John is a passionate connoisseur of beer and brewing. From a very young age he worked for the award-winning Young’s which brewed its beer at The Ram, the oldest brewery in the country with records going back to 1533.

In 2006, Youngs announced that they had sold the site to property developers. John was stunned that this crucial part of British brewing history was going to be lost, and offered to keep the brewery going on a smaller scale. In the nine years since, he has brewed one batch of beer every week on a non-commercial basis to keep the records going until the site is redeveloped with a new micro-brewery.

John is still brewing in his makeshift brewery, where donations from visitors keep the beer flowing. As the site has been used regularly as a filming location, guests to the brewery have included the cast and crew of Misfits, Ashes to Ashes, Silent Witness and Cockneys Versus Zombies. He also holds regular comedy nights in his sample room.