Arran Brewery has purchased a 27-brewers barrel plant to add to its existing 20-barrel kit, thereby more than doubling its capacity.

The plant was previously at Dunscar Brewery, Bolton. Arran also acquired the cask fleet of the Dunscar, increasing its own fleet by around 60%.

Arran Brewery new brewkitArran Brewery’s managing director, Gerald Michaluk (pictured with the new kit), said: “The addition of the brewing equipment will mean we have the capacity to brew almost 50 barrels a day (8,200 litres) over our three sites. That translates into a real rise in production capacity from 875,000 litres to 2 million litres a year.

“We have been plagued by not being able to keep up with demand for our beer in Scotland, and had to withdraw from international markets as a consequence to meet demand at home. Frequent ‘out of stock’ situations have seriously hampered our growth in recent years.

“This new brewing equipment will reverse the situation, and we will be focusing on creating the demand for our beers in the rest of the United Kingdom and overseas. We have a lot of growing to do and, with the introduction of a range of lagers, I am confident this can be achieved both domestically and by building our trade around the world.”

He added: “Scottish Food and Drink recently launched its Brewing Sector Growth Strategy and it would like to see the Scottish brewing industry double its sales to £1bn by 2030, and further increase employment in the sector. Arran will play its full part in helping to achieve these ambitious growth targets.”

The Arran Brewery had beer supply issues at Christmas in 2017, and again during the early summer heatwave last year. The new equipment, which should come on line by Easter, will eliminate the main constraints on the growth of the business.