Beer Hour: Bill Simmons
The ever-dapper beer, music, art and culture fiend Bill Simmons talks to Jessica Mason about his journey through the brewing industry and reiterates the importance of quality and connection.
Looking out for Bill Simmons to meet him in a crowded watering hole means invariably keeping your eyes peeled for a man wearing a hat. Or a neckerchief, but one that is casually tied beneath a Nigel Cabourn utility jacket. He is bearded, but not in the CAMRA sense. Instead, he walks over like a mature hipster, all Redwing boots and Carhartt and shifts his rucksack on his shoulder, producing a bottle of Fuller’s Vintage Reserve from it. “For you,” he says. This is how Simmons is with everyone. I’ve seen this man make friends with people from all over the world, of all ages and backgrounds. Always showing up as himself with that trademark nonchalance, like he’s known you his whole life and you’ve been his mate forever.
A people person
Asking Simmons about his connections to the sector is a bit like giving up your entire day. He talks. And once he gets going, he really does own the conversation. But it’s wonderfully enlivening, because he really has done so much. Achieved so much. And clearly made many friends along the way.
“I joined the beer community in 1985 after 12 years in the music industry doing what my friends called being a ‘plugger’ for major bands,” he says and explains “I moved to the beer industry after my wife asked when I was going to ‘get a proper job’.” At this, he laughs. Simmons speaks both avidly and fondly of his wife Nicky while grinning. You can tell how much he admires her. You get the feeling that Nicky is patient, perceptive and capable when he describes her. You also get the sense that he adores his family. He has three daughters – Lucy, Jess and Lily who he animatedly tells me about them and it’s clear he spends a lot of time with each of them independently, whether that’s visiting art galleries together, catching a Bruce Springsteen concert or watching his beloved Arsenal play. He reminds me he’s a season ticket holder and goes to support them whenever he can. Simmons also has two grandchildren – Rebel and Axl and he shows me a photograph on his phone of them both, proudly.
We order a couple of pints of Harvey’s Sussex Best and get back on topic. Beer has been a big part of his life for some time and his background with breweries has afforded him a great deal of insight into the changing tides across the sector. This is where it becomes clear that Simmons has a unique perspective on what sells well, but also how much things have changed and which breweries are really producing excellent brews. We sit down and sip our drinks.
Seeing all sides of the brewing scene
Simmons has spent a large part of his career “working for many years on the commercial side for regional brewers like Samuel Smith, Ruddles, Batemans, Caledonian and finally Fullers Brewery,” he explains.
“During this time, I also worked closely with the production and logistics side who are essential components of any successful business,” this is where Simmons’ genuine understanding about what goes into creating a good beer come in handy for when he judges different styles of beer for awards. He appreciates a well-made brew, but also considers the people behind it and thinks about what went into creating it. It’s like his brain never stops ticking as he assesses.
“My time at Fullers working alongside John Keeling and Derek Prentice was spent amongst other things creating teams of people to evaluate other beer brands, input into NPD and creating new routes to market with past beer styles,” he says. His pathway through beer has meandered somewhat more than your average beer salesman. Indeed, he’s a networker, a fixer, a catalyst for who needs what. There seems to be a lot of people that he knows and who know him. Mostly, he seems casual about it all though.
Partner Content
After leaving Fuller’s in 2013, Simmons set up his own consultancy business working with and helping small craft breweries. Some of these included the likes of Beavertown, Wimbledon, Westerham and Old Dairy.
A well-travelled palate
“Being an international beer judge and a member of the Guild of Beer Writers, I spend some time abroad where I not only meet like-minded industry people but also get to judge new and interesting beer styles,” he points out. Asking him what would turn his head on a beer flight, he admits:”I am a keen lover of lambic, gueuze and many Belgian beer styles. I also am very keen on porters and stouts”.
It is obvious that Simmons has a palate that still searches out flavour and is not in any way closed to styles you can only obtain in Britain. He describes how “from a global point of view, I love the Catherina sours from southern Brazil” and explains that these are “basically a kettle soured beer that has been brewed similar to, but a bit stronger than a Berliner weisse”.
What does he value in his beer career nowadays? Simmons considers this for a moment. “I strive to continue to learn about our industry, including new beer styles and breweries on a continual basis and hope to continue to do this until I drink my last beer,” he says.
Does anything trouble him or frustrate him about the sector? Here, he reveals that he feels “many businesses, especially small craft brewers, fail because they have no strategy plan to work to.” And here he laments that “who, what, when, how and why? It is not your business plan”. This is where he says he sees so many fail while others prosper. Simmons observes that “the beer industry, in my opinion, lacks real leadership and is slowly becoming irrelevant to many, especially the young”.
Admiration
Brewers and breweries I admire are those, not only for their great beers, but those with a clear focus on what and where they want to go. Here, he gives examples and reels of names like “Harvey’s led by Miles Jenner, Burning Sky led by Mark Tranter, The Kernel led by Evin O’Riordain, Thornbridge founded by Jim Harrison and Simon Webster, Utopian led by Richard Archer”. And you realise that he has a lot of praise for those he reveres and a lot of time for people dedicated to creating beers of great quality. He’s described by so many others in the trade with a similar mix of admiration – “opinionated,” “passionate,” “friendly”and “loyal” all being terms used when his name comes up in conversation.
More broadly though, Simmons suggests that it is still his opinion that “the greater beer industry has lost its way” and says he believes that even “CAMRA appear no longer to be relevant and may struggle to be in the long term”. In his view, there is also what he calls “the real beer industry” and insists that it is “kind, respectful and extremely giving”.
As for his place within it, he looks comfortable. Then Neil Young’s Harvest Moon comes on the stereo behind the bar and he takes a sip of his beer and smiles, contentedly. “Love this,” he says.
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