The Man Who Keeps It FlowingMeet The Brewer: Darren Knight

It’s safe to say that experienced brewer Darren enjoys working at Everards. Afterall, he’s been a member of the team at the family-run brewery for an impressive 39 years.

Darren began at Everards’ previous site, at Castle Acres, in 1986, and has been with the brewery ever since. “They’re a really good company. Well, they must be, for me to still be here after 39 years!” he laughs. “It’s like a big family. The people that are running it are really nice and treat everyone well.”

Darren’s job as a brewer is quite a contrast to his previous occupation – as a builder. Explaining how his career change came about, he says:

“I was working on a building site and it was chucking it down with rain. My friend rang me and said there was a job going at Everards. I said ‘ does it pay cash?’ he said ‘yes’ and it was 10 minutes down the road, it was working inside, so I didn’t go down to the building site again. I came down to Everards and I’ve been here ever since.”

Talking about what he enjoys most about his role, Darren says: “We do something different every week. There’s always a new beer coming out, and you’re not doing the same job every day. We rotate, so somebody might be brewing one week, somebody might be cask racking, somebody might be canning. It keeps the job interesting.”

When it comes to his preferred beer style, Darren says he’s usually a lager drinker in the summer, but his number one beer throughout the year would be Everards’ ever-popular Tiger copper ale. “I do enjoy a pint of Tiger,” he says, adding that he’s also discovered some impressive beers when he’s been travelling in America.

“I go over to America quite a lot because my mum lives over there. I like fruity beers, so that’s what I drink when I’m over in America. I found one in San Francisco that had got mangoes in – that was really nice.”