Master of his trade

They say you know you're getting old when policemen start to look younger. The same can be said of licensees. They used to be gentlemen of a certain age with thinning hair, wrinkled cheeks and big moustaches who liked to be known as "mine host".

Now they're getting younger by the day. Take Bryan Walsh, for example. He never takes a day off — he loves running his pub so much. You'd think, working a seven-day week and with all the problems hitting the pub trade, that Walsh would be knackered, broken-backed and with a complexion the colour of cold porridge.

But he's just 32 and came bounding up from his cellar with a wide grin on his ruddy face. He has every reason to look pleased.

Not only is his pub performing well, but he's just been named Fuller's Master Cellarman of the Year, following the most rigorous testing and sampling by the London brewery's quality-control team.

Walsh manages the Harpenden Arms, in Harpenden, Hertfordshire. It's a tough place to run a pub. Harpenden is up-market and well-heeled and there are plenty of other pubs along the high street, plus celebrity chef Jean-Christophe Novelli's gastropub close by.

But Walsh says all the local pubs cater for different types of customers. His strength is being next to spacious Harpenden Common, which attracts walkers, cricketers in season and visitors to regular travelling circuses and fairgrounds.

The pub is also a few yards from the busy railway station, from which people commute into London in half an hour. The tall, elegant Victorian pub, a former Whitbread outlet, was originally known as the Railway Hotel as a result of its proximity to the iron way, and Walsh gets a regular flow of people dropping in for a soothing pint after work.

Walsh has been in the pub trade for 16 years. He comes from Kilkenny, in Ireland, and learned the business in England in Fuller's pubs in and around London. This included a three-year stint with another Irishman, the legendary Jerry O'Brien at the Churchill Arms in Kensington, a boisterous, busy pub run with great flair by O'Brien. Walsh picked up from his fellow countryman the idea of running a restaurant as part of the pub, but as a separate business.

As a result, the Harpenden Arms has a Thai restaurant on a franchise. This means Walsh doesn't have to worry about the food side of the pub and can concentrate on serving beer and maintaining his cellar, though food is not ignored: Walsh is planning a special event that will match beer and food.

He admits that looking after cask beer was a shock when he arrived from Ireland, but the Fuller's award proves he has picked up the tricks of the trade. Fuller's puts great faith, energy and commitment into ensuring its cask beers are always served in top-notch condition in its pubs. The brewery knows customers will return swiftly to the comfort-blanket of keg beer and lager if they are served a pint of cask ale that is cloudy, warm and in poor condition.

Master cellarman​

The Master Cellarman is now an annual and much sought-after award. There are 120 holders of the title, accounting for a third of Fuller's tied estate. The winner of the award automatically goes forward to be judged in the even more prestigious Griffin Trophy, which celebrates the best all-round Fuller's pub.

The Master Cellarman competition is daunting in the extreme. The first round of 70 contestants are whittled down to eight. The quality-control team is lead by head brewer John Keeling, who has a beady eye for detail and quality. Each pub is judged from "cellar to glass" and the licensees have to score 95% in every area, including cellar cleanliness, stock rotation, clean lines, dispense equipment in good nick and — naturally — clean glasses. The visits by John Keeling's team are not announced in advance, so Walsh and his fellow contestants can't run the risk of staying in bed and getting caught in their pyjamas by the Keeling brigade.

Cask beer is critical to the success of the Harpenden Arms, as it accounts of 40% of beer sales. The range includes Discovery, London Pride and ESB, and the Chiswick brewery's seasonal ales: the superb London Porter will be an autumn attraction. London Pride is the biggest-selling cask beer in the pub and Walsh sells four to six 18-gallon casks of Pride a week in summer, seven to nine in winter. Discovery, Fuller's golden ale, sells four to five kils (kilderkins) a week in summer, while ESB notches up three.

Winter pub​

Walsh says the Harpenden Arms is a winter pub. In spite of the common next door, he sells more beer in winter and sales of cask compete even more vigorously with keg when the sun disappears.

The pub is open all day and Walsh has not been affected by the economic woes of recent times. There was a slight dip in trade when the smoking ban came in, but that quickly recovered. He has a covered patio at the back of the pub and is talking to the local council about putting seats on the pavement.

Walsh has an assistant manager and full and part-time staff, but he is always around. "I'm front-of-house," he says. "I never have a lie-in — I'm up between seven and eight o'clock, even when it's supposed to be my day off.

"Running a pub is a nightmare — but I love it." Then he was off again, back down to his treasured cellar that has made him the top man among Fuller's dedicated licensees.