Stewart Brewing beers may be a common feature in many Edinburgh pubs, but did you know you could brew your own Stewart Brewing ale? Here, the duo behind the recognisable local brand answer some of our questions about their unique Craft Beer Kitchen.
Can you tell us about Stewart Brewing and the background behind the brewery?
Husband and wife team, Steve and Jo Stewart, set up the brewery in 2004. Steve originally studied Brewing & Distilling Science at Heriot Watt and then went on to obtain the Institute of Brewing, Master Brewer’s qualification, one of the most difficult exams in the brewing world. Back in 2004 Steve and Jo were the only employees but the business has gone from strength to strength with Stewart Brewing quickly establishing itself as one of Scotland’s most successful and well-loved breweries
Your Craft Beer Kitchen is Scotland’s first brew-it-yourself facility. Where did the inspiration to start such an enterprise come from?
We love to bring our customers out to the brewery to see and understand what it is we do. What better way of getting the customer to understand how beer is made than to give them a go. Then we just had to figure out the best way to give our guests a great brewing experience and more importantly allow them to understand all the aspects of what makes beer so awesome.
What sort of beer can guests make on the experience?
Most of the beer we make in the Craft Beer Kitchen is Golden Ales or IPA’s but we’ve had some customers push the limits of what we can do. The most popular way to up the ante on the beer is to add fruit. More unusually, we’ve brewed a chilli beer with an insane amount of chilli and the same guys came back and brewed an Imperial Oyster Stout using fresh Oysters and sharpened pallet knives to shuck with. We’ve also had a couple who have a fresh water spring in their back garden who come along with their own water to make their beer. The sky’s the limit, we’re always happy to discuss using mad ingredients to make beers.
Can you tell us about the brew-it-yourself process? What can guests expect from their experience?
Once you’ve booked you can bring along three friends to help out. When you arrive you’ll be greeted by your brewer. All you need to do is let them know what style of beer you would like to brew and what alcohol content. From there your brewer will lead you through the whole brewing process, from the water through to selecting your malt, hops and yeast. Your brewer will help you make a bespoke beer and explain what each of the ingredients will do to the final beer and why they’re used.
The brew session lasts around two and a half hours then you leave the beer with us to ferment and condition, then we’ll put the beer in a keg. It takes about three weeks for the beer to be ready to bottle, in that time you can work on your label design. We’ll let you know the dimensions and the easiest way to design your label. You then email us the design and we’ll have it printed.
When you come back to the brewery three weeks later we’ll have your beer ready to pour into bottles, cap and label. It’s then ready to take away and drink. There’s no settling, sediment or waiting time to enjoy your beer.
Being a Brewery the team like to go out for a good beer and there are loads of pubs, bars and restaurants severing great beer in Edinburgh. There’re so many awesome things to do in Edinburgh it’s hard to mention everything. The Modern Art Galleries, the Museum After Hours, the Whisky Experience, The Edinburgh Dungeons. We could go on and on.
Where in the city can people get hold of Stewart Brewing beers?
The best place to get our full range of beers are our Brewery Tap Room and Shop or Stewarts Dockside Tap, our new shop in Leith. There are hundreds of places to get our beers around the city. There’s hardly a pub in Edinburgh that doesn’t serve our beer. You can also pick up our bottles and cans in loads of great Craft Beer shops.
Learn more about the Stewart Brewing Craft Beer Kitchen: stewartbrewing.co.uk/craft-beer-kitchen/
