Geoff Edwards doing what he loves best - brewing beer. Photo / Paul Taylor
Hawke's Bay man Geoff Edwards' lifelong goal was to retire early.
And he's doing just that - he'll walk out of the door from his job as head brewer at the Hawke's Bay Brewing Company on September 18 - a full two days before he turns 65.
Edwards knows a thing or three about beer and will leave a hole of more than 40 years of brewing experience behind.
The man from Taradale doesn't mince words about the profession he clearly loves.
"You either love it or don't, and if you don't then you are better off working elsewhere.
"When you are in it, you are in it for a long time.
"There's a lot of satisfaction in the job, and frustrations as well, but it's an industry I have loved. It gets in your blood, you can't let go of it completely."
He says times in the industry have changed - "it's a younger man's trade now" - and it's time to step aside.
Over the years Edwards has worked for well-known beer brands including Dominion Breweries and Lion and some which have long closed down including Leopard Brewery in Hastings.
"Basically, when I left university I had a part-time job. I went to an employment agency and they said they had a bank job for me," he said.
Edwards couldn't think of anything worse.
"The next day the agency got in touch with me and asked if I'd like to work at a brewery, and I said 'that's more me," and didn't look back."
He started working at Lion Brewery in Newmarket, Auckland, and stayed there from 1977-80.
Then he moved to Palmerston North for three years where he met his wife and they got married, but not without Edwards answering some delicate questions first.
When he approached his father-in-law to ask his permission for his daughter's hand in marriage, his father-in-law had one question.
"His first response was not a yes, it was 'can you get cheap beer for the reception," Edward laughs.
"I said I could, and I did."
The family then moved to Hastings and Edwards worked at Leopard Brewery from 1983-86.
The brewery was known as "Burton Brewery" but the name was changed because of confusion with a brewery with a similar name in Palmerston North in the 1950s to "Leopard Brewery". It closed in the 90s.
Then the family moved to Wellington where Edwards worked at Lion Brewery from 1986 to 1988.
"My wife and kids came with me, supported me. A big shout out to them."
Following that came, what he calls, his "wilderness years".
"I had a couple of years of what I call wilderness years because there were no brewery jobs," he said.
"I worked at the Hutt City Council for about 18 months, and working as a public servant drove me crazy.
"Then I worked for an adhesives and sealants company in Petone for a year."
Over the years he accumulated his fair share of anecdotes and in 1991 when a job came up with DB Breweries at Mangatainoka, Edwards recalls an eventful beginning as brewery manager.
"My first day on the job and there had been some big floods in Manawatu," he said.
"So I couldn't get to the brewery.
"Then I received a call from gas supply and they said the gas supply needed to be closed down.
"On my first day, my first call to the boss as a manager was 'we need to close the brewery down'."
He has now been working with the Hawke's Bay Brewing Company for a little more than seven years.
"My job, as head brewer, is more relaxed now," he said.
"I am responsible for the production - beginning to end. It's an organic process and consistency is the name of the game.
"My main aim has always been to deliver product consistency."
And while he still loves his job and the perks that go with it, he is ready to hand-over the reins to 'young blood' that doesn't just think about beer.
"When I came to Hawke's Bay I had to learn about cider, ginger beers and juice, slightly different fields from when I started," he said.
Edwards is not a big fan of the trend towards 'hoppy' craft beers.
At the Hawke's Bay Brewing Company he's developed his favourite Pilsner into the most-popular beer.
"I quite like the Pilsner. It's refreshing and not too hoppy - a lot of craft beers are too hoppy.