HOW do you fancy a Wharfedale Blonde? Or maybe there’s enough money in the kitty for a Chairman Miaow?

Those are just two of the local beers mentioned in a new book for ale aficionados - the Yorkshire Beer Bible, now published in its updated third edition.

The Blonde is courtesy of the Wharfedale Brewery, based at the Flying Duck Pub in Ilkley, while the Chairman Miaow is the product of the Bini Brew Co., also in the town.

Beer writer Simon Jenkins has travelled the length and breadth of God’s Own County to sample the wares of Yorkshire’s brewers, be they the big guns or newcomer micro-breweries.

Well, it’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it.

His findings include traditional brewers producing time-honoured beers in slate Yorkshire squares, to the new-wave craft brewers embracing a dizzying variety of imported hops; from the ancient brewer hemmed in by a tight knot of cobbled streets to the brewery founded in a garden shed as a lockdown project.

Out now from Great Northern Books, The Yorkshire Beer Bible is a fully-illustrated hardback that will delight any real ale fan, and details Simon’s views on the 180 breweries of all shapes and sizes that he came across.

And, reports, Simon, the industry is in rude health, despite the challenges facing it. He said: “Somehow, miraculously, the Yorkshire brewing scene seems as diverse and exciting as ever.

“And optimistic too, even as the costs of production spiral upwards and the storm-clouds of a global recession seem to gather on the horizon.

“So many of those I spoke to continue to trade with imagination and confidence; many credited the loyalty of their customers with redoubling their efforts, and galvanising their determination to pull through.”

Simon said that on his many visits to breweries around Yorkshire over the past year he’s learned how businesses respond to challenging circumstances and adapt to survive.

He said: “Those with canning and bottling lines and healthy supermarket contracts were perhaps best insulated against the sudden closure of the on-trade.

“Others were forced to rapidly change tack, building on-line shopping websites, offering carry-out services from the brewery, and establishing new partnerships to package their beer. Some took Government support; many had to furlough staff.

“That so many came through – albeit on a wing and a prayer – is huge testament to their ingenuity and determination, and speaks volumes for their customers’ loyalty to locally-brewed, crafted Yorkshire beer.”

That said, of the 200 or so Yorkshire brewers featured in the 2019 edition of the book, only three-quarters of those are still trading. Simon added: “Just as Covid-19 seemed almost arbitrary in who it affected the most - we have lost wonderful small producers as well as some mighty beasts.

“But remarkably, through this period of attrition for our industry a trickle of new contenders have emerged. Some were already in the embryonic phase before the pandemic, others forged their business model to suit the lockdown world, and are growing from there. More than 30 breweries are making their first appearance in the book.”

The Yorkshire Beer Bible – 3rd Edition is published by Great Northern Books and is out now.