An Incredibly Brief History Of Scottish Brewing
It is believed that brewing first began in Mesopotamia sometime around the beginning of the 4th millennium BC. In Scotland, there is evidence that some sort of fermented beverages were being "brewed" possibly as early as the mid- to late-4th millennium BC as is evidenced in archaeological findings from sites such as at Balfarg/Balbirnie complex in Fife and at Kinloch on the Isle of Rhum. These "beers" were likely little more than a cereal-based porridge with the addition of flavorings such as meadowsweet.
Another type of early fermented beverage was heather mead or heather ale. While in many sources this fabled heather ale is attributed solely to the Picts, there is quite simply no firmly identifiable artifacts to prove that this is the case. In Scotland, there is, however, evidence of these heather based drinks existing prior to the first documented description of the people known as Picts. The epic story of the secret of the recipe dying with an elderly Pict who refused to give it up to his captors even after his sons were put to death has parallels in Ireland and in Europe that are not associated with the Picts. Regardless, these heather beverages were certainly brewed by the inhabitants of both Scotland and Ireland prior to and after the arrival of the Romans in Great Britain.
Up to the 15th century the art of brewing was dominated by the monastic establishments. About this time the first "Publick" breweries (commercial sellers) began to appear. While it is not certain, possibly the first brewery in Scotland was at Blackford in Perthshire where King James IV was said to have purchased a barrel of ale. Throughout this period the majority of brewing was still domestic and largely performed by women. By the 16th century, the brewing trade was beginning to become organized as is evidenced by the establishment of the Edinburgh Society of Brewers in 1596. Despite this, domestic brewers still dominated to as late as 1700 but the number of women brewers declined significantly. Some historians believe this decline in female brewers was due to the fact that it was becoming profitable and therefore attractive as an occupation to men who subsequently moved in pushing women out of the trade.
The early- to mid-18th century saw the establishment of the firms of the greatest names in Scottish brewing history. These included Archibald Campbell and William Younger in Edinburgh, Hugh & Robert Tennent in Glasgow, George Younger in Alloa and Dudgeon & Company's Belhaven Brewery in Dunbar. Beers were brewed for both domestic (within Scotland) consumption but also for export to England, the Baltic, the Americas and the West Indies. This boom continued into the 19th century with even small towns having several breweries. Export markets expanded to include India, Australia and the Far East. At this time, the dominant styles were strong 'Scotch Ale', 'small' or table beer which was known as 'tuppenny' due to its price per Scots pint and was made from the second mashing or sparging of the grain, and, from the late 18th century, Porter. The popularity of Porter throughout England led a number of Scottish firms to seek brewing expertise from London.
From about 1850, the urban brewers began significantly encroaching upon the rural (country) brewers due to new accessibility provided by railways. Unfortunately, this began what was to become a sad trend in Scotland (as well as Great Britain as a whole) of consolidation and rationalization combining larger interests and pushing out smaller ones.