The Steel City of Sheffield is bucking the trend of national closures with a thriving brewing industry, according to a repot by the University of Sheffield. With four breweries per 100,000 people, comapted to Edinburgh’s 1.1 breweries per 100k and Dublin’s 0.6 – they’re ahead of the competition retaining the title as ‘real ale capital of the world’.
First named, real ale capital of the world back in 2016, the leafy city has managed to retain its title after a comprehensive report. Pete Brown, the Barnsley-born beer writer, found that the steal city is ‘one of the ‘best beer cities in the world’.
Discussing his findings Mr Brown said: “Sheffield’s prowess as a beer city won’t come as a surprise to anyone who drinks here. But it’s fascinating that when you do the research and generate the numbers, the claim of being one of the best beer cities in the world really stands up.
“Sheffield is having a bit of a moment just now, punching massively above its weight, culturally. And its brewing scene is the glue that holds that culture together.” The Star reported.
The report found that the brewing industry was providing Sheffield with a ‘beer tourism’ that was helping to “drive regeneration in the city.”
Another trending bucking is the city and region’s breweries are still predominantly cask ale focused with a wider variety of beer found now than in 2016. As cask beer is mainly a British product, Sheffield can claim to be real ale capital of the world.
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The city and region’s breweries and pubs are still predominantly cask (real) ale focused, again bucking a national decline which has seen sales volumes half in the last decade, but a wider variety of beers can now be found than in 2016. With cask beer being almost exclusively a British product, Sheffield can again claim to be the real ale capital of the world.
The report wasn’t all positive as Brown found the city’s breweries were now in ‘survival mode’. Compared to the 2016 report, which said two-thirds of the city’s breweries had plans to expand, it seems many have no capacity to do so as that figure dropped to just one in five.
Professor Vanessa Toulmin, Director of City Culture and Public Engagement at the University of Sheffield, said: “Sheffield has always been a city of makers and what makes the report’s findings really interesting is the added value this industry of modern-day little mesters are bringing to the region. They are not just brewing beer; they are providing a huge tourism pull for people from far afield, while also regenerating neighbourhoods in organic, unplanned ways.
“To anyone living in Sheffield and visiting its pubs, it will come as no surprise that this new report has reaffirmed what we discovered in 2016; that Sheffield really can lay claim to being the ‘real ale capital of the world’.”
