Julian Grocock: Microbrewers find inspiration in established beers

I hinted at a Leeds connection the last time I wrote this column, with a passing reference to the formidable football team of the early 1970s. And yes I was a fan, but we'll save that argument for the pub, if you don't mind. This is Drink Talking and, to chauvinists of my age who spent their formative university years in the Yorkshire city, that can only mean one thing...Tetley Bitter.

Now, why should the chief executive of the Society of Independent Brewers give a stuff about Carlsberg's intention to close the iconic Hunslet brewery?

You have to remember there was no SIBA when I was a fresher in 1972; there was no microbrewing industry and the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) had only been in existence for a year. Perhaps you can get a clearer picture of the times if I tell you that my first pint in the hall-of-residence bar was Tartan.

It's important because Leeds is where I learned about beer. I arrived knowing only what TV ads for national kegs told me. I knew what was worth passing a few pubs for, what helped me excel, what worked wonders, and what my right arm was for. So, in effect, I knew nothing about beer.

Joshua Tetley taught me about good beer and bad beer, and about good and bad versions of the same beer.

When I moved to Nottingham in 1975 I joined CAMRA and became thoroughly acquainted with the great ales of that city: Shipstone's, Home, and Hardys and Hansons. In addition to these, the other beers of my youth were Stones and Ward's, which I enjoyed with my brother who lived in Sheffield.

The seeds for today's revolutionised world of brewing were sown in those now distant days by the great names that survived keg beer's own revolution and lived on as cask ales. I'm sure most microbrewers found their inspiration in the established beers on which they themselves were weaned.

Local loyalties, which have truly found their voice in SIBA brewers' ales, have their foundation in those exciting days spent scouring city backstreets and country lanes, seeking out reclusive beers that knew nothing about how well they might travel.

And now Tetley's finds itself on Death Row, last man standing of my formative beers, waiting to join those that have gone before. Like a couple of them, I'm sure it'll live on in name, and like them, once moved to a new home, it might be an excellent ale in its own right. But I'm equally sure that without its genuine provenance it'll struggle to convince those who know it best.

After all, at heart and at home in Hunslet, it is still very much a local beer.

Julian Grocock is the chief executive of the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA). ​