How will Independence affect Scottish beer?

You may well have heard about this already, but tomorrow the people of Scotland go to the polls to grapple with the thorny issue of independence. Should Scotland go it alone? Should we give the ‘effing Tories a kick? Should we bother to vote, seeing as this is an election that actually matters? According to the news, the numbers of registered voters leaning towards answering all those questions in the affirmative has risen, to the extent the prospect of Scottish Independence is balanced on the edge of a skean dhu/regular knife (delete as applicable). If a ‘Yes’ vote happens, though, how might it affect our most glorious natural product? That which provides capital to our economy and oils the wheels of industry?

What effect might independence have on Scottish beer?

In an independent Scotland, following (one presumes) an almighty, weekend-blocking hangover suffered by half the country, work would have to begin on what exact beers us freedom-loving new nationeers can enjoy. As we step from the gently bobbing hovercars the following Monday and let our gravity boots propel us to the front door of the Salmon & Sturgeon, what beery treasures would await inside?

I’m already wondering if there’ll be a knee-jerk ‘tartanisation’, as First President Alec Salmond force-returns iScotland’s brewers to the traditional styles. What price* a plethora of Scotch Ales being mashed in on Monday the 22nd? Nationalistic fervour combining with currency uncertainty against an on-trend backdrop of provenance can only lead to the obvious endpoint; a return to the Shilling era. Brewers of the Independent federation of Scotland could plump for the labelling system that works for us, and us alone (look out for Brewmeister 360/-).

* and in what currency?

As Scotland takes control of its financial destiny, it’s going to be interesting indeed how the relationship plays with Scottish breweries’ most important market – freeloading bloggers England. If duty rates change, even slightly, would any imbalance foster the same level of cross-border dray movement? As Scottish beers are switched to the Bières Sans Frontières bar at CAMRA’s 2015 Great English (plus welcome guests) Beer Festival, and London craft prices continue to soar into the stratosphere, England could well become the new Sweden for Scottish beer.

Aside from the GBBF, what of that suddenly removed concept of Britishness? Sure, there would be hand-wringing, and letters to What’s Brewing, but institutions would be re-invented; the Good Beer Guide replaces Scotland with a page titled ‘here be sparklers’. The Scottish Guild of Beer Writers would be half a dozen grumbling barflies, clutching their poorly-laminated beermats of membership. It’s not as if Scottish pubs could get any less recognition in nationwide competitions as they did before, either.

As an independent Scotland pledges to take a ticket and watch for our number to join the EU, would we ally ourselves more closely with the continent? If the day has come when fancy-free Bath Street partygoers flay the Glasgow pavements with the contents of their lambic-addled stomachs, then I’m all for it. Alternatively, an independent Scotland – denied Europeanisation by red tape – could simply turn to itself for inspiration; pulled venison instead of pork, Irn Bru tops instead of lime.

As we sit on the doorjamb of history, two things are clear for me, at least. One, I’m going to stay up and watch the referendum result with a couple of bottles of the most fitting beer I can find; Tempest’s Brave New World IPA. And two, secretly hoarding those BrewDog Beer Bucks might yet pay off…

For a more serious look at how a potential Yes vote might influence the Scottish beer industry, check out this extremely well thought-out post from Robbie at I Might Have a Glass of Beer. For what it’s worth, Dave Whyte of DemonBrew wrote an open letter to the Scottish Government asking for a clarification on duty rates in an Independent Scotland. His local MP, Kenny MacAskill, replied very swiftly.