Something is happening on Bradford’s Westgate, and not in the “loads of police up there” kind of way that’s characterised a less-than-glamourous part of town in recent years. Where there was once a derelict factory, a microbrewery, complete with plush on-site pub, pie shop and bohemian branding, is set to open up shop this month, bringing back brewing to the city centre for the first time in 60-odd years.

The Bradford Brewery is one of the higher-profile stars of BD1’s burgeoning craft beer scene, which has so far notched up at least nine new watering holes in quick succession – something of an unprecedented phenomenon in a city centre more accustomed to bookies than bierkeller.

On North Parade, a handsome street just a short stagger from the new brewery, signs of a craft beery revolution are everywhere. The payday lender (still up-and-running on Google street-view) has been replaced by The Record Café, which flogs vinyl alongside craft ale and charcuterie. Once dilapidated units are now delis; a posh gastropub has replaced a vacant shop; and a beardy barman with tattoo sleeves mans the pumps at the acclaimed Sparrow bier café. The parade has now become a destination in its own right, and there isn’t a 2-4-1 on alcopops or branded Carling glass in sight.

The Sparrow, a Bradford trailblazer Photograph: The Sparrow

Many have cited early bird arrival The Sparrow as being the catalyst for North Parade’s own little ale trail, and the pub has gone on to be a huge success in its own right, having teamed up with Gordon Ramsay’s favourite Indian restaurant Prashad to launch Bundobust in Leeds. But both growing confidence from within the city and the council-funded Growth Zone initiative can also be lauded for championing the hospitality offering in this increasingly vibrant neighbourhood.

Five new indie food and drink venues on North Parade alone join new pubs and restaurants elsewhere in the city centre who’ve only been able to set up shop thanks to the Growth Zone – which offers capital grants and rate rebates for every new job created. The scheme was initially set up to entice retailers into the stalled Westfield development, but is having a much more tangible effect on the city’s flagging (and in places non-existent) nighttime economy. David Robertson-Brown is director of Gumption, a small Bradford-based consultancy contracted to the City Council to deliver the Growth Zone support. His approach to regeneration is refreshingly no nonsense and he tells us that going for the craft beer crowd was no happy accident.

“With standards rising and more openings on the way, clusters of bars are being created and becoming USPs [unique selling points] for the city, just like City Park and the National Media Museum. Wooing back our community has always been key to this,” says Robertson-Brown, insisting that the optimism is tangible. “You can see it on social media and sense it in the air. It sounds corny, but there’s a vibe. The operators tend to be a cool, savvy bunch prepared to take risks and define their offerings away from the old guard traditional pub offer and, just as importantly, see themselves as attractions too so work together to maximise the destination pull. We’re not there yet and still have plenty of issues to deal with. But with our feet firmly on the ground and sleeves rolled up, it’s all looking good.”

No-one in town, Robertson-Brown included, is seeing this hop-fuelled success story through rose-tinted glasses – or beer goggles, for that matter. And there’s a long way to go before Bradford can stop worrying about the state of its shop front. Of all the big high street restaurant names aggressively expanding – the likes of BrewDog, Byron et al – not one of them has Bradford in its sights, and many local groups are frustrated that the city’s not quite as on the radar as they’d like it to be.

Westfield, while undoubtedly the most significant retail development in over a decade, has so far failed to get pulses racing with its lacklustre list of signed-up tenants, and threatens to have an adverse affect on the “top end” of town. At a recent meeting of the Bradford Civic Society, the council leader himself acknowledged that vast swathes of Darley Street could be abandoned once the new centre opens, putting even more pressure on the indie businesses who’ve set up shop in recent months.

Yet these worries fail to detract from the remarkable success and ambitions of Bradford’s burgeoning craft ale scene, and merely add fuel to many a heated pub debate about the city’s future. And with more independent bars and restaurants in the pipeline (as well as a seriously awesome subterranean complex of drinking dens coming later in the year) you’d have to be a real killjoy not to raise a glass to Bradford’s beer-fuelled renaissance.

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