Island Life Magazine Ltd June/July 2009 | Page 102

life

FOOD & DRINK

Yates Brewery
HE’S a bit of an alchemist is David Yates. He
has taken a bit of what life has thrown at
him, a lot of hard work, and a whole heap
of enthusiasm, and has brewed up a thriving
Island-grown brewery. Yates’ Brewery has
just moved into a new home – in order to
keep up with demand – and its Christmas
ale has just won an award. The name of the
beer is Yule Be Sorry, but David, an industrial

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radiographer who turned beer-maker, has
absolutely nothing to regret.
The beer has just been judged South-East
Regional Beer of the Year, and will now go
forward to the Champion Beer of Great
Britain competition. Besides that, the strong
rumour is that Yule Be Sorry will be on the
tasting table at that festival – a notch on the
brewer’s barrel if ever there was one.

“I’m not a chemist,” David reminds me,
“I’m self-taught.” Which makes it all the
more remarkable that every year since he
began he has been invited to send some
Yates’ Beer up to the Great British Beer
Festival, the Olympics of the beer world. As
far back as 2004, just six years after the first
pint was brewed, David was asked to submit
one of his bottled beers, Holy Joe, to the

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