Festival group recreates beer made in 1800s

A beer from a north-east brewery that closed its doors 100 years ago is being recreated as part of an inaugural ale festival.

When the Bridge of Cowie Brewery closed down, the popular beers it produced for Stonehaven residents disappeared with it.

The organisers of the first Stonehaven Real Ale festival have created a new Memorial Ale, a reproduction of the beer that would have been made in the once-thriving brewery. The group has produced about 300 gallons of the new ale which it says is sweeter, darker and stronger than ales of modern times.

Festival organiser Robert Lindsay researched old records to discover the ingredients and methods of making beer more than a century ago. He said: “You can tell from excise records what sort of malt was being bought in and what strength of beer was being brewed.

“Our Memorial ale will be typical of a Scotch Ale being brewed in the late 1800s.

“It will be darker, stronger and sweeter than the sort of ales we are used to these days, with very little hops to it.”

When making the ale at the Deeside Brewery at Dess, near Aboyne, the organisers went to great lengths to recreate the process, conditions and temperatures that would have been found at the Bridge of Cowie facility.

The Memorial ale has been named in tribute to the vanished brewery and to reflect the festival’s logo, which incorporates Stonehaven’s war memorial.

The two-day Stonehaven Real Ale Festival begins on November 5 and will feature at least one beer from every brewery in Scotland. For information go to www.stone havenrealalefestival.co.uk