Peter Ranscombe finds out more about Natural Selection, a partnership between Stewart Brewing in Loanhead and Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh to train the next wave of brewers.
SCOTLAND’S craft brewing scene is thriving – there are more than 115 breweries dotted throughout the country, the highest number for more than a century.
Gordon Brown’s introduction of small breweries’ relief in 2002 kick-started a fresh wave of production with a tax break on the amount of duty that needs to be paid.
Brewers then took inspiration from the craft beer revolution that had engulfed both coasts of the United States, as well as incorporating influences from Belgian, Germany and other traditional brewing nations.
At the centre of the revival in Scotland is Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, where the brewing and distilling course has been turning out talented alumni for decades.
One of those graduates was Steve Stewart, who founded Stewart Brewing in Loanhead with his wife, Jo, in 2004.
Steve has won plaudits for beers such as Edinburgh Gold, Pentland India pale ale (IPA) and Radical Road, and has even opened his own craft beer kitchen at his brewery, where visitors can try their hand at brewing their own beers – and where the Scottish Field team created its infamous “Ginger Ninja” brew.
Giving something back
For the past seven years, Steve and Jo have worked in partnership with Heriot-Watt on the Natural Selection project, which gives final year students experience of brewing their own beers in the Stewarts’ facility.
“We cooked up the idea for the Natural Selection project because we wanted to put something back,” explains Jo.
“Steve really enjoyed the course when he did it and thought it was very good on the academic side, but perhaps it lacked a wee bit of real world experience about how to setup and run your own brewery.”
The project gives students experience in creating their own recipes, brewing their own beers, designing their own packaging and then selling the finished product to the general public – the ultimate test for a budding brewer.
Each year, interviews are held and four students are selected for the project.
This year’s quartet consists of brewer Mark Ritchie, salesman Luis Valdez, marketer Patrick Smith and project coordinator Phil Sisson.
“Steve epitomises where we all want to be – running our own breweries and producing our own beers,” says Patrick.
“The project is great because it gives you experience in everything else beyond brewing beer – you can have the best beer in the world but if you can’t market it and sell it then there’s no point in having that beer.”
Launch night
This year’s Natural Selection cohort will launch its beer – a 5.2% California common-style brew called Common Ancestor – at OX184 in Edinburgh’s Cowgate on Thursday 29 June.
Roger Protz, editor of the Good Beer Guide, will be the guest speaker at the event.
If it’s anything like the team’s test brews then it’ll be well-worth trying.
Scottish Ancestor, a 5.4% Scotch ale with orange and chili, was brewed for a Heriot-Watt alumni event in London and struck a great balance between the coffee and milk chocolate malty flavours and the refreshing kick of the chili, which acted in a similar way to ginger.
The Green Mountain 5.9% New England IPA, which was created in collaboration with Cross Borders Brewery, was a much fresher beast, with savoury asparagus notes on the nose and fresh hoppy lemon and grapefruit flavours on the palate.
Find out more about Natural Selection at www.naturalselectionbrewing.com and buy tickets for the launch night at www.stewartbrewing.co.uk
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