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The Telegraph’s best beers highlights M&S low alcohol peachy pale ale made by Yattendon’s Renegade Brewery




A West Berkshire brewery has hit new heights of success, snagging a top spot on The Telegraph’s best zero and low-alcohol beers list, writes Grace Clift.

In an article by Melissa Cole, Renegade Brewery’s M&S Low Alcohol Peachy Pale Ale was met with high praise.

M&S is stocking Renegade's alcohol-free Peachy Pale Ale
M&S is stocking Renegade's alcohol-free Peachy Pale Ale

The article said: “This does exactly what it says on the tin, and not in a horrible fake way.

“It’s a very well-constructed and subtly peachy pale ale, which will appeal to those who like their beers on the sweeter side.”

The Renegade-created beers are now being stocked across the UK by retailer Marks & Spencer, having already won the 2021 Silver Award in the London Beer Competition.

Renegade Brewery in Yattendon
Renegade Brewery in Yattendon

Renegade managing director Martin Kelly said: “We’re not a mainstay, we’re not a big player, we are a small regional and therefore it’s a good accolade for the team here.”

Sustainability is the main ethos for the company, which was started in Yattendon in 1995 and is still situated in the picturesque countryside.

“We’ve got 1,088 solar panels on the roof,” said Mr Kelly. “That generates potentially 40 per cent of all the energy we need for the site.

“There’s lots going on, from water saving ideas on the packaging lines… to having more recycling bins than I can shake a stick at.”

Renegade Brewery in Yattendon
Renegade Brewery in Yattendon

All merchandise sold by the brewery is made from organic cotton or recycled polyester and is sent out in recyclable packaging.

And Renegade’s latest beer takes recycling to new levels.

Renegade Brewery has created a beer using Christmas trees from the Yattendon Estate
Renegade Brewery has created a beer using Christmas trees from the Yattendon Estate

Its new Taiga beer is a piney West Coast Pale Ale made from recycled Yattendon Estate Christmas trees.

“We take the Christmas lights and baubles off the tree before we use it,” Mr Kelly assures us with a laugh.

He compared the infusion of the pine flavour into the beer to dunking a tea bag into water, with the deep flavours seeping in effortlessly to create a lush, floral taste.

Mr Kelly said his personal favourite Renegade brew was, however, the Blackguard Stout, which has a creamy, malty taste that he said was perfect for the colder months.

And if peach isn’t to your liking but you still want a low alcohol drink, Renegade’s Solo Alcohol-Free Pale Ale is a well-established favourite too.

It’s been in circulation for more than four years, and scored a place on the Independent’s best alcohol-free beers in summer 2021.

Renegade Brewery in Yattendon
Renegade Brewery in Yattendon

There’s more new beers to come later this year from Renegade too. September 2025 is bringing a plum porter, which Mr Kelly described as “like velvet in a glass”.

Another new year’s resolution for the company is to source its barley from local Yattendon farmers in the future, to keep locality at the centre of the business.

Renegade’s M&S Peachy Pale Ale is available at M&S store or you can order online from Renegade itself – https://www.renegadebrewery.co.uk/



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