Ian parks his garage job… to be a brewer!
By: JimOldfield
September 9th, 2012
When career mechanic Ian Blaylock got so sick of his job he couldn’t face fixing another car, he was driven to drink…and opened a brewery in his garage! And on Friday (September 7), the 42-year-old served Doncaster Brewery’s first two ales to a packed pub in his home town..
Drinkers lapped up Sand House, a 3.8 per cent blonde, and Gold Cup, a 4.5 per cent golden ale which was brewed specially for the Doncaster’s famous St Leger horse racing festival which runs this week.
South Yorkshire’s newest brewery – and the only one to lie within Doncaster town itself – is a 15BBL labour of love, which Ian has devoted the last eight months to building from scratch, in the place of his former garage business.
Ian (right) said: “Some people may say this is my midlife crisis but I’ve always wanted to open a brewery.
“All my life I’ve fixed cars. But I slowly realised that I couldn’t stand my job and I reached the point where I hated getting up on Monday mornings.”
Things came to a head last Christmas, and with the support of his wife Alison, Ian parked his car business and put his spanners to work on building a brewery.
He said: “I’ve not borrowed any money, and I have just raised enough from the sale of these beers to buy the ingredients for the next brew”.
Ian’s beers will be regularly available in Doncaster at The “Little” Plough on West Laith Gate, and in Cask Corner on Cleveland Street.
Another new Doncaster area brewery opened its doors with a party when the Axholme Brewing Company celebrated its arrival on the local real ale scene with a launch at the River Don Tavern in Eastoft, between Doncaster and Scunthorpe. Head brewer Mike Richards and his wife Jules set up the brewery after being made redundant when Thorne Brewery suddenly upped sticks and relocated in the south.
HAND-PUMPED links:
Doncaster Brewery
Axholme Brewing Company
