Making new history – Interview with Jack Palmer, Head Brewer
Jack Palmer, who has been in his role at Greene King since 2022, holds master brewer status and his previous jobs include working at Guinness in Dublin. With cask ale week on the horizon, he was quick to underline why he feels this nationwide celebration is so important.
“Cask ale is what makes British brewing special, I think when you get cask at its best you can’t beat it, it’s brilliant. I do think it should be celebrated more, I’m actually waiting for the trend to go full circle, because cask is the purest form of beer. It’s coming straight out of the tank into the cask whilst it is still fermenting and then you’re drinking it. It’s what makes British pubs unique.”
A loyal customer base
With such a loyal customer base the responsibility of maintaining the quality of old favourites such as IPA and Abbot Ale is huge. But it is one that Jack thrives on.
“There is a recipe book – and when you first join it does take you a little bit of time to understand how each beer is made. IPA is pretty much unchanged from 100 years ago. Abbot Ale is 75 years old now and that will have changed verry little too. It reached the final of Great British Beers last year, which was great recognition for the work that we’re doing.”
In addition to the curation of those classic beers, the firm’s Head of Brewing is overseeing an exciting range of new cask flavours too.
“Our seasonal cask offering has really developed and as you might expect, our calendar focuses on the time of year in which the beer will be consumed. The seasonals give us a chance to try different things as well. We’ve experimented with stouts and fruit flavoured beers and that’s key for the cask offering moving forwards.”
Creating quality that lasts
It is a job Jack is clearly passionate about – with Greene King’s portfolio providing him with the perfect balance of old and new.
“I love being in the brewery with all the nice smells and the smart kit that we have. The lovely thing about Greene King is that we combine the heritage of our traditional cask ales with our new product development work too and the development of new premium beers like Level Head and Pilfer has been really exciting.”
“I never forget that it’s our heritage that makes us unique, but we’re aiming to make history with our new beers too now.”
Another important aspect for the brewing team is ensuring that when the beer leaves the brewery it arrives at the venue in the best possible state.
“From the grains coming in the door to leaving to go to the venue, we test the beer up to 200 times. And we taste every cask batch before it leaves us to ensure the end customer is getting exactly what we expect.”
Jack is also in regular contact with the marketing team to discuss the industry’s latest trends, including the growth in Gluten Free and low and no options.
“Our Gluten Free bottled products are proving very popular and this is something we are certainly looking to expand upon. In terms of alcohol free, the market is going from strength-to-strength and there have been huge improvement in taste in these over the last few years. The technology is advancing all the time and we’re constantly looking at it.”
With exciting developments in place Jack has every reason to be optimistic about Greene King’s brewing future.
“Whenever I go into a venue with our beers on, and I see people in there drinking them, it makes me incredibly proud. And with our new brewery opening in 2028 we are set for another exciting chapter, one that secures the future of brewing in Bury St Edmunds.”
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