Dougal Sharp: How I went global with British real ale

Dougal Sharp got his break when whixky distiller Grants used his beer to flavour their oak barrels. The distillery workers, instead of tipping out the beer, drank it - and the award-winning Innis & Gunn real ale was born.

Makers of niche real ales and bottled craft beers have fought back in recent years against the market dominance of imported lagers. That's down to men like Dougal Sharp. The 39-year-old Scot spent his adolescence helping out in the Caledonian brewery after his father led a buyout in the late 1980s. However, he "never wanted to make a career in it". Instead, he went to Sheffield University to study chemistry. Days after his graduation ceremony in 1994, Caledonian's facilities were damaged by a fire. "It was a big blow... and my dad asked me to come back for nine months and help." Sharp "loved it" and decided to take an apprenticeship with brewer Timothy Taylor.

Brewing beer is like cooking, says Sharp: "using your instincts to get the best flavour out of ingredients". He began experimenting, and after some initial disasters, he began producing decent beer. Indeed, Caledonian even started collecting awards and sales rose. Yet Sharp was frustrated. "It was a small company... I couldn't get promoted and the firm was focused on local markets."

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James McKeigue

James graduated from Keele University with a BA (Hons) in English literature and history, and has a certificate in journalism from the NCTJ. James has worked as a freelance journalist in various Latin American countries.He also had a spell at ITV, as welll as wring for Television Business International and covering the European equity markets for the Forbes.com London bureau. James has travelled extensively in emerging markets, reporting for international energy magazines such as Oil and Gas Investor, and institutional publications such as the Commonwealth Business Environment Report. He is currently the managing editor of LatAm INVESTOR, the UK's only Latin American finance magazine.