John Wood, 1950 - 2018

John was born in Leicestershire and lived the majority of his life in the county of Rutland, mostly in Belton-in-Rutland and Uppingham, and was one of our principal musicians, with a great sense of rhythmic play which was sympathetic to the number and age of the dancers. He was a standout member of the side and was always splendidly attired in his customary yellow jacket, and his topper resplendent with pheasant feathers.

He took up his passion for brewing by opening a 10 barrel brew house in Oakham Rutland in 1993 called 'Oakham Ales'. John was a visionary brewer who was very much in the fore front of introducing light hoppy beers to the British beer drinking public by the use of hops from the USA and New World. His two brews that he was most proud of were 'Jeffrey Hudson Bitter' 3.8% and 'Bishop's Farewell' 4.6% both with the characteristic hoppy taste that would forever be remembered as his trademark.

In 1998 Oakham Ales moved to a 25-barrel brewhouse in the centre of Peterborough and continued to flourish with new brews that largely followed in John's brewing footsteps, and in 2001 their 'Jeffrey Hudson Bitter' still brewed using John's recipe of Mount Head hops from the USA and Challenger hops from GB, became CAMRA's 'Supreme Champion Beer of Great Britain'.

His passing was deeply felt by his many friends and colleagues, and he is buried in the village graveyard in Belton in Rutland alongside a bottle of JHB, 24 Morris bells and a half kilo of chilies (please don't ask!) A further tribute came from Oakham Ales, which brewed a 'special' called 'Once to Yourself' (a Morris musician's term) based on 'Bishop's Farewell' for the 2018 Rutland CAMRA Beer Festival, and it goes without saying that it proved to be the 'beer of the festival' selling out within the first day.

John was certainly a 'man of beer', much admired by those who came across him or his brewing, and certainly deserves his posthumous inclusion in CAMRA's 'Roll of Honour'. He similarly enjoyed a massive reputation in the world of morris dancing and music as attributed by the number of fellow musicians who accompanied his hearse to his grave.

Some memories of John from our scrap books are here .