Beer connoisseur and pub campaigner, Mark gives us his decision on the tastiest beer he has sampled in the last seven days. Mark has been highlighting the values of Britain’s favourite drink for many years. He is a member of the British Guild of Beer Writers. Follow @realaleupnorth on Twitter.

I have decided to swerve my beer of the week, to highlight the closure of another valued microbrewery. Burnley brewer, Worsthorne Brewing Company, sadly rolled out their beers for a final time last week. This following the recent closure of Naylor’s Brewery, near Keighley.

Worsthorne Brewery commenced brewing in 2011, under the guidance of head brewer and owner, Michael Whittaker. His traditional cask beers quickly gained a fine reputation and following, in East Lancashire and beyond. They had brewed a wide range of traditional cask conditioned ales at their microbrewery in Harle Syke.

The owner had said that it had been extremely difficult in the last couple of years for small, independent businesses. This being a reference to the tough restrictions caused by the Covid pandemic.

Ironically, I sampled their excellent Blackthorne stout, only a few days ago at my local pub, the Craven Heifer. The pub is only a short walk to the brewery. The beer was a fine balance of roasted grains and tangy flavoured hops - it will be sadly missed by many cask ale drinkers. The brewery’s demise is another blow for the brewing industry and traditional beer drinkers.