New Scottish brewery – West Beach

The rise of Scottish brewing continues apace, with (by my reckoning) a dozen new producers in the works, looking to get their beers to market. One of the impressive things about this is their geographical spread – by no means are they all restricted to the central belt. One such example are the West Beach Brewery, currently setting up operations in Lossiemouth – aka ‘the jewel of the Moray Firth’, forty miles north-east of Inverness.

The town’s most notable claim to fame (other than the fishing industry) is the enormous RAF airfield just to the south. Home to the 617 Dambusters squadron, two beer-loving retired pilots – who currently work as flight instructors – are in the process of establishing their own brewery. Named after the beach that Tornados zoom over on their final approach to the Lossiemouth base, Nigel Tiddy and Alisdair Read will be setting up shop on the Coulardbank Industrial Estate, once planning permission comes through.

Aiming for a modern-thinking 10bbl microbrewery, Alisdair and Nigel hope to be on the market within three months. The initial plan is to have a range of cask and bottled beers, with the idea to move into kegging once the extra gear is onboard. “We plan to start with a couple of hoppy pale ales – and a dark strong ale for the cold winter evenings,” says Nigel. “Good strong IPAs with plenty of bitterness and hop character to follow in the New Year.”

“Once we have proved the equipment and are confident with it, we plan an adventurous approach to our beers in a true craft brewery style.” he finishes – which should be good news for the beer fans of Moray, who have plenty of reasons to be excited. With Spey Valley opening recently, and the eponymous Moray Brewery being planned in Forres – not to mention nearby Cromarty and the Black Isle – it seems West Beach could be a promising part of a thriving regional brewery scene.

West Beach Brewery, Lossiemouth
Official website
Twitter Feed / Facebook page

UPDATE
As of November 2012, West Beach announced they are changing their name to Windswept Brewing Company, following a challenge over the use of the West Beach name. Find them on Twitter here