A crowdfunded microbrewery based in Linlithgow started selling its beers for the first time last month and it has already been featured on BBC Scotland.
The company - Strangers Brewing Co. - was funded almost entirely by locals who raised over £20,000 last September towards the kit needed to brew hand-made, small batch beers.
BBC Scotland visited Narrowboat Farm outside of Linlithgow where the microbrewery is based to do a feature for news programme ‘The Nine’ on the anniversary of the Scottish Brewing Archive.
The Scottish Brewing Archive is a 40- year-old project that retains and promotes Scottish brewing history - assisting University of Glasgow archives in answering brewing related queries.
Strangers Brewing Co. were featured as they were Scotland’s newest brewery at the time and were juxtaposed with some of the oldest breweries in Scotland, like Belhaven Brewery.
Brett Welch holds the title of founder and head brewer - brewing the beers entirely by himself - he said: “After the incredible support from the community last summer, we’re so happy to launch Strangers Brewing Co. to the public - we’ve got a lot of great feedback so far and even some attention from the BBC!
“They were really interested in how I got into brewing - which I learned from my granny who homebrewed fruit wine and wildflower wine - eventually she moved to a smaller place and gave me her brewing kit.
“I suppose it’s a bit like the older generation of brewers teaching the new generation - I ended up doing a course on beer brewing, which led to microbrewing during lockdown, and that eventually led to where we are now - thanks to the community!
“My granny turned 100 last year and she’s still enjoying a drink - she’s really proud that I’ve managed to turn our hobby into a job.”
The microbrewery is operating with an online model, meaning their first five beers can only be bought online for the time being - or through a ‘beer club’, a monthly membership scheme.
The brewery itself takes its name from the Linlithgow town motto: ‘St Michael is kind to strangers’.
Strangers Brewing Co. is currently taking steps to give back to the West Lothian community, planting over 30 trees and bushes on the farm, and pledging to put 10 per cent of their profits back into local causes by 2023.
The Lithgae lager brewer concludes by talking about the local community, Brett said: “Strangers has Linlithgow at its core, it’s a place that’s really great for supporting local business and it’s only fair we support Linlithgow as well.
“That’s why all of our beers are made with things grown on our farm in Linlithgow, or foraged from around Linlithgow - and also why all our beers are named after local surroundings or the ingredients they came from.”
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