Black Isle Brewery – scaling new heights?

Red Kite, released into the wild (etc)

For a brewery to make that next step, several things need to happen. Firstly, building on a solid base, to make the leap they clearly need a great brewer. Someone onboard who really knows their onions. From this, diversity is key – be consistent with the flagships, but look to other methods of production, other recipe ideas. Then you need to tell people about it – get the message and the brand out there. Finally, keep those elements together, and then build on them – get more brewspace, better people, a brighter message. An example? The Black Isle Brewery.

Located in the Highlands just north of Inverness, Black Isle were established by David Gladwin in 1998 on the non-island of the same name. Their focus from the start was on the local and the organic. Having been blessed with a great location, surrounding farmland was put to use and the brewery estate grew. Steadily building the brand and the idea, their beers were session strength and traditional at first, before the arrival of the mighty 7% Hibernator III in 2006. They then began to dabble in hosting beer festivals, before a major brewery expansion was first mooted in 2007.

The news page of their website runs back for almost ten years, so it’s possible to follow these developments chronologically. 2008 seems to have been a year when the brewery took another step, releasing all kinds of new beers – Imperial Oatmeal Stout (8.5%), Goldeneye (5.6%), Highland Heavy (6.8%), and winning awards from the likes of the soil association. The organic, locally produced ethos was clearly getting through – and the range of beers on offer was clearly increasing.

Fast forward somewhat, and 2011 could similarly be a banner year for Black Isle. Having finally opened their £1m brewhouse, they have secured an export market to Sweden with the increased capacity. Ex-BrewDog Sales Manager Chris Mair joined, to become Sales and Marketing Manager – resulting in many more Edinburgh pubs stocking Black Isle products than ever before. Then, they took the big leap and appointed ex-Marble Production Manager Colin Stronge to be their Head Brewer.

One of the first things Colin did was tweak the recipe of the flagship Yellowhammer. Clearly, he’s a man not afraid to put his own stamp on things – and a flurry of new beers has already appeared from the Black Isle. Having the shiny new brewery, the old kit has been put to use for small, experimental batches – and with creativity running riot the brewery decided to host a total takeover of Edinburgh’s Cloisters Bar to showcase their new offerings. So it was we turned up there at 4:50pm to bag the only free table available (for an event that started at 7pm).

One of my favourites on the night wasn’t even new (only to me) – Altared State is a classic Black Isle-style red ale, great caramel edge with plenty of toffee. It may actually be called Altered State, but I think the pump clip had that extra ‘a’ in there. Coffee Porter had plenty of ashy tobacco flavour in with the coffee, and the other new cask beer present – the 6.5% Scotch Ale – was even better. Deep ruby black, sweet plummy fruit and a finishing touch of boozy oak and chocolate.

Of all the Scottish breweries (with the exception of their neighbours in Aberdeenshire), Black Isle are doing most to embrace the keg. Their Blonde Lager is my girlfriend’s favourite beer (which we now refer to simply as ‘Bib’). We got through four others on the night – the pale amber Goldeneye, peppery Chilli Porter, Black Stout and Pacific Red. The Porter’s chilli flavour became far more prominent as the beer warmed from the keg, becoming really noticeable.

The Black Stout rolls in at a Treasury-tastic 7.4%, and is long and bitter on the finish. The alcohol’s there, but never too much. It’s a touch spiky from the CO2, but as the beer warms the smoky, chocolate flavours really come out, leaving peppery liquorice on the palate. The Pacific Red, is quite frankly, bizarre. On keg – hazy red, tart, raspberry flavour. On cask at the Red Squirrel the next day – toffee, caramel malt, berry fruit – but more raspberries. Fascinating Sorachi-esque stuff.

Quite obviously, Black Isle are on an upward trend. As their beers become more ubiquitous in Scotland – and elsewhere – this can only continue…