When I first referred to Jeremy Clarkson as “The Greatest Living Englishman”, it started off as a nod to his unflinching honesty when it came to everything he looked at, such as his (non-)review of some Vauxhall car model back in the 1990s: “If they’re not going to bother to make an interesting car, I’m not going to bother to review it.”
That caused Big Business (in this case, Vauxhall’s then-parent company General Motors) to go apeshit, because that’s not the way car reviewers are supposed to behave.
It’s that same unflinching honesty that he displayed in his first bumbling efforts at farming which turned his Clarkson’s Farm TV show into a runaway smash hit, and along the way almost single-handedly changed the way the British regard both food and the farmers who produce it.
So when he turned that same agricultural ignorance towards brewing beer — simply because he had a barn full of unsold barley which he needed to sell — one might think that it was just another celebrity using their name to sell a product.
In this case, one would be not only wrong, but spectacularly wrong. And if you want to see a case study in marketing that, in hindsight, never had a chance of failing, then I implore you to watch this video.
Time and time again, “the experts” believed that Clarkson was making a mistake, and every single time he proved them not only wrong, but spectacularly wrong.
He turned a few thousand pounds’ worth of unsold barley into a £75 million company, and in the process, changed the way British people think about farming, about beer and about the people who farm and the people who brew beer.
And he did it all with his usual unflinching honesty and openness, which gave the lie to the usual corporate veneer of respectability and care for both their employees and their customers.
Which is why he truly is the Greatest Living Englishman.
I can’t wait to try it the next time I go over to Britishland.
You may not have to wait. Hawkstone is looking at exporting as it’s next opportunity. And ,of couse all the experts say it can’t be done. the breweries are too small. They told Gunness that as well 100 years ago.
And Guinness, for quite a few years, had a brewery in New York.
.
Watched that episode last Fri night. I never heard of a Lambo tractor until I started watching the show over a year ago. Orange pigs with black spots, whoever heard of such a thing?
Always admired the old sod. First saw him on the Beeb on a visit to the U,K. well before the car programme jumped the pond.
I just pray he is one of those Brits that remain hale and active to age 100+, the nation needs such inspiration. Come to think of it, hope we remain right there with him.
Only concern is that some 1984 Orwell inculcated on the bench will decide to make an example of him by tossing him in jail for wrongthink, Ask Tommy Robinson about that. Of course it will fail spectacularly but that never stops the “betters” so called, from doing shit.
And I will join you in quaffing his product anon.
I would like to see an American version of Clarkson’s farm but I have no idea who would host the show. I’m sure farming in the US is a little easier than England but not by much. The horrid bureaucracy reproduces and grows at alarming rates where ever it takes hold.
Is the village council elected? Could Clarkson and other folks run better candidates for the council who are more receptive to growth? It appears that the village council controls how you can use your property. They are more interested in keeping properties vacant and unproductive than to allow someone to fix up a property and make it useful. It seems like the village councils think of more ways to prevent a project than streamlining red tape.
American versions of Brit TV shows usually are at best a pale copy. Life on Mars, Top Gear, etc. They seem OK until you watch the original.
Kim, I fear that if you ever try to visit Formerly-Great Britain again, you will be arrested for thoughtcrimes the second you step off the airplane. Like happened to that comedian a few months ago.
Get your visit in quick. When the Brit-Caliphate takes over, Brewing is probably going to be a thing of the past.
I love the story, but the video might be AI slop. I can find no record of a Hawkstone Winter Warmer (ch17?). The closest I can find is Wonker, a dark lager, and not an ale.