James Kemp joins Yeastie Boys from Marble Brewery

James Kemp has left Manchester’s Marble Brewery to join Yeastie Boys, the brewing company founded in New Zealand.

Yeastie Boys, which recently moved its brewing operations to West Berkshire Brewery, celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2018 and have now been brewing in the UK for two years.

According to Stu McKinlay, founder of Yeastie Boys, it was time to get someone on board that was “far better than me to oversee all this production and James is the perfect person for that job!”

He added: “We’ve got off to a cracking start in the UK, from absolutely nothing, but we’re always thinking of the future and this was the perfect place to bring someone on board.

“Bringing James into the team is an investment in our brand as well as the product. We’ve long been known for innovation but in the UK we’ve focused on our core range products, only bringing in very small volumes of seasonals and specials from New Zealand.”

“As our reach expands nationally and into Europe, and often outside the traditional ‘craft beer’ venues, it’s important to us that we continue to excite and delight the independent trade and that needs to happen from here in the UK rather than back in New Zealand.

“I can’t think of anyone better to do that than James Kemp. I’ve known him for over a decade and his dedication to innovation and quality make him one of the very best brewers that I know.”

Kemp, who is a highly-respected brewer, will take over the lead brewing role from March, focusing on innovation, quality, and elegance.

Commenting on his new role, he said: “I’ve been a fanboy of Yeastie Boys since I first tried Pot Kettle Black almost ten years ago and I’ve always considered them to be one of the most exciting and edgy breweries in the world.

“I’m really looking forward to having a lot of fun making great beer and helping take them to the next level.”

McKinlay concluded: “We’ve not mapped out an exact plan of what we’ll brew, yet, as we really want to let James focus all his energy on his last couple of months at Marble but expect a good dose of easily accessible seasonal beers, possibly with melon balls, followed by a really exciting long-term focus on elegant and very special beers.”

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