It’s Swallie time again!

After all the trials and tribulations of the last few months, our thoughts turn to the festive period and to the launch of Santa’s Swallie for 2009. The brewery has been rejoicing in the aromas of cinnamon and nutmeg for a few weeks now, and the Head Brewer is particularly chuffed with the yuletide brew this year.

A dark copper coloured Christmas ale, Santa’s Swallie is traditionally hopped with Fuggles and a hint of the spices mentioned above. Santa’s Swallie has proved a very firm favourite with our customers over the years and, as Christmas beers become popular again, we are proud to say that it is often specifically requested weeks in advance from beer drinkers throughout the UK. We hope you enjoy this year’s Santa’s Swallie. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any comments, questions or, indeed, photos of people enjoying our beer in your pub.

The Christmas Quiz 2009

After the success of last year’s quiz, here are a few more questions to get the grey matter melting. As ever, there is a great prize for the first correct entry received back here at the brewery!


Q1 In what year did Bad Manners have a hit with Special Brew?


Q2 Which of these has NOT been converted into a pub by Wetherspoons (yet)?

a) Bed shop b) Post office c) Swimming baths d) Internet cafe

Q3 What is in a Dog’s Nose cocktail?

Q4 Which of these is a commercially available UK-brewed beer brand?

a) Kilt Sniffer b) Spank Dog  c) Piddle in the Wind  d) Fat Tire

Q5 What was the name of the pub in Steptoe & Son?

Q6 How much was a pint of beer in 1971?

Q7 Which beer had Works Wonders as its advertising slogan?

Q8 What is cenosillicaphobia?

Q9 Which country has the most beer brands?

Q10 To the nearest hundred, how many pubs (including hotels but excluding restaurants) are there in Scotland?

The answers will appear in the next issue of Brewhouse News, due out in February 2010. If you can’t wait until then, give us a call and we will let you have a sneak peak. This is quiz is just for fun, but our decision is final in any areas of dispute!

NEW BREWERY UPDATE: The new beginning is in sight

The pace has certainly picked up at our new brewery. By the time you read this we should be ready for some test brewing and, all being well, an imminent move to the new site. The brewery itself is a sight to behold and is certainly achieving our objective of being a showpiece of brewing. We are hoping to start trade and consumer tours before too long, so look out for your invitation. We all hope you can make it along and see for yourselves the step change taking place at The Inveralmond Brewery Limited.

The essentials of good brewing #7: conditioning and racking (or packing)

Last time round we looked at fermentation. Once fermented, the 'green' beer is poured off into a conditioning vessel ('CV') where it matures and there is further settling of yeast. Before a beer leaves the brewery it must be conditioned. The conditioning process differs according to how the beer is to leave the brewery.

For cask conditioned beers (real or cask ales), the beer can go directly into the cask, barrel or bottle. More hops may be added to the cask (dry hopping) for extra aroma. Finings (traditionally made from the swim bladders of certain fish) are added which bind the materials responsible for haze and sink to the bottom, clarifying the beer.

The yeast in the beer is still active, and the beer will undergo a secondary fermentation in the cask, normally in the cellar of a pub. Cask conditioned beer is a delicate product and, just like the beer undergoing fermentation in the brewery, it is vulnerable to attack from all kinds of contamination by wild yeasts and other micro-biological organisms.

Other beers are brought to condition in the brewery, some are fined and filtered and some are pasteurised to guard against deterioration from microbes. Sometimes known as 'bright beer', they reach the consumer in kegs, bottles or cans. For lagers there is a longer period of conditioning in the brewery at low temperature. The word lager comes from the German word lagern - to store at a cold temperature.

The people behind the beer: Malcolm Scrivens

Malcolm (or Malc as he is sometimes known) joined Inveralmond in 2005 and is our resident time-served chef. Born in Cheltenham in the last century, his tastes are wide ranging as his choice of fantasy dinner guests shows: the world of fast motorbikes (Barry Sheene), complemented by songstress Barbara Streisland and native American hero Sitting Bull. Who wouldn't want to be a fly on the wall during that meal? The guests would dig into Malc’s favourite meal of scallops, steak au poivre and apple pie. The Far East is a big influence on Malc's hobbies: showing bonsai trees and playing ping pong. Not at the same time though. Malc lives in Scone with his wife Jan. It may be hard to believe when looking at this picture, but they have recently become doting grandparents.

Lia Fail available at The Gleneagles Hotel

We are proud to announce that the world famous Gleneagles Hotel has been pouring Lia Fail to golfing guests over the past few weeks. We view this as a feather in our cap and places our beer alongside some of the finest food and drink available in the world. Every tap that pours any of our beer is very important to us. From small village pubs to some of the grandest hotels in the world, everyone is bringing the fruits of our labour to discerning beer drinkers. For that we are very, very grateful.