About the Author

Bob Ricketts spent all his working life in beer, which did no harm to his desire to extract enjoyment from daily existence at work, and to share this pleasure with all and sundry, no matter what their calling. A fortunate education, followed by continual accidents of being in the right place at the right time, allowed him to do most of the front line jobs in the great British beer heritage of the 20th century, with its largely unheralded quality of service to the community. During those years, he served as President of the Institute of Brewing, and on the Executive of the European Brewing Convention; and instead of being thrown on the scrap heap on retirement, became involved in helping the major professional brewing qualifications into a new millennium. He peaked as Managing Director of Bass Brewing, producing a quarter of the UK's beer output from 11 breweries, just as the battles were beginning to be lost against those who eventually destroyed everything that he felt he had tried so hard to represent. He is married, with an ample supply of grandchildren, and alternates a quiet rural life near Burton-on-Trent with the sunshine in South West France.