Richard Hamer is the owner of Blue Sky Public Relations in Otley.

I think it's pretty accurate to say that when we first start drinking our first quaff is usually - for men at least - some kind of beer. That first taste is not always a pleasant one; bitter is called bitter for a reason, but nonetheless we persevere and before we know it our tastebuds yearn for more.

So you've got your taste for beer, and for many this is seen as a rite of passage from a being a teen to becoming a man, but for some reason all this can change for many people when they reach 30.

For some unaccountable reason a lot of the male population suddenly decide that beer is not for them, it has to be wine, and before they can say sommelier, or even spell it, they are reading the wine columns in the weekend broadsheets and pestering the young assistant in their local off-licence for this or that bottle.

Is there some kind of snobbery attached to this change; is it a sign of maturity or is it a way of saying "I've made it"? Whatever "it" may be. However those who carry on flying the flag for beer are now often looked down upon. Why? Is it because wine drinkers think they have become middle class, while beer drinkers are working class?

The current plethora of cookery programmes always seem to feature wine. Why? Does anyone remember the last time there was a feature on which beer to drink with which food? And what other industry apart from wine could support such a person as a sommelier, and get away with it?

There's definitely a snobbery attached, but if wine drinkers bothered to look up from their latest copy of Oz Clarke's Wine Buying Guide and took time out to discover beer they would find it's just as exciting - if not more so, but then I am biased.

You see beer, and I'm talking cask ale, not products such as Creamflow or Smoothflow - which is something else altogether and involves nitrogen, and I suggest it is avoided - only has four ingredients: water, hops, malted barley, and yeast.

It's the water that is key, which is one reason why Keighley currently has six breweries in or around the town. People don't realise just how much water tastes. Combine this with the hops and malted barley, of which there are hundreds of varieties, and you end up with an infinite number of brews that can be made. All natural ingredients; and no chemicals involved.

Both wine and beer are as old as the hills, and there's room for both in our culture, but please put an end to this snobbery. And one more point, by drinking real ale you'll be supporting a British industry that is offering more variety than ever before.