Craft Beer of the UK — The Revival and Renaissance

British ale brewing predates recorded history. The modern craft beer renaissance began with CAMRA's founding in 1971 as a response to keg beer dominance, and gained momentum with BrewDog's founding in 2007. The 2010s saw an explosion of small breweries inspired by the US craft beer model and enabled by reduced government duty for small producers (Progressive Beer Duty, introduced 2002).

The UK's craft beer renaissance since approximately 2010 has produced some of the world's most exciting and innovative beer — simultaneously honouring the tradition of British cask ale (upheld by CAMRA since 1971) and embracing the American craft beer revolution's hop-forward innovation. The catalyst was BrewDog (founded 2007 by James Watt and Martin Dickie in Fraserburgh, Scotland), whose aggressive marketing, extreme beers (Tactical Nuclear Penguin, End of History), and equity crowdfunding model demonstrated that British craft beer could be commercially and culturally significant at a national scale. Since then, Cloudwater Brew Co (Manchester), The Kernel Brewery (London), Beavertown Brewery (London), Moor Beer (Bristol), Thornbridge Brewery (Derbyshire), Burning Sky (East Sussex), Verdant Brewing (Cornwall), and Deya Brewing (Cheltenham) have produced world-class beers that influence craft brewers globally. The Kernel's consistent production of remarkable NEIPA, pale ales, and porters from small batches, without packaging or marketing investment, made it arguably the most respected small brewery in the world by the mid-2010s.

FOOD PAIRING: UK craft beer is inseparable from British food culture from the Provenance 1000 recipes. The Kernel Pale Ale: Cheddar Ploughman's, Smoked Salmon with Brown Bread and Butter, Fish and Chips. Cloudwater NEIPA: Thai Green Curry, Vietnamese Rolls, Pulled Pork Bao. Thornbridge Jaipur IPA: Chicken Tikka Masala (the British curry connection is apposite), Cheddar Arancini. Harvey's Best: Steak and Kidney Pie, Stilton, Roast Chicken.