, while the term cask ale had become the accepted global term to indicate a beer not served under pressure.
  Interest in imported beer continued to rise, with an influx of Eastern European workers making Lech and Tyskie particularly popular, alongside Staropramen, Budvar and Kozel.
  A piece of legislation popularly known as the "twenty four-hour drinking", officially the Licensing Act 2003 act came into force in 2005. This removed the previous national restrictions on opening hours, allowing pubs and licensed premises to open for any or all of a twenty four-hour period, subject to agreement with the local licensing authorities. In practice, most pubs made only minor changes to their opening hours.
  Although its founding father, Michael Jackson, died in 2007, modern British beer writing was burgeoning, with beer columns appearing alongside wine columns in the quality press. Beer writing was to evolve into beer blogging, leaders in both fields including Martyn Cornell, Pete Brown, Roger Protz and Melissa Cole.
  In July 2007, a law was introduced to forbid smoking in all enclosed public places in England, including pubs.
  The popularity of lager fell from 74.5% in 2008 to 74.3% and the Observer publication suggested that British beer drinkers' "love affair with carbonated beers may finally have peaked". The 2010 edition of the Good Beer Guide showed that there were more than 700 real ale brewers in the UK at the time of publication—the highest number since the Second World War and four times as many since the founding of Camra. Iain Loe, a spokesman for Camra, explained a preference for moderate alcohol levels and a perception that real ale was healthier as responsible for the shift.
  Since the 2010s, there has been what some media outlets describe as an "explosion" of interest in craft beer. Although, the term "craft beer" does not have formal definition in the UK, it is generally taken to mean beer from small breweries which is highly flavourful and distinctive, particularly "hop forward" beers, delivered in bottles or the keykeg draught formats, ideas mainly deriving from the US microbrewery scene. Craft beer may stand alongside other beers in a mainstream pub, or be retailed in specialist outlets, such as the chain owned by Scottish brewers Brewdog. Craft beers are often stronger than standard ales and lagers, and may be sold in 1/3 pint and 2/3 pint measures in addition to the usual pints and halves. A number of commentators have noted that craft beer appeals to a younger clientele, particularly those characterised as hipsters. A number of breweries associated with the craft movement have been taken over by multinationals, prompting debate about
  whether they should still be considered "craft".
  Although the choice available to English beer drinkers in the mid 2010s is perhaps unparalleled, there are concerns about the future of pubs, with about 30 closing per week. Bucking the trend somewhat are craft beer outlets, the Wetherspoons chain, and the micropub movement
  The Wetherspoons chain has expanded to nearly 1000 outlets over its 25-year history, most of them being former shops, banks and so on, rather than traditional pub premises. Describing themselves as freehouses, its branches offer a wider range of cask ales than other pubcos, and they have recently begun offering craft beer. Micropubs are small community pubs with limited opening hours, and focusing strongly on local cask ale.
  With cask ale having a secure future, the Campaign for Real Ale has (as of March 2016, ) been r
caption: Hail to the Ale micropub, Claregate, Wolverhampton
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