I'm sure wine writer Oz Clarke, currently trumpeting the appeal of British beer on BBC2, will be pleased to hear from Malcolm Gluck that he's a sad and unsexy loser who lacks a sense of humour. What Oz's series reveals is that beer is flourishing in Britain and is not being drowned by a flood of imported grape juice.
I don't deny that sales of wine have increased in Britain. But we still drink far more beer: wine has overtaken beer in the off-trade but beer easily outsells it in pubs, in spite of the best efforts of Gluck's much-loved Labour government to knacker the pub trade with the smoking ban and regular hikes in beer duty.
Beer is in fact enjoying a remarkable renaissance. I'm talking of craft beer, quality beer, brewed by craftsmen, not the bland and tasteless Euro-fizz produced by global brewers. Close to 250 new craft breweries have opened in the past three years. There are more than 500 breweries operating in Britain and choice and diversity have never been better. Thanks to the efforts of craft brewers, drinkers have a profusion of choice, with good old mild and bitter joined by genuine India Pale Ales, porters, stouts, old ales and barley wines and new styles such as golden ales and fruit beers.
While sales of mass-produced lagers are in freefall, the demand for craft beers has seen their sales rise by more than 10% a year. This should be welcomed, not decried with the kind of mindless abuse used by Malcolm Gluck. Britain is a country with a proud brewing heritage, a heritage now enjoying a spirited revival. I'm sorry to disappoint you, Malcolm, but beer will not go away. Have a word with your mate Oz.
· Roger Protz edits the Camra Good Beer Guide and blogs at beer-pages.com
