THIS might not be the best time to be a captain of industry. But if you go down to your local independent brewery today, you won't hear talk of bailouts and Government intervention.

A recent report by the Society of Independent Brewers said that the British independent brewing sector grew by ten per cent in 2008. And that spike for the independents comes at the same time as a five-and-a-half per cent decrease across the entire sector.

SIBA – which will in several days announce the winners of its annual ale competition, held this year at Nottingham's Canalhouse pub – puts much of the success down to ethical beer consumers who look for local products with a low carbon footprint.

Of course, brewing a tasty pint doesn't hurt, either.

"It bucks all the trends, doesn't it?" said Phil Darby, chairman of independent real ale brewer Nottingham Brewery. "I think it all comes back to people don't mind paying a bit more for a quality product.

"Our sales are up big time. The December [Campaign for Real Ale] census put us as the most available micro-brewery beer in Nottingham.

"In the last 12 months we've seen huge increases in sales. We're in a very fortunate position. We've had an excellent year and we've had an excellent beginning to the year as well."

Meanwhile Castle Rock Brewery, Nottingham's largest, keeps looking for ways to expand. The "macro-micro" sells many of its beers in its own pubs. And at Castle Rock headquarters, there are few complaints.

"We've been practically putting on 20% growth per annum," chairman and chief executive Chris Holmes said. "We're already looking to squeeze more production out of the brewery.

"The demand for cask beer, real ale in particular, is holding up well, and if you're in that area you've got more than if you're selling kiddie winkie stuff on the high street."

What does that mean for the punter? An unprecedented amount of choice, said Spyke Golding, chairman of the Nottingham branch of the Campaign for Real Ale. Some pubs still don't sell any real ale, but the ones that do have a steadily growing list of local and regional tipples to put up on the bar.

"It's a very odd situation in Nottingham because when Camra started (in the 1970s), most pubs sold real ale in Nottingham, as opposed to London where only one in 18 sold real ale."

Typically though, it was all Home Brewery or Shipstone's. Today if you walked into a real-ale pub and ordered a pint of bitter, the bartender would likely ask which one. But not then.

"As those breweries went, we find that there is a smaller number of pubs selling real ale, but much more choice," Mr Golding said. "Much greater variety."

Mr Darby's brewery doesn't own its own small herd of pubs, but he can still find plenty of places that will take his product.

One recent afternoon, as he made a cask delivery to the Test Match in West Bridgford before heading on to the Globe, London Road, he said there were many independent pubs and some large chains willing to take on local independent ales.

"We do service all kinds of pubs," he said. "We service every place from the back-street boozer to the factory pub in the square. They all have our beer on. Some sell it cheap, some sell it expensive. I don't knock the price as long as people are getting value for money and what they want out of a pub."

And in difficult, uncertain times, he reckons breweries like his are brewing up the sort of product people want.

"What better way to cheer up," he said, "than with something that's worth drinking?"