How did you get into the world of beer? The beauty of the sector is that we’ve all come into it from different backgrounds, with different perspectives and with different stories to tell.

For Edd Simpson, he has a wealth of expertise from the world of music, teaching and also the wine industry. Qualifications and lived experience that he draws upon as managing director of two Yorkshire brewing powerhouses.

Edd is the managing director of Ossett Brewery and Salt Beer Factory. Running a brewing business is challenging enough, but he oversees a unique dynamic: managing a 28-year-old, well-established traditional cask regional brewer in Ossett, alongside Salt, a fast-growing, nationally recognised craft brand. Businesses he and the team have helped unify in recent years.

At Ossett, the business is experiencing ongoing success with its flagship cask beer White Rat, while the newer White Rat Nitro is a creamy serve using White Rat’s cask recipe, but kegged and dispensed using nitrogen.

And at SALT, its session IPA Alpacalypse produced in partnership with distributor Molson Coors, has gone from strength-to-strength since launching in January 2025.

Since joining the brewing businesses, founded by industry powerhouse Jamie Lawson, Edd has relished the role of running and helping develop the Yorkshire brewing group.

In this episode, we speak to Edd about his career to-date and how the opportunity to help run such a regarded brewing institution was an opportunity he couldn’t turn down. We discuss the company’s success with cask beer, alongside its recent foray into nitro, and how Alpacalypse continues to perform incredibly strongly for the brewery.

Edd also outlines how the UK should do more collectively to celebrate the brilliant beers being made by the brilliant breweries this industry has to offer.