1. Quality, Balance & Drinkability
Head Brewer wanted:
“Must have the ability to produce great
beers whilst being a public relations officer,
agricultural consultant, psychiatrist,
accountant, nursemaid and diplomat.”
Adapted from Doug Insole’s description of what makes a cricket captain

2. A brewers advice to his lad
• A head brewer is externally judged on the quality of his beers.
• Great session beers and premium ales through to niche beers for the
connoisseur.
• Unique raw materials as well as novel ways to use traditional ingredients.
• Internally judged on their ability to run a brewery, where quality and
great beer becomes a given.
• The purchasing of quality raw materials and their appropriate and
efficient use in the brewery is vital, the balance of what is a quality
ingredient, what is commercially astute and what is PR.
• There is a balance but never sacrifice quality and don’t brew a beer that
costs the earth and is undrinkable.

3. MALT
• Quality and fit for purpose
• Variety
• Specification
• Continuity of supply
• How many suppliers
• Supply, quality and leverage
• Commercial reality
• Local supply
• Speciality malts
• Crystal, Chocolate, Amber, Munich, Aromatic …….
• Organic

4. HOPS
• Protection of recipe and character
• UK vs non UK
• Challenges to the UK grower
• Niche hops and exciting flavours vs overtly
bitter and undrinkable
• Vindaloo doesn’t work every time
• Beer styles
• Challenges to the UK grower

5. YEAST
• Top
• Bottom
• Flocculation
• Flavours
• Unique or otherwise
• BUT remember
- It is a living organism and just like you and I it
reacts differently when put in environments it likes
or dislikes

6. LIQUOR
• Ensure you make the most of what you have.
• Borehole vs mains
• Calcium
• pH, buffering. Physical and microbial stability
• Impact of brewing salts on flavour
• If the brewer does not understand the basics
of liquor they leave themselves open to
inconsistency and instability.

7. NPD
• Don’t be scared, be brave
• Opportunity to experiment with:
– Malt flavour and colour
– Hops
– Yeast if you so desire
– ABV
– Colour
• But much much more
– Bitterness, sweetness balance
– Novel ingredients
– Niche beers
• A portfolio of beers
– Light, dark, malty, biscuity
– Hoppy, estery, bitter, sweet
– Strong, weak
– Novel flavours

8. Use what you want to create
• Quality beer should be a given
• Breadth of beers
• Brewed for the consumer, it does need to sell
• PR
• A plethora of traditional and novel ingredients
• The right raw materials for the right beer
• Never sacrifice quality
• Have fun