An Incredibly Brief History Of Scottish Brewing (Continued)
Beginning in the latter part of the 19th century, brewers all over Britain began catering to the public's taste for lower gravity, pale colored and clearer beers. The higher hop content of some of these beers allowed them to travel better than previous products thus creating a higher quality product for export. The lower alcohol content shortened the fermentation and maturation time thus increasing throughput. Shortly thereafter, Scottish brewers also began to experiment with lager brewing with Tennent's of Glasgow arguably dominating this pursuit as is evidenced by the building of a dedicated lager brewery at their Wellpark site in 1890.
Scottish brewing reached a peak of 280 breweries in 1840 after which they declined due to the rampant mergers and closures (that continue to the present day). As Scotland entered the 20th century, brewing was primarily concentrated in large firms residing in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Alloa with Edinburgh having the largest number of breweries (35). By 1910, 92 breweries were left in Scotland dropping to a total of 63 in 1920 as reported by the Brewers Almanack. Restrictions on raw materials imposed during World War I along with the Temperance Movement took a further toll reducing the number of breweries to only 36 by 1940. There were just 26 left in 1960 and the number declined further to only 11 by 1970.
At the turn of the 20th century, traditional Scottish styles - with the exception of lager - were in decline. The industry moved toward the what could be termed as the shilling era. Beers were termed based upon their invoice price per barrel in shillings which roughly designated the alcohol content of the beer. At the low end were Table and Harvest beers at 28/- and 36/- and Light and Mild at 42/- and 48/-, followed by Pale Ales at 54/- and 60/- and Export and Imperial beers at 70/- and 80/-, and at the high end, Strong Ale at 12-15 guineas. The latter is where the term 'Wee Heavy' originated in that these strong ales were sold in 1/3 Imperial Pint 'nips'; hence, 'Wee' (nip), 'Heavy' (stronger end of the alcohol spectrum). After World War II, the predominated styles were termed (in order of increasing strength) Light, Heavy, Pale and Mild, Export and IPA, and Stout including Sweet Stout which was hugely popular at one time.
Today, with the impending closure of William McEwan's Fountain Brewery in Edinburgh, and the demise of Maclay's Thistle Brewery in Alloa in the early 1990s, the Belhaven Brewery in Dunbar is the only historic brewery left in Scotland to have remained largely independent and continuously operating. (Tennent's in Glasgow is also a very historic firm but is now owned by a large non-Scottish interest). Thankfully, Lorimer & Clark's Caledonian Brewery in Edinburgh was saved from total extinction in the late 1980s by the Russell Sharp led management buyout from Vaux; however, its recent acquisition by Scottish Courage certainly spurs a feeling of uneasiness.
Scotland's brewing future now resides firmly in the hands of today's small firms that are fueled by the restless pursuit of producing world class beers. They are reviving the once great Scottish brewing tradition and this author's hat certainly comes off to them!