Making beer while the sun shines

"Quality cask beer has always been central to the business, and it remains at the core of the brewery today,” says Jo. “Over the years, we diversified, first into bottles to serve Edinburgh's restaurant and bistro market, and later into cans to extend our reach into supermarkets."

While the majority of the brewery's production is still focused on cask and keg, 35% of its annual 15,000HL output is now packaged in cans and bottles; a statistic that’s residual of the COVID years, when the brewery had to pivot away from its on-trade focus towards off-trade sales. Stewart’s only acquired its canning line in 2019, having previously outsourced canning to other breweries. Needless to say, it proved a lifesaving resource when the pandemic hit, but cans on shelves don’t quite convey the brewery’s long standing love of play, experimentation, and innovation. 

“Steve was one of the first people to bring American hops to the UK," Jo notes. "One of our first bottled beers was Hollyrood—a nod to both Hollywood and the historic Holyrood area of Edinburgh, playing on words and hops alike. Back then, using West Coast hops in cask beer was quite revolutionary, and now it's one of our flagship beers, which speaks volumes about how much the industry has evolved.”

As much as times have changed, and Stewart’s has grown up — its modern three vessel brewhouse is a far cry from the repurposed dairy equipment and ex-Irn Bru tanks it started on — the brewery’s emphasis on experimentation has stayed the same. 

A key aspect of experimentation at Stewart's is its Project 7 series, a brewer-led initiative that produces seven experimental beers each year. "This program allows us the freedom to experiment and collaborate with other local producers and breweries," Jo explains. “The Innovation team refines the recipes using the trial kit, while local artists create the can artwork. These limited-edition beers are available in kegs and packaged in 440ml cans, following a 'when it's gone, it's gone' sales model.”

Between core range, customer experience brews, exclusive on-site tank beers, Project 7 releases, and barrel projects, the team can have up to 30 beers on the go at any one time, but this is still just one part of Stewart’s much wider and more multifaceted project. The brewery’s decision to heavily invest in self sufficiency is an extremely interesting feature of its operations, and I dare say says a lot about where its priorities lie. 

Jo and Steve are committed to making progress towards carbon reduction, and are actively involved in a cohort of Midlothian-based businesses collaborating with Edinburgh Council and Net Zero Nation to the ends of achieving net zero status. Evidence of the brewery’s commitment to this project is everywhere. For one, its on-site solar power system generates all the electricity it requires during the summer months, including for heating and cooling. 

Being such a voracious producer of cask beer — which produces CO2, but doesn’t require carbonation — Stewart’s also saw the self-sufficiency promised by carbon capture technology as a great opportunity to reduce its reliance on the volatile CO2 market. Stewart’s became the first craft brewery in Scotland to invest in this technology, and collaborated with the Dalum team to install two units producing food-grade CO2. The team is now investing in cylinders and filling equipment with plans to sell surplus CO2 back to the pubs they supply.

And of course, with all this investment in self-sufficiency making the brewery cleaner and greener, it has also reduced the cost of overheads. I’ve long enjoyed Stewart’s beer as a reliably fresh, high quality option, sometimes so much so that I’ve quietly wondered why they don’t charge more for it. However, seeing the brewery in action, with every tank full, all hands on deck and working in top gear with just a little help from the sun, I can’t help but think of Stewarts as ahead of its time.