Ram Brewery

John Hatch - Master Brewer, microbiologist, and living legend.

I was introduced to John via my mate Bushy. John showed us about the site and told us tales of brewing and the many characters who helped make the beer. And we drank a bit of nectar too. It was awesome.

John is singly-handedly maintaining the brewing legacy of the site. The brewing record books show that beer has been continually made on this site since 1512. Thanks to John, it continues to be the oldest brewing site in England.

John built his microbrewery, recycling materials reclaimed from the closure of the commercial brewery in September 2006. It's now called The Ram Brewery.

John plans to brew here until the redevelopment and refurbishment of the original commercial brewery, a beautiful victorian steam powered, grade 2 listed brewery. The work is due to be finished in about 4 years time.

John is a brewing legend.

Enter the Curd Nerd and Mike, aspiring brewing apprentices. John kindly offered us to assist him in a brew in his microbrewery.

And so, we brewed on Wednesday 24 June 2009. John had a hangover. Unpasteurised cask conditioned stuff, with 13.5 hops per pint. It's a Pale Ale, with an ABV 4.5%. We even signed the brewing record book too.

We had the tasting on the 16 July... ahead of International Brewers Day on July 18, as that day is holiday. We named it Feeling Pale Ale... as John was not feeling great the day of the brew. He's much better now.