Increase in Midlands breweries

With a total of almost 250 breweries across the region, more than 40 have started up in the last year, the Good Beer Guide said.

The UK has seen a 14% increase overall, the organisation said.

Eighteen new breweries have opened in the West Midlands in the last year, the Good Beer Guide said.

The number of breweries have increased by more than a fifth, despite reports of declining beer sales in the first half of 2013 by the British Beer and Pub Association.

The number of breweries in the East Midlands has increased by almost a quarter in the last year.

The Good Beer Guide says twenty three new ones have opened, taking the total to 133.

It is despite a report by the British Beer and Pub Association of declining beer sales in the first half of this year.