Brewers Journal Podcast

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223

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Jun 2026

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EN-US

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The brewers industry podcast from the Brewers Journal and the Brewers Lectures

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June 10, 202619 min

#223 | Alternatives in Alcohol

It’s looking like some more excellent weather for much of the UK this weekend. And with higher temperatures and blissful sunshine, there is also an increased appetite for refreshing beautiful beverages. And while we primarily focus on the wonderful world of beer and brewing here at The Brewers Journal, it’s important to take time to look at the excellent innovation taking place across the wider world of drinks. So at our Brewers Congress last Autumn, we invited the team at Botivo to share their story. Botivo, which is non-alcoholic, is an intensely refreshing aperitivo with a bittersweet backbone, herbal notes and a tang of citrus. A big-sipping drink hand-blended in small batches at Lannock Farm, the Botivo blend of five raw ingredients takes over 1 year from start to finish. And the production manager at Botivo is Francesca Nikita Corradin. In her career Francesca has brewed across Europe and joined Botivo as a production supervisor in December 2023 before being promoted to production manager earlier in 2025. In London she was joined by Sam Paget-Steavenson, co-founder of Botivo, to share their experiences and expertise in creating and building a non-alcoholic brand. In addition to talking us through the process, they explained that we live in a world of moderation and we’re constantly told that less is better. So as a result, they created a drink that brings the true craft and depth of flavour we all see in the alcohol category to the non-alc category. And this meant using real ingredients, no flavourings and low intervention techniques. Image Credit: Botivo/Steven Joyce

June 3, 202635 min

#222 | Palindrome Brew Co

It’s official. Beer festival season is in full swing. We’re seeing new beers and new collaborations at every turn. What’s even better is that we’re seeing new breweries come to life, too. And in London last week, the capital’s latest brewing business sprung into life. So say hello to South London’s Palindrome Brew Co. Founded by Paul McTernan and Alin Sas, they’re on a mission to make their mark with a community-focused brewery that puts hazy, hop-forward beers at the fore. But that’s not to say you shouldn’t expect other styles, too. Combining Paul’s wealth of sales experience working for companies such as Verdant with Alin’s deep knowledge of the industry, they’ve also enlisted Shawn Vail. Shawn is a graduate of the Siebel Institute of Technology. Moving over from the USA, he has previously worked for Stone Brewing Co among others, too.And last Saturday the team made their festival debut at Drop Project’s excellent Friend’s Fest, pouring their maiden IPA and DIPA releases. So what better time to catch up with one of the UK’s most exciting new outfits. In this episode we speak with Paul to learn about how Palindrome came to be. Why leaving his dream job at Verdant was a step he needed to take and the brewery’s focus on kegged output. We also discuss how Shawn’s brewing prowess is already paying dividends and why figures such as Elusive Brewing’s Andy Parker played a key role in setting Paul on his own path in beer. Photo Credit: Chris Coulson

May 20, 202624 min

#221 | 13 years of Beautiful Beer

Starting this June we’re opening entries for the 2026 Brewers Choice Awards So what better time to revisit our visit to the 2024 winners of our ‘Brewery of the Year’ category – Wiper and True. The brewery, which is known for beers such as its Kaleidoscope Pale Ale, Milkshake Milk Stout and a wealth of other fantastic creations besides, toasts its 13th anniversary in 2026. Based in Bristol, their goal is clear – that’s to make beautiful beer. Whether it’s at their original site at St Werburgh’s, which is focused on barrel ageing and mixed fermentation, or their stunning new Old Market brewery and taproom, the team is fully-focused on the beauty of brewing. In this episode, we revisit our conversation from 2023 with brewery founder Michael Wiper and then head of marketing Alice Howells. We discuss reaching their 10th anniversary, their commitment to sustainability and the exciting road ahead.

May 7, 202620 min

#220 | A Focus on Hop Compounds

Did you catch our excellent recent article? Titled Beyond Aroma: Hop enzymatic activity, diastatic power, and fermentation control, Francesco Lo Bue and Philip Wietstock, Professor and Chair of Brewing and Beverage Technology at TU Berlin, brought together recent research on hop diastatic power with observations on enzyme distribution within the hop cone, to provide a more complete understanding of how hops influence fermentation beyond flavour. As they explain, hops have long been evaluated through aroma and bitterness. That framework no longer reflects how hops behave in modern brewing. So with that in mind, we’re revisiting Francesco’s brilliant talk from our 2025 Brewers Congress. Francesco is an agronomist with a degree in food technology, specialised in hops aromatic compounds. And in London he outlined how hop compounds peak at different times and explained how brewers can bring them all into the beers they brew through a number of actionable tips. We hope you enjoy…

April 29, 2026

#219 | Elusive Brewing turns 10

The UK beer landscape looks a lot different today than it did ten years ago. We’ve seen breweries and trends come and go. But certain names have stood the test of time by focusing on one thing: quality. Today’s guest is someone who transitioned from a decorated homebrewing career to founding one of the most respected independent breweries in the country. Based in Finchampstead, Berkshire, Elusive Brewing is officially hitting double digits in 2026. To help mark their 10th anniversary, which they’re celebrating this very week, we caught up with brewery founder Andy Parker. An award-winning brewer, and the producer of countless award-winning beers, we discuss how the brewery has developed in the last decade. Andy outlines the importance cask beer plays in their range and why the ongoing popularity of their Oregon Trail West Coast IPA is a nice problem to have. We also discuss how his approach to business has evolved over the years and find how Andy and his excellent team are marking their 10th anniversary – all with a little help from some friends they’ve made along the way…..

April 22, 202627 min

#218 | A Summer of Lager

Welcome to The Summer of Lager. As we race through 2026, the longer, warmer months are fast-approaching. And with that, so does the consumer appetite for cold, beautiful lager. And in Scotland, one of the country’s finest breweries has just launched a new beer that’s sure to be a hit in 2026 and beyond. Independently owned and proudly based in Alloa — the historic brewing capital of Scotland — Williams Bros Brewing has brewed, packaged and shipped every beer from its Scottish site for over 30 years. Best known for creating Joker IPA, one of Scotland’s most iconic modern beers and the country’s number-two selling IPA, the brewery continues to grow year on year while staying true to its values: quality, independence and innovation. Fast forward to 2026 and the creation of Ceilidh – the latest expression of that philosophy. A premium lager, brewed and aged in Scotland, it’s designed for today’s drinkers who value provenance, flavour and style in equal measure. Named after Scotland’s iconic social dance, Ceilidh captures the spirit of connection and celebration in every glass. As Scotland prepares for a historic World Cup appearance, Williams Bros is raising a pint to the moments that bring people together. In this episode we speak to Meet Marc Dickson. Marc is an on-trade account manager at Williams Bros Brewing Company in Alloa. We discuss how he moved from a career in coffee to one selling beer and why, for him building longstanding and meaningful relationships is a highlight of his role. We talk about the brewery’s ongoing success with its no-and-low range and find out that why Ceilidh, is a premium Scottish lager brewed for moments worth celebrating.

April 15, 202638 min

#217 | The Price of Premiumisation

Meet Pete Brown. Pete, as many of you will know, is a British author, journalist, broadcaster and consultant specialising in food and drink. In his latest columns for the Sunday Times he’s discussed everything from supermarket beer to where to turn when nothing catches your eye on the bar. And last year he released his latest book ‘Tasting Notes: The Art and Science of Pairing Beer With Music’. Across thirteen books, his broad, fresh approach takes in social history, cultural commentary, travel writing, personal discovery and natural history, and his words are always delivered with the warmth and wit you’d expect from a great night down the pub. While Pete gears up for a busy summer sharing his expertise along with excerpts from his books such as ‘Clubland – How the Working Men’s Club shaped Britain’, we are revisiting his excellent talk from our 2025 Brewers Congress In his lectures Pete discussed the concept of premiumisation, emphasising its long-standing presence in marketing and branding. He highlighted that premiumisation is not solely about price but encompasses desirability, luxury, and necessity. He also noted that since the 1970s, products have become more reliable, leading to overconsumption and a shift towards experiences. Pete also addressed how big brewers define premium, often inconsistently, and stressed the importance of consumer perception over corporate definitions.

April 8, 202618 min

#216 | A Love of Local

Meet Red Kellie. Red is joint owner and Head Brewer of the First & Last Brewery. They are a family run brewery, taproom and event space situated in rural Northumberland. The brewery doubles as a community space used for everything from art workshops to gigs and literature events. They brew a wide range of styles from hazy IPAs, through to sours, wheat beers, stouts and Belgian beers. After helping to establish Stu Brew at Newcastle University (Europe’s first student run brewery), then Twice Brewed Brewery Red set up the First & Brewery in 2016. Red’s main passion is for pairing wild ingredients from the local hedgerows and forests with beer styles. Why? So that their qualities complement and accentuate each other. Experimentation and innovation of working with fresh, hand-picked ingredients such as gorseflowers, sprucetips, bullaces and wild raspberries also give her the perfect excuse to be outside soaking up the beautiful local environment. At First & Last Brewery, their beers are inspired by the wild, untamed landscape and dark skies of Northumberland. So what better opportunity to hear from the cover stars of this month’s Brewers Journal publication. Speaking in Newcastle at the end of February, Red explained how the team are passionate about making beer and why they love talking about the science, art and history of beer & brewing.

April 1, 202619 min

#215 | Defining West Coast Pils

Since being founded by Adam Henderson in 2020, Azvex Brewing Company has gone on to become of the UK’s most respected producers of hop-forward pale ales and IPAs, fruited sours, and imperial stouts. And head brewer Jack Walker has played a huge part in that journey. Known and respected across the land, Jack has helped create a wealth of fantastic beers at the Liverpool-based business. And for that reason, we invited him to speak at our Brewers Lectures in Newcastle last month. In his latest talk, Jack walked us through his approach to the production of the brewery’s delicious West Coast Pils. He outlined the team’s approach to defining the style and water profile employed, to the mash, boil, bitterness as well as yeast and fermentation. Jack described their dry-hopping regime and whether these beers should be hazy or not while concluding that these beers are an evolution of the West Coast IPA and a style still finding its feet.

March 25, 202624 min

#214 | Andrew Barnett, Barney’s Beer

Meet Andrew Barnett. Andrew is the founder of Edinburgh’s Barney’s Beer. He started his career in brewing aged 16 as a lab assistant at the recently defunct Banks’s brewery in Wolverhampton before doing on to study Brewing & Distilling at Heriot Watt. Various roles in research, production & commercial followed at Whitbread, S&N and The Macallan among others. Starting Barney’s Beer in 2012 the brand has grown steadily. However, the strategy was always to keep growth at a modest scale in order to enjoy the ride. In his recent talk at our Brewers Lectures in Newcastle, Andrew talked us through the brewery’s journey which in recent years has involved the launch of its Post Mortem mixed ferm and impy range and, of course, the successful and popular Gravity Beer Festival. Photography: Ross Fraser McLean / Studio RoRo @Ross Fraser McLean @Studio RoRo