Craft Brewing & Plant Design

Plant design, construction and commissioning

Brewing & Food Processing

Brewing &Food Processing

I have designed and built several brewing and other food and drinks processing plants and can help you design, source and commission a craft brewery (brewpub or larger) or "Maheu" plant.

I can help with recipe formulation, plant design and layout, staff training, plant contruction or procurement, branding and product launch.

I would consider being a partner in a new craft brewery or Maheu plant if I believe in the team and the opportunity!

Heritage Brewing, California

In 1994 I helped the founders of Heritage Brewing in Lake Elsinore, California to commission their new brewery as a way to learn about building a brewery and making great beer. I am grateful to Mark and John for the opportunity and very indebted to their brewer Mike Ramsay who knows pretty much everything that’s worth knowing about making beer.

Zikomo Brewing, Zambia

I returned to Zambia and built Zikomo Brewing from scratch. In hindsight I should have borrowed more and got into production sooner but hindsight is always 20/20 and I learned a lot doing it myself. Plus I met my lovely wife who enjoyed my Baobab White (a Belgian Wit with Baobab fruit and coriander and a favourite of the current President of Zambia, Michael Sata!)

Maheu Plants and others, Zambia

In 1999 I helped to improve a large factory producing a traditional fermented maize (corn) based food drink called maheu. I went on to design and build three more maheu factories including possibly the biggest in Africa, the Trade Kings plant which was later bought by SAB/Miller for $20 million.

I also built a dairy processing plant for Zambeef/Zammilk and did some process tanks and process piping for honey, fruit juices and potato chips.

Fresh Start, Sri Lanka

After the tsunami in Sri Lanka, I worked with Women in Need and Swisscontact to help set up a cooperative food production business for widows and abused women.