Fuller’s earth

This issue we chat to John Keeling, head brewer at London’s Fuller, Smith & Turner

How did you first get involved in beer?

I did not like school, so I left.

Unfortunately I forgot to tell my mother who got a bit miffed and found me a job in the local brewery – Wilsons Brewery in Newton Heath, which was part of the Watneys Group. As an avid Manchester United supporter, I was quite delighted to be there as Newton Heath was the original name for Manchester United and I used to play football for the brewery team on the original Newton Heath pitch. It’s the closest I got to being the David Beckham of the 1970s!

Having joined Wilsons, I realised I liked working in a brewery, and decided I wanted to becoming a brewer – so I packed my bags and headed off to Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, to study brewing and distilling. On graduating, I joined Fuller’s for a short stint that has so far lasted 26 years.

What is fashionable in beer at the moment?

Hoppy beers. People are forgetting about malty flavours in the dash to get as many hops in as possible.

What do you think we’ll be drinking in the future?

Malty beers, everything goes in cycles and I’m sure malt flavours will come back. That’s if the Government doesn’t finally ban alcohol altogether – in which case I’ll be drinking arsenic!

What’s the best thing about working in the beer business?

The people – it really is a people business from the maltster through to the brewer through to the landlord right to the drinker. One of my greatest pleasures, being head brewer, is getting out and about and speaking.....

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By John Keeling

Section : Last Shout

Page number : 74