Competent brewer initially brought in beer (4)
I believe the answer is:
able
'competent' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'brewer initially brought in beer' is the wordplay.
'initially' says to take the initial letters.
'brought in' is an insertion indicator.
'beer' becomes 'ale' (I've seen this before).
The first letter of 'brewer' is 'b'.
'b' inserted inside 'ale' is 'ABLE'.
(Other definitions for able that I've seen before include "Clever skilful" , "As capable as a mariner" , "displaying skill" , "Competent as, say, sailor" , "accomplished" .)