But today, it’s a whole different ball-game. In 2000, there were around 500 breweries in the UK, today, it’s over 2000 and growing – a new micro-brewery opens every THREE days!! Owning a micro-brewery used to be considered a pipe-dream by many, now it’s almost commonplace. This phenomenal growth is due in part to the introduction of the Small Brewers Relief which was introduced in 2002 to help breweries producing under 60,000 hectolitres a year (around 10 million pints) establish themselves and compete with the much larger producers e.g. the likes of Greene King, Marstons, Sharps. The system works on a sliding scale so brewers currently producing under 5000 hectolitres (approx. 880,000 pints) receive a 50% annual discount off their annual beer duty rates. Every little helps as they say! Beer Duty change However, over the past year or so, a number of the larger producers, (around 60) have made it clear that they would like to see this 50% discount restricted to those brewers producing only 1000 hl a year or under. (equating to around 2444 casks – meaning the average 20 barrel micro-brewery could only brew approx. twice a week throughout the year), and the upper limit at which brewers receive relief raised to 200,000hl. They argue that since 2002, the number of medium sized breweries has reduced by 40%, effectively squeezed out of the market by the influx of much smaller breweries who they claim have had such an impact on market share that a reform is necessary to “reduce market distortion, encourage breweries to grow in size and sustain the cask ale market”. Many of these smaller breweries fear that such a reform would impact the brewing industry by drastically limiting the choice of beer available to drinkers - as many would simply go out of business – as well as probable price increases industry wide. And despite many of the bigger breweries having their own tied-estate pubs, not to mention very well-established brands, the main issue is obviously a deep-seated fear of losing out further on the market share of free-trade potential. Supporters of the reform insist that such change is not about eliminating the competition, but creating a level playing field for a wider spectrum of smaller breweries. Whatever the outcome, it would seem even tougher times are ahead for the brewing industry, regardless of size.