Craft Beer Clan whisky aged

The Craft Beer Clan of Scotland has formed a new brewing venture with brewer Williams Brothers, of Alloa with the release of a series of whisky barrel-aged beers which have already attracted strong orders both internationally and across the UK.

Clan Brewing Company has produced four new beers using barrels from four whisky regions — Speyside, Highlands, Lowland and Islay — and is already exporting to markets in Japan,Singapore, Beijing and Hong Kong.

The company is headed by craft beer veteran Chris Miller, who grew Harviestoun Brewery into one of the UK’s leading craft beer producers. He has more than 20 years’ experience in the sector: while managing director of Harviestoun, he launched the world’s first co-branded whisky-finished beer, Ola Dubh, in partnership with Highland Park Distillery. He is also a director of the Craft Beer Clan of Scotland and its parent company JW Filshill Ltd.

Chris’s new venture was formed in partnership with Scott Williams, founder and brewmaster at Williams Brothers, and international whisky guru Charles PB MacLean.

whisky barrel Scottish beerBoth men played a key role in the development of the beers, with Scott tailoring the recipes to match the profiles of the second-fill whisky casks hand selected by consultant Charles, author of 18 whisky books and whose other roles include the distinguished title of Master of the Quaich in recognition of his lifelong commitment to the Scotch whisky industry.

The beers spent up to nine months maturing in the casks, with each recipe carefully developed to complement the character of the regional whisky casks. Fewer than 2000 cases across the four expressions were packaged from the first batch.

Chris said: “This series of four whisky barrel-aged beers shows off Scotland’s regional whisky variations, the variety and depth of beer styles and the brewing excellence of Scotland’s craft brewers.”

He revealed that the second and third batches of the four brews — double the size of the first — were now maturing in whisky barrels and will be packaged later this year to meet demand.

Clan Brewing Company has already received “a healthy number of orders” and the bulk of the beer, about 80%, will be exported to key markets where there is a strong demand for Scotch whisky and Scottish brewing, with the support of Scottish Development International (SDI) and Scotland Food & Drink (SFD).

Chris said: “With the help of SDI and SFD, we’ve worked hard over the past two years to showcase Scottish craft brewers and their beers to international markets such as China, Hong Kong, UAE, mainland Europe and South America, and we’ve enjoyed great success, helping Scotland’s craft brewers export and expand, benefiting their local economy but also the Scottish economy overall.”

Susan Beattie, head of food and drink at SDI, said: “This is another great example of product innovation in response to international market demand for high-quality, premium products with strong provenance credentials.

“It is encouraging to hear that orders have already been placed and we look forward to supporting this new collaborative venture to grow internationally, drawing on the expertise of the Scotland Food & Drink team of in-market specialists.”

Charlie MacLean added: “We wanted the whisky influence to be subtle, not intrusive, rounding off the character of the beer and adding depth. The Spruce Ale, finished in ex-Islay casks, shows the most obvious influence.”