These days, you need only chuck a rock to hit a new Scottish brewery, but back in the 90s when the Isle of Skye Brewing Company started, independent beer makers were few and far between.
In fact, when the company made its first beer in 1995, the founders say there were just six small independent breweries operating in Scotland, and none on Skye itself.
Fast forward to 2024 and despite all the hundreds of other Scottish breweries to rise and fall over the decades, the team at Skye are still pumping out quality brews from their brewery near the ferry terminal at Uig.
But are the Isle of Skye Brewing Company’s beers worth the 60+ awards they’ve got in their trophy cabinet?
I reviewed three from their core range to find out for myself…
Beer 1: Isle of Skye Brewing Company’s Skye Gold
- 4.3%
- £2.96 a 550ml bottle on the brewery’s website, as part of a pack of 12
- Isle of Skye Brewing Company, Uig, Skye
- Style: Golden Ale
As a more traditional-leaning brewery, The Isle of Skye Brewing Co has it covered when it comes to classic beer styles, golden ales being one of them.
It’s simple and straightforward, but it ticks all the boxes. Crystal clear, silky smooth thanks to the addition of oats, the ideal beer for drinking in an old-school pub with mostly wooden decor by a preferably roaring fire.
And what’s more, this multi-award-winning beer is pretty wildly available in pubs and bottleshops across Scotland.
Rating: 3.5/5
Beer 2: Isle of Skye Brewing Company’s Skye Black
- 4.5%
- £2.96 a 550ml bottle on the brewery’s website, as part of a pack of 12
- Isle of Skye Brewing Company, Uig, Skye
- Style: Dark Ale
Dark Ales are again another classic style of beer which you don’t see to many current breweries producing, but after a bottle of this, I wish they were more widespread.
The brewers have made a really sweet treat with this beer, and amped it up with the addition of Scottish heather honey to give it a lovely, floral flavour.
This deep, dark, ruby-red-black beer is equally ideal with smoked cheeses/meats, or a rich dessert like sticky toffee pudding or chocolate cake.
Rating: 4/5
Beer 3: Isle of Skye Brewing Company’s Blaven
- 4.7%
- £3.15 a 550ml bottle on the brewery’s website, as part of a pack of 12
- Isle of Skye Brewing Company, Uig, Skye
- Style: Golden Ale
Golden ales are a style that is sometimes dismissed as all being a bit samey, so it’s great Skye Brewing co has two of them to compare and contrast.
Of the two I tried for this review, I preferred Blaven, but only by a hair.
The brewery’s website says it was first created in 1996 as a winter-only brew, and I can definitely see it as that, given its stronger alcohol content and more powerful, fruity flavours and robust, sharp body.
It’s now made year-round, and I agree, it would be just at home in a snowy bothy as it would be round a summer barbecue.
Rating: 3.5/5
So are The Isle of Skye Brewing Company’s beers still worth drinking, almost 30 years on from when they started?
Absolutely. It’s great to see trailblazers like this brewery still producing tried and tested, great beer.
Kieran is a former craft beer barman and usualy publishes his beer column every Tuesday online. You can also read his column in the P&J’s Food and Drink magazine, which you can find inside your Press and Journal newspaper every Saturday.
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