Yeah it’s still very much like that and I don’t have a problem with this approach, I guess that it has gone some way to ensure the survival of many small breweries that would otherwise struggle to get recognised. But there are outlets such as Biervana in München and the Bierothek chain of beer stores where you can walk in and be guaranteed a decent selection of UK beers.
However since COVID I have upper my online game hugely, I always did a lot of online shopping in the UK as I didn’t really live close enough to that many great physical stores, but I do much more online now. The likes of Beyondbeer webshop Hamburg (btw I understand that they also have an impressive physical location) keep my Pentrich and Thornbridge topped up, as does Savuer Biere webshop France for Thornbridge and Vocation and Etre Gourmet webshop Grez-Dorcieau Belgium for Buxton, Siren ok I know they’re not Yorkshire, and then there are a number of places in the Netherlands and Scandinavia that I use which are also great for UK beers.
Together they’d be my second highest county (just one rate behind London) and my third highest country (after England and Scotland), accounting for 7.8% of my English rates and 5.8% of my total rates (percentages unchaged since 2 years ago).
Could easily pick up plenty of new rates for North and West with a bimble round ny local supermarkets. However, I prefer to focus on my less rated regions (sadly though East & South are harder to find).
A meagre total of 290 for me - mostly from West and North (coincidentally the parts with the strongest Norwegian heritage), and Leeds United is my favourite English football team. I really need a more extensive and beer-oriented visit - but then: money, money …
