‘It’s full of stress, a lot of sleepless nights, but I love it, I’m not joking, the brewery’s my life, my girlfriend, my everything. It doesn’t feel like work, even though I work at least seven days a week’

So says James Davies, 31, from Halstock, between Beaminster and Yeovil. James is head brewer at Tapstone Brewing Company, which he set up in January, though the title of head brewer doesn’t really do justice to his efforts. He built the brewery himself, on an industrial estate in Chard, and he does almost everything else, including deliveries — he takes care to carry his casks upright and steady, rather than roll them around on the ground, so the beer settles quicker in pubs’ cellars.

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