Arkell’s, the Swindon-based family-owned brewery has appointed 26-year old Alex Arkell as head brewer – the first family member to take on the role for several generations.
The brewery was started by John Arkell in 1843 and has been in the same family’s hands since – surviving the mass of takeovers and mergers that has revolutionised the pub trade over recent decades.
For the past six months Alex has been working alongside Arkell’s former head brewer Don Bracher, who retired earlier this month after 20 years in the role.
But, as the son of chairman James Arkell and brother of director George, he was always likely to enter the brewing business.
However, James Arkell made it clear from the start that Alex needed to complete a rigorous apprenticeship and following university, he took on the tenancy of The Rusty Bicycle in Oxford, running it for a year.
Alex said: “This was invaluable experience. Customers don’t pull any punches if the beer isn’t to their liking, and landlords must deal with issues there and then. There’s no better way to learn about customer satisfaction.”
After a six-month internship with fellow family brewery Fullers in London, Alex attended the World Brewing Academy in Chicago and Munich where he achieved his Master Brewer qualification last year.
Alex insists he will maintain the traditional values of the family brewery.
“We will continue to brew consistent core real ales, while producing a variety of new, seasonal varied beers to meet the demand of modern beer drinkers,” he said.
Alex has already implemented a range of developments at the brewery, including in less than six months ensuring nearly half its landlords have achieved the Cask Marque accreditation for serving the perfect pint of cask-conditioned ale.
The accreditation is only awarded to licensees whose ale passes a series of rigorous independent beer quality audits.
He has also taken his responsibilities for customer satisfaction seriously and will be embarking on a series of Meet the Brewer evenings at Arkell’s 100-plus pubs across the South and West.
James Arkell is delighted Alex has entered the family business.
“My eldest son George has been here for over a decade and is now a director. Having Alex on board too is wonderful. We’ve worked him hard the past two years to make sure he’s the right man for the job – and now I can’t think of anyone better to introduce our beers to the next generation of real ale drinkers.”
Photo: Calyx Multimedia
