Raised and educated in the United Kingdom, Rod studied brewing at Heriot–Watt University in Edinburgh (where he gained not only a degree in Brewing & Microbiology but also a future wife, Moyra, who happened to be training as a brewer at the same time) and has so far enjoyed a brewing career spanning more than 20 years.

In 1989 he joined the renowned London family brewers, Young & Co. of Wandsworth, spending the next three and a half years learning the art of brewing good real ale before joining Moyra on the brewing staff at George Gale’s Brewery in Horndean, on the South Coast of England (where Moyra was to actually spend over 15 years brewing great beers such as HSB & Prize Old Ale).

In 1994, Rod left Gale’s to take up the role of Development Brewer at Ringwood Brewery on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire. Ringwood Brewery had been set up in 1978 as one of the pioneering micro-breweries established in England at that time and had become renowned for brewing high quality ales, including its legendary flag-ship beer, “Old Thumper”.

Promoted to Head Brewer at Ringwood in 1997, Rod oversaw a doubling in beer production over the next 7 years, establishing the brewery as one of the major real ale breweries in southern England.

Having migrated to Australia in late 2004, Rod helped set up and operate a small microbrewery in the Yarra Valley township of Coldstream prior to his move to Mildura in August 2009.