And the Thornbridge operation has changed and developed greatly in those years. The brewery outputs around 15,000 litres a week. Between 20-30% of this goes into cask, while the rest is an even split between keg and its bottle output. 30% of what Thornbridge produce is exported across the globe.

Going forward, Lovatt is happy with the team he has in place, and expects and new bottling line and centrifuge to come in this year. He’s a firm believer in quality equipment and doing things the right way.

“You can’t let the bean counters get in the way of quality. All we have is our reputation,” he says.

It’s that positive reputation that has helped drive Brooklyn Brewery’s growth in recent decades. And while Oliver is well versed with the US scene that Brooklyn has long been part of, he has a great deal of interest in the “chaotic” UK brewing sector, too.

“There are some great beers being made, and there are some bad beers being made. I remember speaking alongside beer writer Michael Jackson at the CAMRA AGM in 1998, telling the brewers to do something new. Don’t get me wrong, I love cask beer and it’s what made me fall in love with beer in the first place but please, when judging competitions, I was seeing something like six varieties in the UK, when we had around 90 in the US,” he laments.

“You would go down the pub and see people at the time selling beer like Hoegaarden for around three or four quid and your pint is two quid. What is wrong with this equation…. It’s like ‘why is this guy coming across the water and selling their beer for more than yours?’. And their beer isn’t even better than yours, you could do that.

“We’ve done that!

“We’ve beaten Hoegaarden in the World Beer Cup in the Witbier category, you can brew those beers if you want to. You have to think of it more like food, take in ideas from everywhere. Look at ‘Project Serpent’ for instance. This has inspiration from everywhere.

“From wine, from spirits, barrels. I love ciders and this ties those in together with friends. As I said, this is a true collaboration. It shouldn’t be something you can do by yourself, it should need the other person otherwise it is pointless.”