DARTMOOR Brewery has announced that Ian Cobham had been appointed as the new head brewer at the Princetown based brewery.

Ian joins Dartmoor Brewery from Bodmin based Harbour Brewing Company, where he worked as the lead brewer for the past 18 months.

He will be working alongside the outgoing head brewer Mike Lunney, who is due to take up a consultant role within the brewery after more than 40 years in the brewing industry.

Ian will be concentrating on the core range of ales, including Jail Ale, Legend and Dartmoor Gold, while also developing new recipes in the background.

Ian, 44, has worked in the alcohol industry for the past 15 years, including as a wine maker in France, a sommelier in Glasgow and a brewer in Cornwall. In Bordeaux, France, Ian worked as the cellar master for Château St Georges where he produced world-class wine, at a rate of 300,000 bottles per year.

Later Ian worked as a wine salesman in London, before going on to become a fully qualified sommelier and working in hotels across the North East and Scotland.

In 2012, Ian left the wine trade and moved to the South West and began working in the beer world, starting as a production brewer at Sharps Brewery, before going on to join Dartmoor Brewery as second brewer late in 2013.

After 18 months, he moved to Harbour Brewing Company as the lead brewer to gain experience in producing different styles of beer in a variety of packaging formats.

Now, Ian has returned to Dartmoor Brewery to take up the role of head brewer. Ian said: ‘It’s a daunting prospect to work on a product which has such a cult following, but with the team here I know that I can maintain the high standards of quality that customers have come to expect from Dartmoor Brewery.

‘I’m also very excited to develop some new additions to the range. I’ve got lots of ideas, and look forward to working with the team to turn these ideas into a reality.’