Young’s partners with Wimbledon Brewery to train ‘Hop Masters’

23-Jan-2018 - Last updated on 23-Jan-2018 at 11:13 GMT

Breweries collaborate: the scheme gave Young’s staff an in-depth view of the brewing and keeping processes

Wimbledon Brewery hosted more than 100 ‘beer ambassadors’ from the Young’s estate last week, as part of a new partnership to improve beer knowledge across the pub company.

Over two days, master brewer Derek Prentice and Wimbledon head brewer Charlie Long offered digital presentations and tours of the working brewery, demonstrating the whole brewing process from grist to glass.

The ‘Hop Masters’ were shown how cask beer is the foundation of the brewery’s philosophy and how to execute best working practices in good cask management in their pubs.

The collaboration was designed to help give Young’s staff an in-depth view of brewing ingredients, the brewing process, and cellar management.

Informative and engaging sessions

Young's product marketing manager Tom Elliot-Frey said: “We collaborated with Wimbledon Brewery to offer the unique chance for our Hop Masters to get hands-on with the team there and to understand the finesse of cask and the expertise behind the brewing of quality cask ale.

“Teaming up with Derek and Charlie, who have over 50 years of brewing knowledge between them, meant we had some of the best in the industry, delivering informative and engaging sessions to our team members.

“By taking the knowledge gained across the two days back to our pubs, we hope our staff will be enthused and excited about the category and will have acquired a knowledge and prowess to impart to our customers and provide a best-in-class cask offer to them.”

Experience at the helm

Wimbledon Brewery sales and marketing director Richard Coltart said: “It was great to welcome so many members of the Young’s team to our brewery and it has been a pleasure working with them since we started brewing two and a half years ago.

"We strive to be at the forefront of brewing quality beer in all formats from cask to can, and to inspire others in the education around beer.

“Having a master brewer of Derek’s experience and knowledge at the helm, and this firmly embedded in the brewing team around him, means we can offer consistently high-quality beer to all our customers. We can also help guide them in ensuring that the pint, bottle or can of beer that their customers enjoy is the best beer possible.”