This is a fun and interesting  interview with the head brewer John Bexon from Greene King.  Courtesy of Tracey Sparling and the Evening Star newspaper.

Suffolk Strong vintage ale has been named the World's Best Wood-aged Beer at the World Beer Awards, but does the man who made it really like it?  “Look at my eyes, are they giving it away?” John Bexon laughed, with a glint in his blue eyes.

“Hmmm, yum, very nice, very nice indeed!”  As head brewer at Greene King, John swirls the ruby red beer in his goblet glass - apparently the trendy way to serve beer these days - and his only lament is that he's suffering from a cold so he can't fully appreciate it's flavours. He said: “I couldn't drink eight pints of it, but I might manage two bottlers and it's nice from a goblet glass.”

He added: “A lot of the time we don't enter the awards, people taste the beer then nominate us for a category and the first we hear about it is if we win. Which is nice.”  Praised for its distinctive taste, Suffolk Strong was selected at a blind tasting session by some of the brewing industry's key players. The beer also won the gold award at the International Brewing awards in 1998, and the 'best barbecue beer' in the 2002 Beauty of Hops competition, is left to mature in 100 barrel oak vats for two years while it develops a dark, oaky flavour.   It's been around since the 1940s with its precursor Suffolk Ale dating back to the 1920s, and is a mixture of two beers BPA and 5X.

John explained the thinking behind the brew: “Cask whiskey at 63pc is like diesel until you cut it with water, and 5X works in the same way as you let it down with the blend of BPA. It's distinctive, and an acquired taste but it's proving especially popular.”

John's also a fan of Hens Tooth and Abbot Ale but likes to stick with Suffolk Strong on a Sunday: “If I'm cooking Sunday lunch I will drink Suffolk Strong, and top up the gravy with it too.  “You can marinate meat in it because the alcohol helps permeate the fibres of the meat. It also goes well with strong cheeses and sticky toffee pudding.  “It's heavy and sweet which sound rather antagonistic but it's got the body to carry that.”

This is John's 30th year on the brewing industry, after studying for a degree in microbiology and bio chemistry. He gained a Masters degree in business in 2000, and became a Master Brewer in 1989.

John started out in Burton on Trent working for Bass, then Mitchells and Butlers in the Midlands, before coming to Greene King in Bury St Edmunds.

“I've seen a lot of consolidation in the industry over the years, with breweries merging. Less people go to pubs than they used to, and a lot more people drink at home. It's a traditional business but breweries like Greene King are gearing up for a bright future.

“Our seasonal ale range will be coming out next year and we're always working on something new and.” At first sip, Suffolk Strong is surprisingly sweet to taste. Mmm, it's not going down too badly for a girl who never drinks ale let alone pints!

John took his tie in his hand and said: “If you imagine my tie as a tongue, the tip tastes salt and sweet, and the bitterness receptors are at the back so you should slurp the beer over your tongue to hit the back. “That's how tea tasters do it.  There are also about 42 receptors in your nose and you judge a lot by your eyes which is why we sample brews under red lighting which makes all liquids look dark.”  As the photographer snaps away, I get the feeling he's winding me up.

“Keep going, I just want a bit more froth on the glass,” he tries.  He must have taken a dozen pictures of me gulping the beer, and I realise he's trying to make me down it in one! This is a substantial tipple and I soon feel too full of beer to carry on, but I have to say it's a revelation to find I actually like the stuff.

You can taste the hops, and swirling the beer in the glass encourages a warm, comforting smell. In the cavernous tasting cellar of the brewery in Bury St Edmunds, the special lighting makes the beer glow amber red. And when John said it's best served with sticky toffee pudding, I made a mental note to try that next! 

Greene King is the home of Abbot Ale, Greene King IPA, Old Speckled Hen and Ruddles County It started in 1887 when the Greene and King families came together to form Greene King and Sons Ltd. There has been a brewery on the site since at least 1700.  The King Visitor Centre is situated next to the brewery in Bury St Edmunds.

The 'new' Brew House was built in 1938 and shows art deco architecture with Italian marble flooring and walls

My obsession today is IPA Beer, what is it and what are it's origins.  Why will you fall over drinking American Pale Ale rather than British and why is it still popular today in Bengal.    read more »