Brewers Journal Podcast

The popularity of no-and-low alcohol, as well as the resurgence of fruit-forward beers, are proving to be the headlines in brewing that simply won’t go away. And for good reason, too. Consumer demands are changing across the globe and it’s up to brewers to cater for these evolving tastes. As CEO and president of the World Brewing Alliance (WBA), Justin Kissinger has seen first-hand how these sectors remain in growth and also how the industry is reacting in kind. The WBA represents 70% of the world’s beer production and brings together brewers such as ABInBev, Molson Coors, Heineken and Carlsberg and brewing trade associations from around the world, with Kissinger observing how businesses are adapting to cater for consumers across the new drinking landscape. Kissinger has extensive experience as a senior leader at the intersection of business, government and international affairs, including work at Heineken and the U.S. House of Representatives, and his brings that expertise to representing the beer category that he knows and loves. In this episode he talks about what excites him in modern beer and explains why, as consumer drinking habits change and evolve, he’s imploring breweries take grasp the opportunity presented to them.

What does the brewer of tomorrow look like? Well, who better to ask than the recipient of our 2026 Brewers Choice Lifetime Achievement Award… Since starting Gadds’ The Ramsgate Brewery back in 2002, Eddie Gadd has shown an unwavering commitment to using Kentish hops as frequently as possible in the beers he brew. And as an engineer at heart, Eddie has placed sustainability at the forefront of the business. The business installed a pioneering CO2 recovery plant, which is considered a feat of engineering for a small 5000hl brewery, and the first of its kind in the UK. He has also embraced and championed sustainability more broadly, including installing solar panels at the brewery and helping other brewers to brew more responsibly. Gadds’ is is also utilising a patented technology called ‘simmer and strip’. This uses gas-sparging to achieve the objectives of wort boiling without the energy-intensive requirement. “I feel the more complete brewer in 10 years’ time will understand simmer and strip technology more fully and be pulling all of the levers available to them every day. They can save money, save some energy, and also extend the shelf life of the beers we make.” And for Eddie, he believes that many more breweries will be benefiting from this the future. That’s why he recently shared his expertise during his Brewers Congress talk in London and also during this episode of The Brewers Journal Podcast. He talks us through the early days of his career but also, more pertinently, what the future looks like for the wider sector.

How did you get into the world of beer? The beauty of the sector is that we’ve all come into it from different backgrounds, with different perspectives and with different stories to tell. For Edd Simpson, he has a wealth of expertise from the world of music, teaching and also the wine industry. Qualifications and lived experience that he draws upon as managing director of two Yorkshire brewing powerhouses. Edd is the managing director of Ossett Brewery and Salt Beer Factory. Running a brewing business is challenging enough, but he oversees a unique dynamic: managing a 28-year-old, well-established traditional cask regional brewer in Ossett, alongside Salt, a fast-growing, nationally recognised craft brand. Businesses he and the team have helped unify in recent years. At Ossett, the business is experiencing ongoing success with its flagship cask beer White Rat, while the newer White Rat Nitro is a creamy serve using White Rat’s cask recipe, but kegged and dispensed using nitrogen. And at SALT, its session IPA Alpacalypse produced in partnership with distributor Molson Coors, has gone from strength-to-strength since launching in January 2025. Since joining the brewing businesses, founded by industry powerhouse Jamie Lawson, Edd has relished the role of running and helping develop the Yorkshire brewing group. In this episode, we speak to Edd about his career to-date and how the opportunity to help run such a regarded brewing institution was an opportunity he couldn’t turn down. We discuss the company’s success with cask beer, alongside its recent foray into nitro, and how Alpacalypse continues to perform incredibly strongly for the brewery. Edd also outlines how the UK should do more collectively to celebrate the brilliant beers being made by the brilliant breweries this industry has to offer.

In Exeter’s buoyant and thriving beer scene, consumers are showing an appetite for best-in-class beers that span the style spectrum. And at Topsham Brewery, this local business is showing why fresh, sessionable beers can lead to sustainable growth, an excellent reputation and lots of happy drinkers. Under the guidance of head brewer Jamie Duffield, he and the team are presented with a welcome challenge. And that’s how to keep up with demand for their brewery-fresh beers served at the brewery and taproom in Exeter Quay. At their flagship venue, these beers are served direct from the serving tanks. So that means creating approachable, accessible beers that keep you coming back for more. And that’s exact what they’re doing. With expansion underway, Topsham is demonstrating that connecting with the consumer and your community is all-important when creating a successful business. 

The Green Goddess in Blackheath was named SIBA’s City Pub of the Year, just four years after it opened. Its landlords, Maryann and Stephen O’Conner, have focussed on building a community of beer lovers and locals, and a new South London tradition has been key to achieving this. On a Saturday this July, an old London Routermaster pub made its way between four South London bars. The bus tour, known as Shirk, Rust and Pray, takes customers between two branches of the Rusty Bucket, in Bexley and Eltham; the Shirker’s Rest, in New Cross; and the Green Goddess in Blackheath. The bus is driven for much of the journey by Stephen O’Connor of the Green Goddess. And the event drives trade to all of the pubs…

In 2025 year RedWillow Brewery raised a glass to 15 years of brewing bold, balanced beers. They marked the milestone with a packed calendar of collaborations, reimagined classics, and monthly giveaways, as well as a recent haul of prestigious awards. And at our Brewers Choice Awards in London next month Toby McKenzie, who started the business with Caroline McKenzie, is shortlisted for our prestigious ‘Brewer of The Year’ accolade. So what better time to revisit our conversation with Toby from last year? Starting out in 2010, RedWillow Brewery has long since established itself as a leading light in UK brewing. Founded by Toby and Caroline McKenzie, the business has grown and evolved without ever undermining its core values. To mark this prestigious anniversary last year, RedWillow launched a year-long series of collaborations with some of the UK’s most respected breweries, including DEYA, Lost and Grounded, The Kernel, Thornbridge and more. These limited-edition beers rolled out throughout 2025, showcasing the creativity and community spirit that continues to drive the UK craft beer scene. And for Toby, the occasion gave him and the team the opportunity to reflect on a job well done. A brewery that was inspired by their early peers is now one that is revered and regarded by countless others. In this episode we take a whistle stop look back on the brewery’s journey to-date and discuss the creativity, passion, and friendships that make this industry so special.

Consistency, quality and reliability are all characteristics that brewers strive for in the beers they produce. They are also attributes that consumers seek out when navigating the tap lines and bustling fridges across UK bottle-shops. A sense of familiarity, and trust, is something that more and more drinkers desire when spending their hard-earned money on the beers they love. And for Pietro Maltinti, head brewer at Deya Brewing Company in Cheltenham, those qualities are what he calls the “secret sauce” that make the brewery’s range of beers such as Steady Rolling Man, Boost and Magazine Cover so popular. Beers that been dialled in, evolved and improved over time. In this episode he tells us that Deya’s ethos is about treating the ingredients and brewing process with due care and attention and how to be part of a team where the head brewer should never try to a “hero” who does everything themselves. Instead, Pietro says the secret to a successful brewery is the team behind it. And you nurture that by focusing on coaching your staff, fostering internal talent, and ultimately trying to build systems that make a head brewer like him no longer needed on the brewery floor.

Richard Bradbury is the managing director at Theakston. An independent, family brewing company founded in 1827, the business is located in the Yorkshire Dales market town of Masham, North Yorkshire, controlled by 5th generation direct family descendants of the founder, Robert Theakston. As one of Britain’s oldest established family brewing companies Theakston is famed throughout the country and overseas for its wide range of premium ales brewed in their historic Victorian tower brewery. The business is chaired by Simon Theakston, with his son William joining the company in 2024. And since 2023, Richard Bradbury has led the business operations in that role of managing director. As guardian of an institution known for such storied beers as Old Peculier, he is more than aware of the rich history Theakston boasts. A story that encompasses everything from world wars to economic highs and lows, and even takeovers and buy-backs throughout nearly two centuries of brewing. But as the business approaches such an important landmark in 2027, the focus at Theakston isn’t one of reflection but of relevance. And the company continues to ably demonstrate how to respect its heritage but operate highly effectively across the modern hospitality landscape.

2026 is proving to be another year of change and evolution for the brewing industry. Both in the UK and overseas. And with that, running a successful brewery is a challenge – and opportunity – that many of us are facing. With that in mind, we are revisiting a talk from our 2025 Brewers Congress, which focused on making strategic production choices and outlined why prioritising markets is key. Speaking in London was Marian Reed, the General Manager and Head of Business Development at Sudden Death Brewing in Lübeck, Germany. Throughout her career, she has been able to connect vision to actions, identify root causes and best outcomes, while managing team members in a way that best suits their own personal development arcs. And last year she flew into London to take part in our 2025 Brewers Congress. In her talk, Marian spoke on how to make strategic production choices via data management and how to prioritize markets and know where you best ‘fit’. She argued why people are essential to a great brewery and why owners and leadership have an obligation to keep the team as their number one priority. She also outlined that strategies vary, there is no one size fits all, so mix and match which approaches work best for your crew.

If you own a brewery, where did you source your brewhouse from? It might have come from one of the leading manufacturers and suppliers in the industry. Or perhaps it was a piece of loved, second-hand kit that needed a new home. You were unlikely, however, to have been chased around the streets of Vienna by an angry auctioneer looking for their money. But that’s exactly what happened, through no fault of his own, to Reece Hugill. And thankfully the whole saga would result in the creation of one of the UK’s finest breweries. In an industry often seduced by the pressure of relentless expansion, multi-site taprooms, and national supermarket listings, Reece Hugill has chosen a radically different path. As the founder behind Donzoko Brewing Company, he has built something that craft beer frequently preaches but rarely delivers: a fierce, uncompromising sense of place. In this episode of The Brewers Journal Podcast, we sit down with Reece to trace the winding, highly entertaining, and deeply passionate story of Donzoko. It is a journey that began when a Newcastle University chemistry student realised that brewing lager in a friend’s school kitchen during a study abroad year was far more soul-fulfilling than a life in the lab. After brewing stints in Edinburgh and navigating the uncertainties of the pandemic, Reece reached a critical turning point. Taking direct inspiration from the rustic Kellers and village brewpubs of Franconia, he brought Donzoko back to its emotional home in Newcastle upon Tyne, establishing a 10-hectolitre brewpub and taproom just around the corner from where his first beers were poured. Reece also shares his candid thoughts on why beer culture suffers when every brand is available everywhere, why true passion trumps rigid textbook numbers, and why creating a hyper-local hub for his community is the ultimate reward.