The ART OF BEER Jonathan Downing (FH 76-80)
B
eer is my life. The summer of 1976 saw the end of my first year as a Day Boy at Tonbridge and my first foray into home brewing with my dad, a PhD in micro biology and chemistry. Needless to say, a great teacher. At the age of sixteen, my first job was as a cellarman and back stairs runner at the George and Dragon in Speldhurst. This was followed soon after by a move to Moscow and becoming a boarder for my last two years of school where, unfortunately brewing was frowned upon. The city and University of Birmingham allowed me to renew my brewing endeavours, working in pubs and at proper breweries packaging during peak season. For
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the Live Aid festivities our house had 8 brews on the go, to keep us going all through the night. After graduating and applying for jobs at various UK breweries, leaning towards the sales and marketing side to make use of my B.Comm, I had the chance to visit my sister in Canada for a couple of weeks. While in Toronto I heard of a brewing conference and thought it may be interesting to see what was happening in the Canadian industry. 'Sitting alone in a Pub' is a great way to start any story, let alone a career, but the first evening of the conference I was doing just that when some French Canadians who owned the Atlas Hotel, a bar and hotel complex in Welland asked if they could join me. They were also attending the conference and had purchased
