Och aye the brew
Scotland has undergone a beer revolution in the last decade. Ben McFarland looks at what is on offer
When it comes to life-enhancing liquids, Scotland can proudly lay claim to both whisky and water.
What few people know, however, is that Scotland is home to some of the United Kingdom’s most exciting and tasty beer. In fact, Scottish beer is fast-becoming the talk of hopheads and ale-aficionados worldwide. Scotland has evolved into a hotbed of brewing innovation, independent entrepreneurial verve and no small amount of fantastic award-wining beers in the last decade or so.
In 1995 the number of microbreweries in Scotland didn’t reach double figures but now there are more than 40 producers and production levels have rocketed.
Small craft brewers have been surfing the fastmoving Slow Food movement and have benefited financially from both a sliding duty scale and a gamut of government business incentives designed to stimulate investment and innovation on the islands.
That Herriot-Watt University in Edinburgh has the leading brewery degree in the country has also helped stoke the fire of brewing dynamism.
The Caledonian Brewery, situated in central Edinburgh, is widely attributed as the first regional brewery to reshape the image of Scottish beer.
Its highly hoppy, golden beer called Deuchars IPA (India Pale Ale) was a marked departure from traditional Scottish beers which tended to be sweet, chewy and full bodied with loads of barley and little hops.
Caledonian was the first to adopt a laissez-fare attitude when it comes to chucking hops into its beer. Introducing an Indi.....
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By Ben McFarland
Section : Regional Focus
Page number : 28
