FERGUS FITZGERALD
MY QUARTER CENTURY AND THE THINGS I’VE LEARNT
DURING A BREWING CAREER THAT HAS SPANNED 26 YEARS TO DATE, FERGUS FITZGERALD HAS LEARNED A GREAT DEAL. IN THAT TIME, THE HEAD OF PRODUCTION AT ADNAMS SAYS IT’S IMPORTANT TO SAY ‘YES’ MORE THAN YOU SAY ‘NO, AND TO NEVER LOSE YOUR DESIRE TO LEARN.
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JANUARY~FEBRUARY 2022
B
ack in 2020, Tim Sheahan
route, but then neither did staying in rural
asked me if I’d do a talk on
Ireland where the most likely path was
dealcoholisation at one of
getting a job in the local dairy laboratory
the Brewers Lectures in
and putting cheese through a stomacher
Norwich, which I happily
that had been stored at 50oC.
agreed to do. We are really proud of what we’ve done with Ghost Ship 0.5 since we
If you neither know what a stomacher is,
started in mid 2018.
or what cheese smells like that has been
Obviously that event was cancelled but
stored at 50oC and then put through a
when it was rearranged for 2021 Tim
stomacher, then you may not appreciate
asked again, and again I agreed, but as
how easy a decision it was to head to
Adnams had talked quite a bit about Low
London.
and No over the past 12 months that it didn’t feel like the right topic.
That probably brings me to the first thing
After a bit of email back and forth, he
I think I’ve learnt, and that’s to say yes,
suggested that I talk a bit about what I’d
more than you say no.
learnt as a brewer. It turns out I’ve been in the brewing industry for 26 years so
To regularly try things that scare you, to
it was probable that I will have learnt
do things that make you uncomfortable
something in that time.
and challenge you. I was shy, introverted,
So here we are.
not confident so it would have been easier for me to stay in Ireland but I left. I
My starting point in brewing was a
know our HR director will tell me that I’m
temporary lab tech at Fuller’s, way
wrong and that I need to say no much
back in 1995. I’d just finished studying
more than I do, but the things I’ve said
Biotechnology in Waterford in Ireland
yes to have brought me joy.
and due to a historical relationship with
My interest in beer at this point was
Fuller’s I was offered the chance to head
largely in its consumption and my
across the water to London.
knowledge of styles was limited to the
I grew up on a small farm in Limerick,
holy trinity of Lager, Guinness and the
Terry Wogan country for those unfamiliar
brown one that no one really drank,
with the Counties of Ireland. As an
Smithwick’s.
aside I found out years later that the
That changed quite quickly as my
father of Evin O’Riordain, founder of The
primary job was running the tasting room
Kernel, actually taught me when I was in
at Fuller’s, otherwise known as the Cage.
Waterford.
Reg Drury was still Head Brewer then.
I had never been out of Ireland and as a raging Introvert from a family of introverts
John Keeling and Reg would come to the
it didn’t immediately feel like the obvious
tasting room every day to taste the beers.
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