The paper reviews a career of more than forty years researching topics in malting and brewing science. Some themes attracted particularly close attention, namely the endosperm cell walls of barley, dimethyl sulphide, flavour stability, foam and the impact of beer on health. However, the scope has been far broader than that. The underlying imperative was to pursue research that was close to application and always focussed on a specific need in the processes involved in the production of beer. © 2020 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling