Tennent Caledonian and Maclay Inns have linked up in a deal which sees Tennent’s become the group’s main beer supplier, while at the same time providing investment support for Maclay’s expansion drive. Maclay Group’s Managing Director Steve Mallon commented, “Maclay Group has the skills and infrastructure to grow its business and in Tennent Caledonian we [...]

I have to admit that I can remember the days when the two key beer brands in Scotland were Tennent’s and McEwan’s and their advertising campaigns were legendary. Roll on two decades, and Tennent’s and McEwan’s (although both are under different ownership) are still there, but in the last few months there are a host [...]

Maybe we’ve always been boring. Or stable, reliable, traditional, steadfast, stalwart or any number of euphemisms that describe a people for whom change is frowned upon. Because, as a culture, we like things just the way they are. Or do we? In the beginning, there was real ale. Then came kegs, lager and smoothflow. Next [...]

Jim Anderson, as well as running the Anderson in Fortrose, is passionate about beer. This month he writes his first column for DRAM. There were some illusions I had about Scottish pubs when my family and I prepared to move to the Highlands from America in 2003. The first was that every Friday night, fiddlers [...]

Jason Caddy dusts off the DRAM file marked ‘Beers’ and takes a look at the impact of craft beers on the market. A decade ago Madonna no less was routinely snapped, pint of Timothy Taylor in hand, and the world braced itself for a cask ale revival. But even the Mistress of Reinvention couldn’t mesmerise [...]

BrewDog’s new Glasgow pub has just opened and is already proving a hit. On the site of the former Lock Inn on Dumbarton Road, opposite the Kelvingrove Art Gallery, and designed by CM Design Consultants, the pub is the third BrewDog to open in the last 12 months. The first was in Aberdeen, the second [...]

Young’s has sold its 40% shareholding in the Wells & Young’s Brewing Company to Charles Wells for £15.1m. The two companies joined forces 2006, with Charles Wells being the majority shareholder with 60% of the shares.

The Houston Brewery is celebrating winning a gold medal at the Great British Beer Festival in London. The brewery’s 4.2% Houston Peter’s Well scooped GOLD in the Best Bitter category of the Champion Beer of Britain competition. Organised by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), the festival – held at Earls Court – is the [...]

Molson Coors (UK & Ireland) UK’s biggest brewer is aiming to make Carling a 2 billion pint brand. To this end it has revealed a £7.3m investment package which includes new positioning for the brand “Refreshingly and Brilliantly British” as well as a new product Carling Chrome, which will launch in August. Mark Hunter, Chief [...]