Beer CV / Résumé: John White, Beer Hunt Organiser

John White's Beer CV / Résumé

When John White (1945-) commenced drinking beer in 1961, at the age of sixteen, he did not realise that he was drinking what CAMRA, (www.camra.org.uk) the CAMpaign for Real Ale, would come to call Real Ale (Cask Ale) when the organisation was formed in 1971, see the caption on the photo to the right, which features handpumps, these being synonymous with Real Ale in England.

CAMRA truly did save Real Ale for the nation, at a time when the big brewers were seemingly trying to kill it off, by forcing the beer drinking public to drink ghastly fizzes such as Watney's Red Barrel. Such beers, and appalling imitations of classic German and Czech Pilsener-style beer (Lager) were heavily marketed at this time, as they are to this day. These beers are filtered and subject to pasteurisation, a process which destroys beneficial flavours produced during the fermentation stage of the brewing process. Real Ale is unpasteurised and unfiltered, the residual yeast present in the vessel from which it is delivered inducing a second fermentation in the cask: it is cask-conditioned. Draught Continental Specialty Beers are generally filtered, but unpasteurised, although the best of the bottled Speciality Beers have yeast present in the bottle; they are essentially Real Ale in a bottle.

The above photo was taken by Joyce White, in June, 2004. Behind the bar of the Brook Green Hotel, in Hammersmith, London, is Michael Hardman, who, most famously, in 1971, co-founded CAMRA, and was its first Chairman, from 1971 to 1974. At the time the photo was taken, Michael was a Public Relations Consultant for the once hallowed Young's Brewery (www.youngs.co.uk), in London. Note that following the merger of Young's with Charles Wells (www.charleswells.co.uk), of Bedford, its beers are brewed in Bedford, and Michael took charge of PR for SIBA (www.siba.co.uk), the Society of Independent Brewers. The Brook Green Hotel (170 Shepherd's Bush Road, W6 7NB, tel 020 7603 2516, GPS: 51.497332^o N, 0.222852^o W) is one of a number of hotels owned by Young's, the full list and that of the pubs serving its Real Ales can be found on the Young's website. Thanks to Young's and Michael, the AGM of the British Guild of Beer Writers (www.beerwriters.co.uk) was held at the Hotel on the evening before the photo was taken, when John was elected onto the Guild's committee. Click here to see a photo featuring John with another of the four founders of CAMRA.

John became an active CAMRA member, promoting the UK's classic Speciality Beers: Real Ale. He did not take much notice of foreign beers, although, in 2004, on looking at some postcards that his mother had saved, he noted one that he posted on a business trip from Antwerp, in Belgium, in September, 1976, on which he wrote: "I'm writing this in a caff drinking a geuze (a funny beer)"! Click here to see the postcard's text, here for its view. However, this must not have been a memorable Gueuze, since it was not until 1988, when he was obliged to go on another business trip to Antwerp, that he saw the light about Speciality Beer, well initially Belgian Beer. This was after the seeds had been sown with the truly remarkable New World Guide to Beer (1988), by Michael Jackson (1942-) (www.beerhunter.com), and then receiving a copy of Michael's Pocket Book of Beer (the 2000 edition is ISBN 1840002522) as a Christmas present. Michael raved about a famous Antwerp bar in this book. John thus made it his first port of call. He had acquainted himself with Michael's star rating system, and was resolved to spend the evening drinking his "World Classics". He found the beers sampled so good it was daft. His life was transformed. With regard to Gueuze, and the 1976 postcard mentioned above, John is now a huge fan of the artisanal varieties of this unique Belgian Beer style, as exemplified by those produced by the likes of Cantillon (www.cantillon.be and White Beer Travels Web page), in Brussels, and by 3 Fonteinen (www.3fonteinen.be), in nearby Beersel.

The above photo was taken by Joyce White at CAMRA's Great British Beer Festival, in London, in August, 2004. On the left is the world's most famous beer writer, Michael Jackson (1942-); on the right is renowned beer and sake writer, Fred Eckhardt from Portland, USA, the "Hero of the Beer Revolution", Michael was to declare at a tutored tasting, that took place shortly after the photo was taken. John is holding a beer mat/coaster for the Gasthausbrauerei Ambräusianum (www.ambraeusianum.de), a Brew Pub that had opened the day before, in the wonderful Baroque city of Bamberg, in Germany, which he had visited a few days previously; click here for more details. After the photo was taken John handed the mat to Michael, along with an information pack on the Brew Pub that he had prepared. Click here for a White Beer Travels Web page covering this tasting, and here to see the ticket for the tasting, on which Michael has written: "To John, Thanks for Bamberg! Michael Jackson". The seventy-seven page White Beer Travels Guide to Bamberg is available from the Downloads page. During the GBBF tasting, Michael remarked that a short story by Dylan Thomas, called "Old Garbo", contained by far the best description of someone relishing a Pint of Beer that he had ever come across. This story is one of a number in a book called Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog, which is available from www.amazon.com and www.amazon.co.uk. Click here for a White Beer Travels Web page covering this tasting, which contains the appropriate part of the text of "Old Garbo".

Prior to his foreign beer awakening, John had previously organised trips to, for example, Lincolnshire breweries Batemans (www.bateman.co.uk) and Highwood (Tom Wood's) (www.tom-wood.com), which are close to Grimsby where he lives. But with his increasing interest in Specialty Beer, it was inevitable that he would organise a trip overseas. Hence the first trip to Belgium, in 1993, based in Bruges. Such trips have taken place every year since, countries covered including Germany, France, The Netherlands, The Czech Republic and the USA (Chicago and New Orleans). Click on Past Beer Hunts for more details of these. John has also carried out reconnaissance trips in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Australia, Singapore and Colorado, the USA's Specialty Beer (Craft Beer) State. This groundwork could materialise into future Beer Hunts. Details of these "Recce Trips" can be found by clicking here. He has also organised and conducted trips in the reverse direction, for example, when organising a trip for Dutch Home Brewers to London.

Whilst holding down a job with Total (www.total.com), a major French oil company, the amount of time available to organise and conduct trips was limited, but following his retirement from Total, in June, 2003, John now runs more Beer Hunts each year, hence the launch of this website in 2002. He is also available for consultancy work in the fields of Process Control and DCS (Distributed Control Systems). For further information on John's career as a Control Engineer in industry, click on John's General CV (Curriculum Vitæ / Résumé), here, or at the bottom of the page, to download it to your PC (it is in ".pdf" format, see the Downloads page). John's Detailed Career History is also available.

Whilst with Total, John worked for lengthy periods in France, including Paris. His seventy-eight page guide to this city, which is available from the Downloads page of the website, is by far the most comprehensive guide available covering Speciality Beer in Paris. It appears in a very abridged form in the best book on French beer in any language, The Beers of France (ISBN 0952923831), by Woods and Rigley, and in the related website, www.frenchbeer.info, which matches the book's quality. Other books that John has contributed to include those covering West Flanders and South West Netherlands & Beyond by fellow Beer Hunt organiser Simon van Tromp (see www.beertraveller.com for more details of these excellent books and Simon's trips, and also Simon's blog site), and Tim Webb's Good Beer Guide Belgium. The 5th edition of the latter, which one should not enter Belgium without, came out in May, 2005. John's contribution to the Guide, which included eighteen photographs, as well as bar and brewery information, is acknowledged on the acknowledgments page, and on page 25, White Beer Travels is featured; click here for a White Beer Travels review of Tim's Guide. John also did some acknowledged proof reading of LambicLand LambikLand, a 2004 book on Lambic brewers, blenders and bars, that Tim has produced with fellow Beer Hunt organiser, Chris (Podge) Pollard. More details of this book are to be found on Tim's "books about beer" website, www.booksaboutbeer.com, and in a White Beer Travels Web page featuring it. The book can be purchased from Tim's site along with his Good Beer Guide Belgium, which can also be purchased from CAMRA, from www.amazon.co.uk, or from www.amazon.com.