As head brewer of Dark Star, Mark Tranter helped shape one of the most influential breweries in the UK into the beast it is today.

But after leaving the brewery three years ago, he is more than happy to be in charge of the much smaller but critically acclaimed Burning Sky, based in picturesque Firle.

Since setting up he has been garlanded with praise, winning Brewer of the Year from The British Guild of Beer Writers and ranked fourth best new brewery in the world by web bible Ratebeer.

He half-jokes the secret to his success is down to be being an “obsessive, nit-picking control freak”.

“It’s a balance of science and art”, he says. “I’ve never made something that’s 100 per cent perfect. If you think you have you may as well give up. "I’m constantly critiquing and finding ways to improve. You should never reach a standstill.”

Mark was with Dark Star in the early days when it was a fledgling operation in the cellar of The Evening Star in Brighton, right up until three years ago at its current home in Partridge Green.

As a brewer he was ahead of the curve, pioneering hop-heavy American style pale ales, such as the classic Hophead, which have since become ubiquitous.

Proud though he is of his time there, he felt he had taken as far was ready to do his own thing.

In another move that shows a man ahead of the time, the first beer he brewed at Burning Sky was a Belgium Saison, made with wild yeast and aged in oak barrels, a style that is only just starting to take off.

But while trends might have caught up with Burning Sky, it certainly wasn’t the intention to be cool.

“We brew beers we like to drink”, he said. “If you're doing something because of demand in the marketplace you’re doing it for the wrong reasons.

“I’m not sure whether we’re ahead of the curve, but I’ve been brewing really hoppy ales for a long time.

“There’s lots of trendy brewers out there. I don’t know if we’re considered trendy or not, and I don’t really care.”

Having been in the industry for so long, what does he make of the craft beer explosion?

“Some breweries are in it for the wrong reasons”, he said. “It’s like new a new music scene, when you’ve got lots of bands running around copying each other.

“Generally I think it’s really positive when you think of how unfashionable beer was.”

Part of the success of Burning Sky has been keeping it small and manageable.

“I set it up to be the size it is”, he said. “I’m comfortable to produce a core range of high standard beer.

“It allows us the freedom and flexibility to make beers that can take anything from a few months to a few years.

“It feels lucky to have a brewery run by a brewer. These days that’s pretty unique. A lot of breweries get investment from different parties, whereas we’ve funded growth ourselves.”