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Inside Oakham Ales PODCAST: Finding a Game Changer
Oakham Ales Podcast – The Citra® Revolution
LISTEN TO THIS Oakham ales PODCAST
Brewing Stories: A Conversation with Oakham Ales’ Head Brewer, Ed Sharman
This week’s Spreading Hoppiness podcast takes listeners inside Oakham Ales, the Peterborough-based brewery that made Citra IPA a household name. Host Faram’s Jon Stringer joins Head Brewer Ed Sharman for a wide-ranging conversation about his first encounters with beer, his path into brewing, Oakham’s hop-forward style, and the challenges of keeping cask beer thriving today.
First Sips and Early Influences
Ed laughs when asked about his earliest beer memory. It wasn’t a pint in the pub but a cheeky sip from his grandfather’s lager, a bitter taste he didn’t enjoy at the time. But by his teenage years, curiosity had taken hold. While many of his peers reached for lagers, Ed was drawn to cask ales.
A turning point came at Ufford Ales, a tiny microbrewery near Stamford that brewed out of a pub. There he discovered beers ranging from pale ales to rye brews and stouts. Those pints showed him that beer could be more than “cold, fizzy lager” — it could be layered, complex, and full of character.
By the time he turned eighteen, Ed was a regular in local pubs like Charters and the Brewery Tap, both Oakham-owned venues. Without knowing it, he was already drinking the beers he would later become responsible for brewing.
Joining Oakham Ales
Ed’s career with Oakham began in 2011. At the time, the brewery was expanding rapidly on the back of Citra, launched in 2009 and quickly embraced by drinkers. Working at Charters, the floating bar on the River Nene, Ed reached out directly to the brewery to ask if there were any jobs available. There were, and he joined as a brewery assistant.
The role meant doing a bit of everything , from washing and filling casks to helping with deliveries. “Life in a brewery is ninety-five percent cleaning,” he recalls, “but those early years gave me a broad view of what brewing really involves.”
Oakham’s Hop-Forward Tradition
Oakham’s distinctive style has roots in the vision of founder John Wood, who spent time in the U.S. before starting the brewery. Inspired by bold, hop-driven American beers, Oakham built recipes around varieties like Cascade, Liberty, and Crystal long before Mosaic and Citra® came onto the scene.
Even beers like JHB and Bishop’s Farewell, first brewed in the 1990s, leaned heavily on hops. Some drinkers claim JHB isn’t as hoppy as it once was, but Ed is quick to explain otherwise. “The hopping rate has actually increased since 1993,” he says. “People’s palates have just shifted towards bigger aromas and bitterness.”
At Oakham, recipe formulation often starts with pale malt — extra pale Maris Otter — designed to let hops shine through. While the brewery makes stouts and porters, hop expression remains a constant thread.
Process and Innovation
One unique feature of Oakham’s brewhouse is its “hop tea vessel,” a small conical tank used to draw out maximum aroma. By adjusting when and how hops are steeped, Ed and his team have been able to fine-tune flavor and aroma in their beers.
Oakham has also stayed true to its original yeast strain, used since 1993, and continues to ferment and condition in separate vessels. That setup allows for long conditioning times — up to six weeks — and careful control over flavour development.
The Art of Hop Selection
For Ed, hop selection is one of the most important and rewarding parts of the job. Traveling to the U.S., he has seen firsthand how much Citra® can vary from lot to lot. “You’re presented with eight or nine different samples, and some are far from what we’d consider the Citra® we want,” he explains.
On his first selection trip in 2023, Ed worked alongside John Bryan. Ignoring the technical sheets, they trusted their noses and ended up choosing the same lot — one that later proved perfect in terms of oil content and alpha acids. “John’s hands-on approach was then backed up by the data,” Ed says with a smile.
Looking Ahead
Cask beer faces challenges, from rising costs to declining pub sales. Yet Ed remains optimistic. More than ninety percent of Oakham’s production still goes into cask, and he believes their consistency and modern, hop-forward style help them stand out. “If customers buy an Oakham beer, they know it’ll be good quality and they’ll be able to sell it quickly,” he says.
It’s a philosophy that has carried Oakham through decades of change: stay consistent, stay hop-forward, and never lose sight of what makes their beer distinctive.
In this episode we’re back with Spreading Hoppiness, and this week Faram Jon heads over to Oakham Ales and gets technical with head brewer Ed! From the kit they use to maximise hop flavour, to how Citra® became a game changer in the brewery, as well as Ed’s beer career!
FIVE MINUTES WITH FARAM
BREWER COST SAVINGS
This week’s Five Minutes with Faram comes from Glasgow, where Faram’s Patrick Whittle sat down with Alasdair (“Ali”) Clem of West Brewery. Known for brewing German-style beers in the heart of Scotland, West has an unusual story, and so does Ali himself.
Patrick Whittle
For anyone who doesn’t know West, could you give us a bit of background?
Ali Clem
West was started in 2006 by our founder, Petra Wetzel. She grew up just north of Nuremberg in Bavaria and came to Scotland as a student. While she was here, she noticed there was a real gap in the market for good lager. The brewery began as a brewpub in Glasgow, making German-style beers for the bar, and it’s grown from there.
Patrick
Do you stick purely to German beers, or do you branch out?
Ali
The backbone is definitely German, but we’ve experimented. Over the years we’ve dabbled with other styles — the odd pale ale or something more modern — but our identity has always been rooted in German brewing traditions.
Patrick
And you follow the Reinheitsgebot, the German Purity Law. How does that shape what you do?
Ali
It’s both a strength and a challenge. The law goes back to 1516 and originally allowed only water, malt, and hops — yeast wasn’t even recognised yet. For us, it means we can’t use enzymes or additives that many modern breweries rely on. No caramel colouring, no shortcuts. Even with hop products, it depends how they’re extracted. It definitely makes life harder, but it also forces us to focus on quality. It’s part of what defines us.
Patrick
Do you have a favourite hop?
Ali
Hallertau Blanc. I use it in our modern pilsner. It gives this really clean, light aroma that balances beautifully.
Patrick
And what about favourite beers?
Ali
That depends on where I am. My wife’s Bavarian, so German lagers are always close to my heart. If I’ve just been walking in the Alps, a Helles is perfect. But if I’m relaxing in the afternoon, maybe something like a Goodman Heavyweight. It’s all about context.
Patrick
I like that. And food pairings?
Ali
One that always sticks with me is a dark stout with ginger biscuits, chocolate-covered apricot, and blue cheese. People who said they didn’t like dark beer or blue cheese tried it and were amazed. The roastiness of the beer, the tang of the cheese, the sweetness of the chocolate — it just worked.
Patrick
You’ve had quite a journey yourself. How did you end up in Glasgow?
Ali
I studied brewing at Heriot-Watt, then went to Australia with Lion and later moved within the company to New Zealand, where I spent nearly a decade. I met my wife there — she’s German — and after having kids we wanted to be closer to family, so Glasgow made sense.
Patrick
Brewing wasn’t always the plan though, was it?
Ali
Not at all. I studied chemistry first. After my final exams, I was in the pub when the landlord asked what I was going to do next. I was about to say “I don’t know” when my mum jumped in with, “He’s going to be a brewer and open his own brewery.” I’d never considered it before. I went home, googled how to become a brewer, and ended up writing to breweries across Scotland. They all told me the same thing: go to Heriot-Watt. So I did. My mum still doesn’t know why she said it.
Patrick
Do you have any brewing heroes?
Ali
Sir Geoff Palmer. I was lucky enough to be at Heriot-Watt when he was lecturing. He was such a brilliant speaker — you could sit and listen for hours.
Patrick
And what about favourite beer destinations?
Ali
Bamberg, in Bavaria, is incredible — medieval streets, old breweries, and Rauchbier everywhere. But my favourite pub is probably The Mussel Inn in Golden Bay, New Zealand. It’s this tiny brewpub in the middle of nowhere. Magical place.
Patrick
Back to West — what are you working on at the moment?
Ali
A lot of it is process improvement. We’ve also been building out our Radler range under the “Velo” brand — blending our beer with naturally made soft drinks like lemon and blood orange. It was tricky to make it work under the Reinheitsgebot, but we managed it by flash pasteurising for stability.
Patrick
That’s a neat balance of tradition and innovation. Before we wrap up, a couple of quickfire ones. Fuggles or Goldings?
Ali
Fuggles. Just more experience brewing with them.
Patrick
One thing you couldn’t live without in the brewery?
Ali
A C-spanner. You can’t do anything without one.
Patrick
Fair enough. And if you weren’t brewing?
Ali
Probably something in process improvement. That’s what I’d end up doing one way or another.
Meanwhile, Faram’s Paddie heads north to Scotland to meet Ali from West Brewery in Glasgow. This German themed brewhouse is strict in following the Reinheitsgebot, they talk about the challenges and opportunities with creates in this week’s Five Minutes with Faram.
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Check out the Oakham Ales Podcast Transcript
Brewing Stories: A Conversation with Oakham Ales’ Head Brewer, Ed Sharman
This week’s Spreading Hoppiness podcast takes listeners inside Oakham Ales, the Peterborough-based brewery that made Citra IPA a household name. Host Faram’s Jon Stringer joins Head Brewer Ed Sharman for a wide-ranging conversation about his first encounters with beer, his path into brewing, Oakham’s hop-forward style, and the challenges of keeping cask beer thriving today.
First Sips and Early Influences
Ed laughs when asked about his earliest beer memory. It wasn’t a pint in the pub but a cheeky sip from his grandfather’s lager, a bitter taste he didn’t enjoy at the time. But by his teenage years, curiosity had taken hold. While many of his peers reached for lagers, Ed was drawn to cask ales.
A turning point came at Ufford Ales, a tiny microbrewery near Stamford that brewed out of a pub. There he discovered beers ranging from pale ales to rye brews and stouts. Those pints showed him that beer could be more than “cold, fizzy lager” — it could be layered, complex, and full of character.
By the time he turned eighteen, Ed was a regular in local pubs like Charters and the Brewery Tap, both Oakham-owned venues. Without knowing it, he was already drinking the beers he would later become responsible for brewing.
Joining Oakham Ales
Ed’s career with Oakham began in 2011. At the time, the brewery was expanding rapidly on the back of Citra, launched in 2009 and quickly embraced by drinkers. Working at Charters, the floating bar on the River Nene, Ed reached out directly to the brewery to ask if there were any jobs available. There were, and he joined as a brewery assistant.
The role meant doing a bit of everything , from washing and filling casks to helping with deliveries. “Life in a brewery is ninety-five percent cleaning,” he recalls, “but those early years gave me a broad view of what brewing really involves.”
Oakham’s Hop-Forward Tradition
Oakham’s distinctive style has roots in the vision of founder John Wood, who spent time in the U.S. before starting the brewery. Inspired by bold, hop-driven American beers, Oakham built recipes around varieties like Cascade, Liberty, and Crystal long before Mosaic and Citra® came onto the scene.
Even beers like JHB and Bishop’s Farewell, first brewed in the 1990s, leaned heavily on hops. Some drinkers claim JHB isn’t as hoppy as it once was, but Ed is quick to explain otherwise. “The hopping rate has actually increased since 1993,” he says. “People’s palates have just shifted towards bigger aromas and bitterness.”
At Oakham, recipe formulation often starts with pale malt — extra pale Maris Otter — designed to let hops shine through. While the brewery makes stouts and porters, hop expression remains a constant thread.
Process and Innovation
One unique feature of Oakham’s brewhouse is its “hop tea vessel,” a small conical tank used to draw out maximum aroma. By adjusting when and how hops are steeped, Ed and his team have been able to fine-tune flavor and aroma in their beers.
Oakham has also stayed true to its original yeast strain, used since 1993, and continues to ferment and condition in separate vessels. That setup allows for long conditioning times — up to six weeks — and careful control over flavour development.
The Art of Hop Selection
For Ed, hop selection is one of the most important and rewarding parts of the job. Traveling to the U.S., he has seen firsthand how much Citra® can vary from lot to lot. “You’re presented with eight or nine different samples, and some are far from what we’d consider the Citra® we want,” he explains.
On his first selection trip in 2023, Ed worked alongside John Bryan. Ignoring the technical sheets, they trusted their noses and ended up choosing the same lot — one that later proved perfect in terms of oil content and alpha acids. “John’s hands-on approach was then backed up by the data,” Ed says with a smile.
Looking Ahead
Cask beer faces challenges, from rising costs to declining pub sales. Yet Ed remains optimistic. More than ninety percent of Oakham’s production still goes into cask, and he believes their consistency and modern, hop-forward style help them stand out. “If customers buy an Oakham beer, they know it’ll be good quality and they’ll be able to sell it quickly,” he says.
It’s a philosophy that has carried Oakham through decades of change: stay consistent, stay hop-forward, and never lose sight of what makes their beer distinctive.
Key images from the Oakham Ales PODCAST
"I was actually drinking the beer that I am now responsible for making."
