Sheffield Beer Week: 'Is Sheffield still the best city in the world for beer?' asks Barnsley born craft writer

Sheffield is the world's best city for beer and the home of Britain's craft beer movement, according to a university-backed report from 2016.

That report helped boost the local beer industry to new levels, with it's findings prompting start-up to choose Sheffield over other locations.

However, that report is to be revisited, revised and updated - as the University of Sheffield once again team up with legendary beer writer, Pete Brown.

Pete, who was born in Barnsley and is now one of the UK's most respected and well known beer writers, said that in 2016 there were "way more breweries per capita than London" and "it will be interesting to see if that is still true".

The nearly eight-year-old report found Sheffield to be the birthplace of the craft beer movement in Britain, which started with Kelham Island Brewery in the 1990s.

Pete said: "It was a small independent brewery putting out great beers... Sheffield now has an amazing number of breweries in the city."

However, in light of the growing popularity of independent craft beer across the country, both Pete and Sheffield University's Professor Vanessa Toulmin, felt it was time to revisit the glowing report.

Ms Toulmin said: "The first report had a huge impact on how Sheffield is seen, particularly in terms of the visitor economy... But the numbers in it are now nearly eight years out of date. It’s clear that the report is valuable, so we have to have an updated version."

The 2016 report's impact on the city is best showcased in the St Mars of the Desert brewery based in Attercliffe - who Pete said chose to set-up in Sheffield following the findings of the Beer City Report.

Four time beer writer of the year, Pete added that Manchester has "had some good development" in the brewery scene and it would be "nice to create a friendly rivalry".

Though Sheffield's biggest threat is said to be Norwich, which Pete believes is "one of the nicest places to have a beer", but lacks the sheer number of in-city breweries the Steel City has.

He said: "Sheffield is still a great city to drink beer in, but like everywhere else, brewing and hospitality have been hit by Covid and the cost-of-living crisis.

"Some brewers have closed, but other new ones have opened. I get the sense that the Sheffield beer scene is actually more interesting and diverse than it was, even more of an attraction to the city and the region than it was in 2016, but I’m very keen to put some numbers on that and dig deeper."

Creating the report will involve "drinking plenty of beer", but it was stressed how important it is to put numbers and data to the findings.

The 2016 Sheffield Beer City Report found Sheffield has one brewery for every 23,991 people; on a typical day, 400 different unique beers were available in the city's pubs; and breweries in the Sheffield city region turn out over 1,000 different beers a year.

The updated report will be published to coincide with the 2024 Sheffield Beer Week, due to take place across the city in March next year.