Greg Hughes has made the journey from being a beer fan, and avid homebrewer, to being a published author, shop owner and brewery founder. Here’s how he did it and what he learned along the way.
My passion for making things from scratch started shortly after I left home and began my journey into cooking.
I’ve always had a passion for learning new skills – multiple musical instruments, horse riding and even Kung Fu but always found it hard to find the time to dedicate to these hobbies.
But making a meal from scratch and then sharing that food with friends and family was my ultimate hobby.
I’ve turned my hand to bread, jams and cakes but it was when I discovered the art of fermentation that things really started to gel.
My first batch of beer was brewed around 2003. I’d always enjoyed beer up to that point but had never really thought about how it was made.
I didn’t even know what hops were, thinking, naively, that beer was a manufactured product like commercial soft drinks.
When I discovered that you could make it at home with some basic equipment and ingredients it was a light bulb moment.
I set off down to my local home brew shop in Salisbury and took their recommendation on my first beer kit – a summer ale.
Within a few hours I had all the equipment washed and sterile, mix made up and it was tucked away near a radiator in my house (under the advice of the shop keeper).
Next morning my first fermentation was underway and I was mesmerised by the bubbling airlock. After a couple of weeks it was transferred to a barrel and stored in the garage.
This was the start of a journey of knowledge which thankfully has no end. One of the main reasons my passion for fermentation has never faded.
Greg Hughes
This batch turned out okay. It was rather sweet but was drinkable but not something I’d be proud to serve to friends. I knew I could do better.
I needed to know more so I promptly ordered the “Complete Joy of Home brewing” by Charlie Papazian which arrived shortly after.
This was the start of a journey of knowledge which thankfully has no end. One of the main reasons my passion for fermentation has never faded.
I no longer brewed using ready made kits but rather making my own recipes using dried malt extract and boiling up with hops.
This was around 2003 before modern craft beers as we know them now were readily available. I absorbed every ounce of information I could get my hands on and moved on to all grain brewing.
Most of the information was found in book form, back then the internet was still fairly sparse. Forums like Jim’s Beer Kits, provided much needed space for fellow brewers to share tips and ideas, these are still valuable resources now.
We had a massive apple tree in our garden which every year provided more apples than the whole street could consume.
Although I wasn’t a massive fan of cider, the brewer in me wanted to give it a try. Whilst looking for information on how to make cider I found it impossible to find a website that not only told you how to make cider but then would allow you to purchase the ingredients.
Brewing beer for home was one thing but creating a product which would be offered for sale to the public was a very different matter.
Greg Hughes
My local home brew shop was basic to say the least. Having previously visited to purchase hops they literally had three dusty packets of hops on the shelf.
Their customer base (like the owner) was only interested in making beer and wine from kits. I was working in sales for a printing firm at the time and enduring a 1.5hr commute each way to Aldershot.
I needed a change and working for myself locally was always the goal. Then it struck me. All the home brew websites were dated and aimed at the older home brewers from the 70’s.
They contained no information on the hobby and from there I started my own home brew website. Not only did it appeal visually but would have the most comprehensive list of ingredients and all the information you would need to make beer, cider and wine from kit or from scratch.
Things took off and we quickly became the biggest online home brew retailer in the UK. I was like a kid in a sweetshop every time we had a new product in, especially when we started importing shiny vessels from the likes of Blichmann and SS Brewtech.
In 2011 I was asked by publishers DK whether I knew anyone who would want to write a book on home brewing so I immediately said yes, Me.
After several telephone conversations and sample writing sessions, contracts were signed and I, like a mad scientist, was honing recipes and researching text.
The premise for the book, Home Brew Beer, was very similar to that of the website. To create a one stop shop that would appeal to novices and more experienced brewers alike.
Keeping things simple but providing a comprehensive range of recipes and useful tables so the book would be used long after the text had been read.
All the time I was brewing like crazy, exploring every style of beer and like any home brewer always had a burning desire to start my own brewery.
I had dealings with lots of up and coming brewers at that time too, supplying many with equipment and ingredients to fuel their passion.
Brad and Gaz from Tiny Rebel purchased their very first home brew setup which they used to brew test batches in their garage!
Through our home brew competitions I also got to work with more established brewers like the late, great Roger Ryman from St Austell, Stuart Howe (then head brewer at Sharp’s) and the master of knowledge that is Rob Lovatt from Thornbridge.
I finally took the plunge in 2015 and set up Dark Revolution Brewery. Initially on a small 200L brewery from Elite Stainless which was setup in a corner of the warehouse which we operated the webshop from.
Brewing beer for home was one thing but creating a product which would be offered for sale to the public and would share the shelf space with the likes of Brewdog, Beavertown and Thornbridge was a very different matter.
I bottled the beer initially by hand but after a batch over carbonated beer due to contamination, I released how little I really knew and how I needed to get up this steep learning curve quickly. Luckily most of that batch had already been consumed or was still in our store so the damage was minimal, but the lesson was learned.
If I was going to produce beer commercially it had to be the best beer I could possibly make.
After a year or so with lots of small batch brewing, I decided that we needed to make more beer and really test the market before the large investment of a bigger brewery.
I was lucky enough to work with Cheddar Ales, who at the time were also producing beer for Wiper and True and Left Handed Giant.
These breweries were following the same path as I was, scaling up on someone else’s equipment while they gained confidence and funding for their own systems.
Contract brewing was great as it not only allowed us to test the water with some decent sized batches of beer but as I went down and brewed the beer with the team at the brewery, I learnt valuable skills on how to produce volume with quality and consistency.
Like many other smaller craft breweries, They were very open about their processes. This is another unique quality to our industry which I love.
Despite technically being competitors we all share tips on things like, new suppliers to sourcing something or equipment feedback. We often even lend one another things like hops.
Having our commercial size brewhouse (15 BBL/24 HL) was a dream come true. Contract brewing was great but it had it’s drawbacks with production management and control of overall product. Another key turning point was having the space for a tap room where we could not only sell our beers direct but could witness the customer experience as they consumed the product.
I was luckily enough to visit San Diego in 2016 and seeing the brewery setups (Stone, Alesmith, Ballast Point, Societe, Greenflash amongst many others) was a real eye opener.
Mostly in industrial locations, they would provide an ideal venue for diverse groups of beer drinkers to meet, enjoy super fresh beer and socialise. It was the way forward. No better way to drink beer than at source with the brewery in the background.
Although I’ve been brewing for over 20 years and commercially for nearly 10, my journey and thirst for knowledge is as strong today as it was when I started.
I guess that’s really the thing that keep my passion for brewing alive. Every time I speak to a fellow brewer, a supplier or listen to a new podcast I learn something new to try.
My wife Sarah and I have got a great team here.
We are all passionate about improvement and excited to try new ingredients, equipment or processes to see if we can improve what we produce.
We are lucky enough to have a great setup with all the tools we need to ensure we can maintain quality but it’s a moving target and we always aim to keep our foot on the gas and continue to make improvements. We can also share a beer or three afterwork on a weekend amongst our loyal customers.
More recently we have really got into fermented foods. Not only for the health benefits but they are also very easy to make at home and are delicious.
Jars of Sauerkraut, Kimchi and Kombucha are always doing their thing on the kitchen side and are consumed daily. Just on a home scale for now but who knows where it could lead.
It’s never been easy running a brewery and it’s probably more difficult today than it’s ever been but making something you enjoy and seeing other people enjoy it too is the best feeling in the world.
Books and Podcasts that I recommend
John Palmer – How to Brew
Charlie Papazan – The complete joy of home brew
Michael Tonsmeire – American Sour Beers
Craft beer and Brewing magazine – Magazine/podcast
Master brewers of the America’s – Podcast and website
You can read the recipe for Greg’s ESB – Where’s My Dog? – right here!
