The Brewery History Society, the 45-year-old organisation devoted to researching and recording all aspects of the brewing industry, is delighted to announce that Miles Jenner, head brewer and joint managing director of Harvey & Son, the long-established family brewery based in Lewes, Sussex, has accepted an invitation to be the society’s new president.
Miles, who was born in 1952, comes from five generations of brewers, his family having brewed at R&H Jenner’s Brewery in Southwark, South London, between 1831 and 1938. He spent his childhood living alongside Harvey’s brewery, where his father was head brewer. He started his career as a pupil brewer at Greene King in Bury St Edmunds and joined the brewing room of Harvey’s & Son in 1980, becoming head brewer in 1986 and joint managing director in 2000. Among his many awards and honours, Miles was named “Brewer of the Year” by the All Party Parliamentary Beer Group in 2001, received a CAMRA Special Award for “outstanding services to the beer industry” in 2001, was named “Brewer of the Year” by the British Guild of Beer Writers in 2009 and was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of East Sussex in 2013. He is a Freeman of the City of London and served as Master Brewer at the Worshipful Company of Brewers 2015/16, where he remains a Court Assistant.
Miles has reproduced historical recipes at Harvey’s including Le Coq’s Imperial Extra Double Stout, which was recently named World’s Best Imperial Stout at the World Beer Awards 2017. He said: “I was very flattered to be asked to be president of the BHS, and delighted to accept. The society does a marvellous job.”
In addition, Susan Chisholm, quality assurance manager for Greene King, has joined the BHS committee. She joined Greene King in 1978, originally as a lab assistant, is a long-standing member of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling, was chairman of the Southern UK section of the IBD in 2011-13 and in 2014 was awarded fellowship of the Institute. Susan is the daughter of a Scottish clan chief and secretary of the clan Chisholm society. She said: “My own love of history since childhood was encouraged particularly by my mother. This interest in history has led to me being determined to bring the Greene King collections into some order and to secure it for the future. I have very much enjoyed hosting meetings for the BHS and meeting all the enthusiasts and hearing about their different areas of interest. I look forward to working with the committee and contributing to the aims of the society.
The Brewery History Society has several hundred ordinary members and more than 80 corporate members including such companies and organisations as Guinness and Historic England. It produces a quarterly magazine, Brewery History, which has an editorial board drawn from senior academics in the UK, Europe and the United States.
September 8 2017
Martyn Cornell
Press officer, BHS
(+44) 07950 291326