Hop Forward: Getting You Ahead in the Brewing and Beer Business

On this week's episode of the Hop Forward Podcast we talk to Master Brewer, Paddy Johnson, from WeBrew - home to the Windsor & Eton and Uprising brands - all about brewing and some of the challenges the industry faces in 2020. Having been in the brewing industry for over 40 years, my guest today has worked at 9 breweries in the UK, Australia and Canada. He was Area Production Director at the l...

The heart and soul behind every brewery are its people. Whether that’s the Head Brewer, shift brewers, the sales force, marketing departments, accountants, cellarmen, the dray runners, tap room staff, administrators, and all the other weird and wonderful characters that make up a brewery operation - they all contribute to that tingling taste that tantalize the taste buds at the end of the working...

Cast your mind back to the first ever pint of Landlord from West Yorkshire brewery Timothy Taylor’s . What was it like? I'm sure there's not a beer drinker out there who hasn't experienced the delightful tingle of a cask conditioned pint tingling on the tongue with zety notes, a thick creamy head; the unique taste pulled together from the Knowle Spring well; Simpson's Golden Promise malt; zesty an...

Recorded live at the January SIBA North & East Region meeting at Rooster's Tap Room in Harrogate, Hop Forward's Creative Director and podcast host - Nick Law - gave a presentation on why he thinks great beer needs both a great brand and a great business to back it up. To accompany this episode, download the brand audit sheet . Follow us on social media @hopforwardbeers Subscribe to the podcast...

Imagine having a mystery shopper come into your brewery tap room or shop and assess how you and the team are doing from a customer experience perspective. Well, that's what Andrew Coplan who runs The Secret Hopper does for brewers across the United States of America. With over 8000 breweries now in operation - and that figure still steadily rising - it is no longer enough just to 'brew great beer'...

Coming from a traditional sales background where he learned the ropes, David Laird - also known as the Bearded Beer Baron - moved into the beer industry working for Beer52, helping to retain customers and develop and grow Ferment magazine. Having done a stint at Cara Technology - working with yeast - David is now a consultant working with brands such as Flavourly and breweries like Loch Lomond up...

As an industry, we’ve come a long way over the past 10 years. But at the start of a new decade, there's no denying that British beer has a tough job ahead of it. Whereas many of the slogans and marketing phrases that small, independent brewers used to pride themselves are now, sadly, meaningless; and as consumer demand for newer, bolder, wilder and more extreme beers only increases, solely relying...

HOPPY CHRISTMAS everybody! We'll be taking a short break over the festive period for some much needed rest, time to regroup and let the creative juices flow again, and tuck into a bottle of 2018's Goose Island Bourbon County Stout. In this short mini-episode, Nick shares a few pearls of wisdom from his experience in the beer industry over Christmas time, and several things to look forward to in 20...

After seeing a decline in milk sales from local customers and being hit hard by supermarket pricing, the Sheffield born and bred Gill family looked for an alternative to dairy farming, including furniture making. In an epiphany moment, they decided to take their love of beer, sell their cattle and, in 2005, with help of government funding, start Bradfield Brewery. Since then, Bradfield Brewery has...

Hailing from Barnsley, South Yorkshire (UK), beer illustrator and artist Lewy Lewy discusses what it takes to create bespoke artwork for craft breweries in this week's episode of the Hop Forward Podcast. Having undertaken an art degree in Birmingham, Lewis Ryan moved into a role as a creative director for a marketing firm before realising his passion lay with illustrating for breweries and musicia...

“50 episodes? That’s one more than 49!” observes The Sheffield Brewery Company’s Paddy Spencer in this week’s anniversary episode of the Hop Forward Podcast. To celebrate episode 50, Nick and guest presenter Paddy Spencer travel deep into the rolling hills of Derbyshire for an extended episode, sampling smoked beers at Torrside Brewing’s annual Smokefest, catching up with Peter from the small team...

Ask any brewer in the industry about a near-miss they've had in the brewhouse and you'll be met with countless stories, some told as anecdotes and some recounted with tentative trepidation, most of all ending with the sentence, 'It could have been so much worse!' But for some, unfortunately, near-misses aren't misses at all: they are fully fledged accidents and incidents, often resulting in life-a...

Roger Protz is one of the world's leading beer writers, historians, lecturers and tasters With over 20 books under his belt on the subject, he has also edited more than 20 editions of the annual CAMRA Good Beer Guide, given many public tutored beer tastings, including the annual Great British Beer Festival among many others, and campaigned tirelessly for CAMRA in the fight for cask conditioned rea...

This week, we head over to the dark side with Wander Beyond Brewing's Head Brewer, Mat Breslin, as we talk about brewing and barrel aging high gravity beers such as Imperial Stouts, Milkshake IPAs and fruited Berliner Weisse. Mat talks about some of the techniques behind creating such big beers, along with pitching their beers to consumers in and beyond Manchester. Follow us on social media @hopfo...

Is there anything more alluring to a brewer than shiny stainless steel? We think not! But where should you start when looking to purchase equipment or upgrade your existing brewhouse? Should you go steam powered, direct gas fired, or electric? Do you go RTJ, Tri-camp or DIN? And what are the essentials you need to include in your budget and the nice-to-haves you can live without for a while? While...

In 21st Century life, we are becoming increasingly conscious about our plastic consumption and our carbon footprint upon the earth. Yet, for many of us, we don't stop to think about another source equally as damaging to the planet: food waste. Toast Ales are playing their part by creating beers brewed using surplus and wasted bread, partnering with other breweries to breakdown the loafs, mash in,...

On the Hop Forward Podcast this week, we sit down with Lincoln Green Brewing Co. owner and SIBA Chair of the Midlands Region Anthony Hughes to talk about how partnering with an established pub company has helped build a sustainable business, which predominantly - but not exclusively - produces cask beers. Anthony also talks about the role of SIBA in today's landscape and shares his thoughts on how...

Cask beer: there really is nothing quite like a sparkling pint of the creamy headed golden stuff. And yet, why does it suffer so much from bad press and Untappd reviews that make reviews in the Sunday Times look moderately tame? Why can you visit one pub and have a luscious, flavoursome experience, yet walk several hundred yards to the next venue, drink the same branded beer and be served with a p...

Gazz Prescott - formerly of Hop Craft - and Sue Hayward, from the now closed Waen Brewery in central Wales join us on the Hop Forward Podcast this with, along with a cameo appearance from Dave Unpronounceable, to discuss the realities that face many small brewers in the UK. Over shots of rum in the Harlequin, Sheffield, Gazza, Dave, Sue and Nick dissect the industry, beer trends, and the ingredien...

Brewery travel writer, Joel Geier, shares his observations and thoughts from his travels across America, sampling everything from 30L commercial home brewers selling from a residential property, through to breweries with a national footprint. Joel talks about the trends in American craft beer and why the USA is so diverse when it comes to its beer selection and tap room offers. And Nick shares his...

On the Hop Forward Podcast, we travel to Notting Hill, London, to meet Nick Dolan and Tim Peyton from independent bottle shop Real Ale Ltd. Having been running shops across London for 14 years, Nick and the team have been championing locally brewed, high quality beers ever since and were one of the first shops to stock Punk IPA in can, which - at the time - seemed like a novel idea. It’s hard to i...

Independence. It's a word that conjures up lots of emotions. When independent breweries sell-up to global beer businesses, many supporters and followers feel a wide range of feelings; everything from a slight tinge of sadness to complete and utter betrayal. But is independence really that black and white? How can we fully know where our produce comes from? Can we really slam a business for selling...

This week on the Hop Forward Podcast, Nick shares some of his personal journey as to why he left the megachurch to start a microbrewery and visits a brewpub based in the heart of Hackney, associated with the local parish church, Hackney Church. General Manager, Luke Scanlon, and Head Brewer, Ryan Robbins, and the team have created a welcoming space that everyone can enjoy that gives back to the lo...

This week on the Hop Forward Podcast we are joined by Five Points Brewing Company Marketing Manager, Claudia Mayne, in the Pembury Tavern, Hackney, talking all about core range beers, branding, cask beer and cellaring, and the future of the British pub. Nick also shares on the importance of taking a break every once in a while. Today's episode is sponsored by BIG: a beer festival celebrating the n...

BrewBroker are a company that connects brewers to breweries, brands to beers within the global marketplace. Whereas contract brewing once had - and some would argue, still does - a stigma attached to it, many brands and breweries are turning to resources much larger than their own to have their beers brewed on their behalf. For many breweries with spare capacity, it also offers a good opportunity...