>> 29 pictures that capture the boom in York's beer scene in the past five years.

DOZENS of new breweries, hundreds of new beers and stunning new pubs right across our region. It hasn’t been a bad five years, has it?

Back in 2009, amid a climate of doom and gloom, The Press launched Pints of View to celebrate the good news stories in our region’s pubs and breweries. Today, in the 250th column in the series, it seems timely to reflect on the astonishing changes we have witnessed.

Make no mistake, York has become one of the best beer cities in Britain, if not the very best. We have always been fortunate to have so many pubs, and such enchanting ones at that, but the increase in beer quality has been astronomical.

We are not alone, of course. Drinkers across the UK have benefited from the boom in the brewing industry, the craft beer movement, the rise of beer as a fashionable drink and the emergence of alternative voices to trusty-old-Camra. But York has benefited more than most.

Nowhere now has the intense concentration of quality that York city-centre does. Nowhere is as relentlessly captivating and pleasant for beer lovers.

We owe gratitude, above all, to two groups of people – the city’s landlords and the region’s brewers. Licensees or pub owners such as Shaun Collinge, Paul Crossman, Paul Marshall, Kev Jones and Jamie Hawksworth have been obsessive, bordering on maniacal, about sourcing brilliant new beers to give drinkers abundant choice.

Increased awareness of beer means there are more options from overseas – but fans of local produce have also been spoiled, thanks to that second group of heroes.

Since 2009, more than 15 new breweries have opened in York, North Yorkshire or East Yorkshire. Head across to West Yorkshire and the birth rate has been even more incredible. Breweries are springing up where you’d least expect them

Brass Castle and Bad Seed in Malton, North Riding in Scarborough and the Hop Studio in Elvington are producing beers that rank among the best in the country.

Half Moon in Ellerton is showing signs of similar brilliance, after only four months’ production. Cropton Brewery, reincarnated as Great Yorkshire, has become increasingly innovative, notably with Blackout, Chocolate Orange Stout and Santa’s Tipple

Treboom, Four Thorns and Yorkshire Heart have added to the excellence long displayed by older operations such as Rudgate and York Brewery. And in Goodmanham and Knaresborough, we have brew-pubs producing eco-friendly, home-produced beer of the highest quality.

Has it been all good news? Absolutely not. We have lost pubs, most notably in York’s suburbs. The genuinely negative drinking story for York in recent years has been the centralisation of the city’s beer scene to the detriment of close-knit outlying communities.

West York has been hit by the loss of The Locomotive, The Turf Tavern and The White Rose. The Junction fell by the wayside, despite a refurbishment and a brewing experiment. The Fox and Hounds in Copmanthorpe has also gone. The Reindeer followed The Magpie and The Groves Working Men’s Club down memory lane, leaving that community short of choice. Similarly, The Yearsley Grove on Huntington Road went the way of its near neighbour The Fossway.

There was little inherent individual charm in those pubs but they were valuable community hubs that have not been replaced. Drinkers who could once pop down their local now face a lousy choice between a trek to the city-centre and a bottle at home.

Within the city-centre though, the scene has got better and better. Brigantes and The Maltings have both expanded. The Hop, The House of Trembling Madness, The Duke of York, Sotano and York Tap have opened, giving the city a beer range unimaginable five years ago.

Other pubs have undergone welcome refurbishments and raised their game, The Cross Keys in Goodramgate being a good example. The Old Ebor in Nunnery Lane has shown what can be done with drive and determination, even against the threat of closure.

Venues such as The Attic now cater for those after great beer in a less traditional pub environment, and beer has also become more commonplace in dining venues, The Whippet Inn and Meltons Too being among the pacesetters.

Those outside York have also had cause to celebrate, thanks to bars such as The Harrogate Tap and The New Malton and while many village pubs have struggled others in the Moors and Wolds continue to excel. (If you don’t believe me, head to The Blacksmiths in Lastingham or The Wolds Inn in Huggate, for starters.)

Can the boom continue? It seems inevitable we will reach saturation point at some stage and York police have recently made clear that they want no more pubs or bars in the city-centre. But two new craft beer cafés have already been approved for Fossgate, two more breweries are planned for York this year, and various pubs across the city are undergoing positive refurbishments as we speak, including The Leeman Rose in Stamford Street East and The Fox in Holgate.

If such investment can be replicated elsewhere, creating more suburban pubs like The Deramore Arms in Heslington or Volunteer Arms in Holgate, then we could see be set for a win-win-win situation – the reinvigoration of neighbourhood hubs spelling good news for drinkers, landlords and city-centre police. Not to mention you and me.

Whatever lies around the corner, here’s to the next five years. Cheers!

>> 29 pictures that capture the boom in York's beer scene in the past five years.