The interview was for my Top of the Hops segment on Radio Sport, where each week I cast the spotlight one of New Zealand's fine craft breweries.
Chatting afterwards Emerson remarked it was nice to have had a chat before his marketing manager said he looked forward to hearing it on the radio; he then looked at Richard and said matter of fact, "you won't be listening - you're deaf!"
They both cracked up, doubled over at the hilarity of it all. I joined in once I realised it was genuine; Mr Emerson can quite clearly laugh at himself.
And why shouldn't he laugh? After all, he's realising his dream after setting out in 1993 simply to make good beer.
Like so many of those who have followed in his micro-brewing footsteps, Emerson became disillusioned with the beer offerings in New Zealand and, after spending a year in Scotland, realised there was more choice than just ale or lager.
He set about making his own beer, beginning with a porter in his mother's kitchen, and demand quickly grew. In fact he and his team became so good at brewing quality beers the big boys at Lion came knocking.
Richard and the board sold to Lion in 2012 for a reported sum of $8 million, amidst speculation from drinkers the brand they knew and loved would be watered down and lose its magic.
A number of Wellington bars didn't waste any time to see if the prophecies would come true and stopped stocking the beer once existing supplies ran out.
Suffice to say the concerns proved to be unfounded and Emerson keeps an eagle eye over the product that comes out of his brewery.
He still gets ninety percent of his hops from Nelson growers and is selling his beer faster than it can be produced. The next step in the plan is to shift into the Australian market.
I'm predicting a similar story for Upper Hutt's cult brewery Panhead Custom Ales who agreed to sell to Lion last month.
Panhead's Supercharger APA was named the country's best beer in 2015 by the Society of Beer Advocates. If the Lion acquisition follows a similar pattern to that of Emerson's, there's no reason to think the outcome will be vastly different.
The sum paid to Panhead isn't known, but it would be interesting to know where it sits in relation to the $8 million paid to Emerson's four years ago.
Moa Brewing Company founder Josh Scott recently told Top of the Hops New Zealand craft brewers may be selling themselves a little short, certainly in comparison to their US counterparts which are selling to big companies for mega bucks.
Still, the future is certainly bright for those brewers that produce quality New Zealand beer and have the patience to keep refining their wares to cater for the increasingly sophisticated Kiwi palate.
Do that and, like Emerson's, they too could one day be laughing all the way to the bank.
