It can be hard to feel positive about the UK sometimes. Prime ministers barely outlast the gestation of a ferret. The cost of, well, everything is spiralling.

Sean Ayling of Crewe’s Tom’s Tap has written about the sober reality for taphouses. He crunches the numbers of projected price rises: “I’m sad to say that we've received one hell of a shock this week with the new electricity pricing from our supplier.”

It is a story being told across the land, so the celebration of 20 years of Small Brewers Relief (SBR) was a welcome ray of sunshine, albeit on a relatively cloudy day. SIBA’s SBR@20 Report highlighted how beer duty relief has kickstarted hundreds of new breweries, “on a quest to create new and more interesting beers.”

I’ve always believed that breweries with taphouses were the most secure. You’ve got a direct route to market. You can choose what to brew and how much to charge the customer for it.

So I was shocked to hear about the closure of Sheffield’s Kelham Island Brewery in May. It was a real gut punch that such a well-loved name was closing its doors and a mild surprise to hear that the Fat Cat pub, the brewery tap, would remain open. The pub had been around nearly a decade before the brewery opened, and it lived on.

Kelham Island was founded in 1990, Sheffield’s first new independent brewery in a century. The late Dave Wickett starting a brewery at all was innovative and his use of American hops trailblazing. His success inspired a new generation of beer professionals. Even the mighty Thornbridge brewery traces its origins back to Dave and his game-changing achievement of winning Champion Beer of Britain in 2004.

It is the stuff of modern beer legend. Some have anointed Sheffield as the birthplace of the contemporary British craft beer scene. Arguably, Wickett put in motion a few of the wheels that led to SBR.

And if we’re honest, who among us hasn’t enjoyed a pint of the legendary Pale Rider? Well, if you haven’t, I’ve got good news. Kelham Island Brewery is back. Thanks to a consortium of Sheffield’s finest creatives and the co-founders of Thornbridge, the brewery has been rescued from the brink. Pale Rider on cask has galloped back to greet us and our arms are outstretched.

Though we toast one great victory, the war is far from won. What happens if you don’t have a merry band of relatively well-heeled local supporters?

You close.

Kelham Island is not the only wounded soldier in this economic war of attrition. Many other breweries, and notable brewpubs, are closing their doors for good. I keenly feel the loss of some of my personal favourites. The West End brewery in Leicester is set to close its doors at the end of the year. Leicester’s first brewpub, it has a devoted community of loyal regulars. But not enough, it would seem.

Also set to close imminently is Manchester’s Beer Nouveau. Steve Dunkley has done amazing things for the beer community. He makes wonderful recreations of historic recipes, as well as supporting numerous fledging beer and cider producers and home brewers in his welcoming railway arch.

Beer Nouveau also has a dedicated following, but it won’t be enough to carry it through. Interestingly, Steve still sees brewpubs as “the future of beer in the UK.” This is because SBR will soon become Small Producers Relief, promising a 100 per cent relief rate for the smallest producers of beer and cider in 2023.

According to Steve’s calculations, you could make about five kegs of 4 per cent beer a week and pay no duty on it. The savings could make it extremely enticing for pubs to invest in a bit of kit to brew their own in any available space. A 1BBL set up doesn’t need a lot of room and having house beer available could bring in new punters. Brewpubs could offer brew days and other side hustles to make some extra cash.

The last few years have wiped out any buffer of savings existing businesses like Steve’s had, so the change will come too late for him. “There's a bright, sunny future over the horizon,” he muses. “But it's still pissing it down where we are.”