So what does one make of Edward Theakston? When you first meet him he is everything you would expect of a member of the Theakston brewing clan - and of a man who spent five years in the armed forces. He is polite and courteous - but not exactly what you would call a force of nature on first impression. But by the time I left Mr Theakston some six hours later I have to say I had been somewhat dazzled.
Passionate is the word…
The meeting took place after I had been invited to attend Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises' (S&NPE) Passionate About Beer course, which took place at the Duke of Cambridge pub in Mapperley, Nottingham.
I sat with six S&NPE licensees as Edward, who is the figurehead for the course, took us through a lengthy study of beer quality, looking at many aspects of the great national drink, but particularly ways to improve the experience for the beer drinker.
It is a very worthy course but one that could so easily drag on and become boring for the attendees - thus negating its importance. But oh my holy hop, here was someone who really caught you by the collar and made you understand and appreciate the importance of all the technicalities of beer retail.
The day seemed to be a one-man sales pitch for beer - an impassioned plea to the very people who sell the stuff to take it seriously and not just see it as something that comes up with the rations. He said that some of his proclamations about the problems facing beer and quality of serve would be controversial. They weren't - they were just extremely refreshing to hear.
The course itself is run wholly by Scottish & Newcastle (S&N), for whom Edward has worked for the past 12 years in a variety of roles, from managing the export division in Australia and New Zealand to beer category manager for S&N Retail.
Inevitably the bulk of the brands that are referred to in the course are owned by S&N - but pleasingly this was not a plug for the UK's biggest brewer.
Honest assessment
For me, what gave the course its credibility was its willingness to provide an honest assessment of the beer market and the challenges facing it, whether it was completely relevant to S&N brewing or not. The crux of the course was to give licensees the tools to sell beer better - whoever produces it.
The best example of this was the course's focus on cask beer. S&N's brewing division has in the last five years relinquished almost all of its cask beer producing capacity (losing interest in John Smith's Cask and recently farming out the production and marketing of the Courage portfolio to Wells & Young's).
But the bulk of the course was spent looking at the cask beer dispense process, troubleshooting any problems that might have occurred in the attendees' pubs.
The course clearly demonstrated that ensuring top quality of beer retail in its pubs is paramount for S&NPE. In a recent development, the company has decided that all of its pub refurbishments will include cellar checks, redesigns and equipment up-grades. And now all pubs with poor performing cellars go through the Passionate About Beer training.
So S&NPE licensees have plenty of opportunities to hone their passion for beer - and to be honest if a day with Edward Theakston doesn't leave them with such a passion then I'd check their pulse.
The course
The course covers all areas of beer, from its make-up and history, to the problems the product faces today, from falling sales to poor quality. There are in-cellar demonstrations as well as study work - each licensee must take an exam at the end of the day.
Covering six regions of the country, it is conducted three times a year in each region solely for S&NPE licensees.
In 2006, 459 people attended from 220 pubs. So far this year (up to September) 200 people have attended the course from 130 pubs.
Pubs, on average, see a two per cent like for like growth in beer sales after attending the course.