Discover the story behind Palmers Brewery through an interview with the head brewer, Darren, including his passion for beer and favourite place in Dorset.

Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you became Head Brewer at Palmers?

I grew up working in a village pub in Burton Bradstock and got to know the pub trade. I then went on to do a biology degree and I graduated after spending a year of my degree working in a lab in Sittingbourne, Kent, where I studied applied biological sciences and concentrated on diseases of barley, wheat and vine so I had a background of the raw materials of brewing. I graduated and came back to Dorset, where I started working in a pub where the Head Brewer from Palmers happened to drink. We started chatting about the brewing industry and the rest is probably history!

What first inspired you to get into brewing?

I think spending a year in Sittingbourne, I actually lived in Faversham, which is the home of Shepherd Neame brewery – the oldest brewery in the country. I was playing cricket in the Kent village league and afterward I would sit in sunny pubs in Kent and drink real ale. I had a passion for real ale, a biology degree, COSHH and Health and Safety trained and a Head Brewer that drank in my local pub.

What does a typical day look like for you in the brewhouse?

I think it’s probably a bit of a myth that I spend all my time stirring beer in vessels, a typical day is coming in and making sure all my staff are happy, ensuring distribution is running smoothly, we mash at 7am so the chaps have come in and heat up the mash tun ready for me to come in and mash, I spend about an hour in the brewhouse in the morning mashing in and making sure everything is setup up and starting well, then I leave the team to get on with it mainly and focus on brewery administration, dealing with duty, paperwork and making sure staffing is sorted.

Palmers is known for its traditional brewing methods — can you explain what this involves?

We’ve been brewing beer the same here at Palmers for over 230 years. Everything is still manual, we still use bagged malt, everything is tipped by hand, we open a valve and it lets the liquor through to the level below, there’s no automation, it’s open top fermentation, open top copper, we use whole leaf hops, so it’s a real traditional brewing process. Most modern breweries press a button and the kit does the brewing for you; our way is much more hands on.

Are there particular ingredients or practices that make Palmers beer distinctive?

Starting with the malt, we use finest Maris Otter malt which is an old traditional English brewing variety, gives by far the best flavour and a lot of middle and quality to the real ales we produce, we have our own spring water so all the water we brew with comes from our own spring, and we use primarily English hops, grown in Kent, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, and we’re very proud of being committed to the English hop growing industry.

What makes brewing in Dorset special?

I think brewing in Dorset is so special because we have lots of wonderful seaside and village pubs, we brew a product and it gets sold in local, pubs to local people and all the visitors that come to Dorset.

Do you have a favourite Palmers beer — and why?

My favourite beer is probably Copper ale, which is actually our weakest beer. The reason for this is when I am out socialising, playing skittles in pubs and similar, it’s an easy drinking 3.7%, very full bodied, great flavour, 100% English hops and it’s a beer that I can have a few pints of and still play skittles.

Which beer do you recommend for someone trying Palmers for the first time?

I think for your first pint of real ale, I would always recommend Dorset Gold. A very rich in the middle, golden beer it sits at 4.5% so has a bit of weight behind it, but probably our least hoppy beer. Some people think they don’t really like real ale because they aren’t keen on hops, so if you drink Dorset Gold I think it could convert you!

What can visitors expect from a Palmers Brewery tour?

On a tour, you get to look round our historic brewery and brewhouse, it’s often a day when we are actually brewing, so you get to really close to the brewing process and the raw materials, you get to taste the malt, you can look at the process from start to finish. We often think of it as a working museum, as we are often brewing while people walk around and learn more about the process and our heritage.

Do you have a favourite part of the tour to share with guests?

I think my favourite part of the tour is when you get to the end, go to the Wine Store and get to taste all our wonderful real ales.

What do people usually find most surprising when they visit?

I think the thing people find most surprising is it’s only a week from start to finish of a brew. So if we brew on a Tuesday, it goes into cask the following Tuesday and it could be in pubs by Wednesday or Thursday. The other thing is, they’re always surprised that one brew is over 17,000 pints of beer.

Where’s your favourite place in Dorset to enjoy a Palmers beer?

My favourite place to enjoy a Palmers beer is the Three Horseshoes in Burton Bradstock. It’s the pub I grew up working in, it’s my local and it’s where I met the previous Head Brewer at Palmers, and why I became Head Brewer here today. 

Do you have a favourite Dorset pub — and what makes it special?

I would always recommend the Anchor Inn at Seatown. It’s just a unique site, wonderful pub right on the beach, you can sit under the shadow of Golden Cap drinking a pint of Dorset Gold and, in my opinion, it is probably one of the best places in the world to drink a beer.

Do you have a favourite Dorset food that pairs perfectly with one of your beers?

Back to my local pub, I think skate wing with caper butter, accompanied by a pint of Dorset Gold is something everybody should experience.

Do you have a personal favourite hidden gem in Dorset — a place you’d recommend for a post‑tour pint or a weekend wander?

I think a place in Dorset that everyone should visit is Lyme Regis. It’s a great place for a wander, you can see the historic Cobb, there are some brilliant pubs in Lyme and it’s just a place that’s absolutely buzzing. Lots of little boutique shops, just a lovely place to explore.