New Scottish Brewery – Speyside Craft Brewery

Next week, the flourishing brewing scene in the north-east will gain another name on the roster, as the Speyside Craft Brewery open their doors for the first time. Within the past twelve months, shutters have risen on numerous new facilities in that part of Scotland – Cromarty, Spey Valley, and West Beach have all jumped into the market – NE beer fans have certainly got plenty to look forward to, with these new brewers beginning to make their mark. The Speyside Craft Brewery will be keen to build up a similar following from their base in Forres – and, like Cromarty, will be run by just one man.

Seb Jones had initially planned his operation as the Moray Brewery, but took the interesting decision to have a pre-launch re-brand to better reflect the proud alcohol heritage of his part of the world. The result is the Speyside Craft Brewery, and tagline ‘against the grain’. Seb’s background is in Chemistry – and like many, many a brewer he decided to pursue something he truly enjoyed rather than plough into the rat-race, and went into business for himself. Following the pre-requisite home-brewing phase, he’s initially launching with Moray IPA (5.5%) and Randolph’s Leap Lager (4.9%). Follow up beer includes the 4.1% Bottlenose Bitter, which features a donation to Wale and Dolphin Conservation with every purchase.

It’s great to see so many new producers starting out – particularly the younger guys like Seb (who is 25). It proves that there’s plenty of life in the modern beer industry, and that the breweries popping up everywhere aren’t just out to make a quick profit – brewers like Seb and Cromarty’s Craig Middleton are (hopefully) at the beginning of long careers making beer. Speyside’s products will be appearing in cask and bottle – so we’ll let you know what they taste like as soon as they reach Edinburgh. Those lucky enough to be in Forres next week can find out in person, at a launch event at the Mosset Tavern…

Speyside Craft Brewery
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