This week I wish to highlight how I am witnessing the continued burgeoning growth of local microbrewery beers. And how they are providing discerning ale drinkers an alternative choice to national brands.

Now, I can understand that some traditional ale drinking brethren, may be a tad dismayed that their favourite nationally-brewed potions are becoming more of a rare species on the serving counter.

However, it is obvious (even with my poor eyesight), that locally sourced beers are shunting national brands into the sidings - and I will tell you why.

Firstly, I never thought the Guinness brand would become redundant in preference for a dark mild beer brewed by a microbrewery. However, this has happened in a pub I regularly visit in the locality.

Even more revealing was the admission by a pub tenant, that she had jettisoned both the Guinness and Carlsberg brands, in favour of smaller brewery alternatives.

I drop in, from time to time, at a local Wetherspoon's watering hole, namely, the Boot Inn, Burnley. They have a choice of 10 cask ales. Here, I regularly identify five local microbrewery beers. In fact, eight of the 10 are beers produced by microbreweries!

Our palates are demanding more variety in taste, no argument. And microbreweries are satisfying that demand with their eclectic range of flavours and styles. Let's be honest, some national brands now taste rather bland in comparison.

I recently reviewed the Gannow Wharf pub in Burnley. A tip-top range of delicious beers were on offer - and to suit all tastes. Six in total - and all brewed about a mile up the road at the Reedley Hallows Brewery.

This dedicated dispense method is replicated at the Black Bull, on the outskirts of Blackburn. Here, there are nine, yes nine, Three B's ales on offer. All freshly brewed from the microbrewery at the rear of this superb watering hole.

Local microbrewery beers also appear to have a firm foothold down at the local 'offy'. I visited one last week to find Three B's (Blackburn), Reedley Hallows (Burnley) and Bowland (Clitheroe) bottled beers, vying for shelf space with the more recognised national brewers.

To be quite candid, the vast majority of sagacious slurpers are most thankful to witness the emergence and presence of microbrewery beers down the 'local'. And we tip our hats for their range of quality quaffs.

The beery tasting track is undoubtedly changing its course. The national brands are being shunted into the sidings, in my humble opinion. As the microbrewery beers steam into our local pubs.

So, are national beer brands destined to hit the buffers at your local pub? Maybe they have already been derailed.