The Head Brewer John Bexon Talks About a Typical Day in His Life

Here's a sneak peak into a day in the life of Greene King's Head Brewer, John Bexon.

John's day starts with a check of the Greene King brewery itself, walking the floor to make sure that every piece in the beer brewing jigsaw is running smoothly. Then it's down the tasting room, where the 9am tasting session of Greene King beers held each day.

Quality Beer

Greene King operates a system so that no beer can leave the brewery without being checked by a panel of independent tasters from within the company. John and the trained tasting panel check every batch of beer for quality and trueness to type. Barley crops may change, giving very slight variations to the ingredients, but when pub customers drink one of Greene King's brands, they want to experience the same tasting pint. Being a custodian of each brand, making sure they remain consistent for each pint, as he says, is what makes the art of brewing both challenging - and rewarding.

Bury St Edmunds

John's working day is filled with activity revolving around beer production and quality. This varies from production meetings with his fellow brewers and experimenting with flavours and ingredients for new ales, to meeting suppliers of the fine natural ingredients that make up every pint he crafts. With barley malted just two miles from the brewery and water drawn from the chalk wells below Bury St Edmunds, he doesn't have to go far.

In the evenings and at weekends John spends time involved in community activities, supporting good causes, conducting tutored tastings, getting together with industry colleagues (however much shop is talked, brewers do know how to enjoy themselves!) and spending time with friends and family - at the pub. Purely for research and quality control purposes of course!