18th
September 2009 - Work set to Start on Orkney Brewery Extension
Work is set to get underway this week on
a major £1.2 million redevelopment of the
Orkney Brewery in
Sandwick. The first phase of the project will see a new brewing plant
installed at the Quoyloo site, almost doubling its current capacity. A
visitor centre and special sampling room will also be created during a later
phase of development.
7th
July 2009 - The Anderson named Small Bar of the Year 2009
At
a gala ceremony in Glasgow on 29 June 2009,
The Anderson restaurant with
rooms, in the Black Isle near Inverness, was named Small Bar of the Year by
the prestigious DRAM Scottish Licensed Trade Awards. The category was
sponsored by Repertoire Magazine.
CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, has
today announced that Orkney brewery’s Raven
Ale has been voted Champion Beer of Scotland at the Scottish Real
Ale Festival, Edinburgh.
14th
May 2009 - Anne Anderson at the Scottish Chef Awards 2009
Anne Anderson, head chef at The Anderson
restaurant with rooms in Fortrose, came back from Glasgow this weekend with
not one, but two medals in the Scottish Chef Awards 2009. The awards were
presented at a gala ceremony held last Sunday at the Radisson SAS in
Glasgow. Most of Scotland's top chefs were in attendance.
16th
March 2009 – Cairngorm Brewery Awarded Supreme Champion
A small local brewery in the
Highlands are celebrating with a pint…or two, after receiving a national
accolade with their Scottish style stout, Black Gold.
23rd
December 2008 – Portman Ruling on Skull Splitter Welcomed by Brewery
Sinclair Breweries Ltd has
today welcomed the decision by drinks industry watchdog, the Portman Group,
not to uphold a complaint against its Skull Splitter ale.
17thNovember
-Three in a Row for Sinclair Breweries
Latitude Highland Pilsner – made by Kinlochleven’s
Atlas Brewery – was voted best in its class at last week’s International Beer
Challenge in London,
retaining its position as one of the world’s 50 best beers.
25thOctober
-The Old Forge wins Best
Independent Pub/Bar Award
The Old Forge
in Knoydart, a pub with a pet hen, was announced
The Best Independent Pub in Scotland
by the SLTN (Scottish Licensed Trade News) on Thursday evening.
23rdSeptember
-Skull Splitter May Face Axe After
Portman Report
The Orkney Brewery has
mounted a vigorous defence of its award winning Skull Splitter ale, which
could be withdrawn from sale in the UK following a report claiming
its Viking branded bottles had an “aggressive” theme.
Rob
Hill's Orkney based Highland Brewing Company takes Gold for the second year
in a row! Full details here
More here
13thMay
2008 -Chef's Award for The Anderson
In
front of nearly 200 of her colleagues, Anne Anderson, Executive Chef at The
Anderson restaurant with rooms in Fortrose, stepped
up to the podium to receive a Bronze Award for her culinary efforts, at the
prestigious Scottish Chef Awards 2008 in Glasgow last
weekend. Full details
here
8thJanuary
2008 -Another Top ten Award for The Anderson
The Anderson restaurant with
rooms, in a small seaside golfing village near Inverness, has just been named
one of Scotland's
Top Ten restaurants of 2007 by Johanna Blythman of
The Sunday Herald. The distinction came shortly after they were placed in the
Top Ten in the UK
for both their breakfast and their beer selection by Sue Nowak in the
CAMRA-published guidebook, Beer, Bed & Breakfast. Full details
here
13thDecember
2007 -Barleywine Fest at The Anderson
Strong
ales on tap until late March 2008. Discounted accommodation for CAMRA
members. Full details here
14thNovember
2007 -Champion Bottle Beer
of Scotland
Winners
19thJanuary
2007 -CAMRA's Champion Winter Beer of Britain 2007
Ales from Orkney
and Cairngorm Breweries take Silver inOld Ales
& Strong Mild and Stouts &
Porters Categories; and Orkney wins Bronze award in overall best winter
beer in the land.
At The Bar Awards 2006 ceremony hosted by Class Magazine in London on 28 November, The Anderson came home with top
honours for Best Beer Offering from among all entrants in the UK.
A FAMOUS Inverness watering hole has changed hands. But George
MacLean, of the multi-award winning Clachnaharry
Inn overlooking the Caledonian Canal and
the Beauly Firth, said yesterday: "While it is
all change, it is really no change for our customers." The "Clach" has been sold to Belhaven - a brewery company
from Dunbar which was recently taken over by Greene King, one of the largest
brewers in the UK.
Mr MacLean said: "A company I own has leased and will continue to run
the business. The Clachnaharry is 'home' for me as
I came back here after owning the pub in the mid-seventies. The deal
negotiated with Belhaven also allows the opportunity to further expand the
existing real ale market."
9thJuly 2006 -Old Inn atGairloch featured in Scotland on Sunday
Local produce is at
the heart of the Old Inn's philosophy and, with seafood landed just a few hundred
yards away, the variety of fish and shellfish on offer is enough to satisfy
any gourmand.
20thJune 2006-
Merger signals a fresh start for troubled breweries
Sinclair
Breweries Ltd, formed by the hotelier and restaurateur Norman Sinclair and
his wife, Christine, has taken over Atlas Brewery in Kinlochleven
and the Orkney Brewery
An early Summer beer
festival at Blackfriars in Inverness with
the theme being the animal alphabet. All ales will either have the name
of an animal in the beer's name or in the brewery's name, one for each letter
of the alphabet.
9thJune 2006 - CAMRA Press
Release
Kelburn’s Cart Blanche named Champion Beer of Scotland at the Scottish
Traditional Beer Festival!
Real
Cider is becoming increasingly widely available in the Highlands, with
the Stronlossit
Hotel at RoyBridge, and the Glen HotelinNewtonmorebecoming the latest Highland
hostelries to offer this delicious drink(madefrom fresh apple juice, not concentrate).
See Real Cider pubs list.
Not only are real ale outlets on the increase
in the Highlands & Western Isles, see updated real
ale pubs list, but the number of beer (and cider) festivals
continues to grow. A MayFest is just
about to start at the Clachaig Inn, and an early summer festival will
be held in Blackfriars at the end of June. There are rumours
of a Torridon Beer festival at the Ben Damph Inn in July, which would nicely help to
fill the gap between the new Spring festivals
and the regular Autumn festivals held at Benleva
Hotel, Clachnaharry Inn, and Morefield Motel. Check our on-line diary for details.
Highlands and Island Breweries (HIB) has
gone into administration following "cash flow problems".
The company owns two
Scottish breweries; Atlas Brewery, based in Kinlochleven,
where it brews brands such as Latitude, Nimbus and Three Sisters, and the
Orkney Brewery, which brews Red MacGregor and Dark
Island.
Fraser Gray of
administrators Kroll says: “We’re continuing to trade the business and are in
talks with customers and suppliers to secure their ongoing
co-operation."
“We appreciate this
is a worrying time for employees and would like to thank them for their
continuing support.”
HIB employs 12 staff
and last available figures revealed annual turnover in the region of £1.5m.
Highlands & Islands Breweries Limited (“HIB”) was formed in June 2004 when Atlas Brewery
acquired The Orkney Brewery.
A truly unique beer from the
Cairngorm Brewery
On Friday, 31st
March, the Cairngorm Brewery in Aviemore released
their latest ale Blessed Thistle, ..and yes, it is brewed with Scotland's national flower, the
thistle.
23rd January 2006 -Blackfriars Spring Beer Festival.
Dates are Saturday 4th
March - Saturday 11th March inclusive.
2nd September 2005 - Blackfriars Autumn Beer Festival
Following close on
the heels of the first Ullapool
Beer Festival is the Blackfriars Beer
Festival. Dates to be confirmed, but probably starting on
Wednesday 26th or Thursday 27th October. In addition to
local favourites, landlady Bev Alexander is keen to
offer ales not usually available in Inverness.
Watch the Branch Diary for confirmation of dates, and full details
will be published in our Autumn newsletter..
October is CAMRA'sNational
Cider & Perry Monthand for the first time a Highland &
Islands Pub is celebrating by hosting a cider event.
On Saturday 15th
October at 3:00pm, The Anderson in Fortrosewill
host a blind tasting of ciders made from apples grown by Ryefield
Farms of Tore. This will be the first time Ryefield's
ciders will have been tasted side-by-side. More Info
1st August
2005 - Morefield Motel Beer Festival
A first beer festival
is to be held at the Morefield Motel in
Ullapool. Dates are 21st- 23rdOctober. Branch Diary
Please note date of
next Committee Meeting is changed to 9th August. Branch Diary
8th July 2005 - Northern
(Scottish) Area Pub-of-the-Year.
Congratulations to Benleva Hotel
on winning the Northern (Scottish) Area Pub-of-the-Year.
Scores - Benleva Hotel - 194; Ericht Ale
House - 176; Redgarth - 169
Other Scottish Areas
-
Central: Halfway House - 301; Bon Accord - 284;
Commercial Inn - 281;
Four Mary's - 273
West & NI: White Horse - 284; Steam Packet - 274; Masonic
Arms - 271; Coanes - 246.
The overall Scottish
regional winner will be known announced in late August or early September
24th June 2005 - A New Start for
Blackfriars..
Beverley and Graham Alexander took over the Blackfriars on Monday, 20th
June. Beverley (Bev) is obviously very
enthusiastic about taking on this once thriving Inverness
hostelry, and plans to return Blackfriars to the very top of the town centre
real ale scene.
For now the number of handpumps on the bar has been reduced from nine
to five, but Bev explained that their first
priority is to concentrate on the quality of real ale being served.
Once turnover builds up they will add more handpumps as demand merits.
We are assured that all five handpumps will always be in
service. Five handpumps serving five real ales has to be better than
the nine handpumps serving only four ales when your correspondent last visited!
Reassuringly, Bev also noted that they will
stock beers from local Highlands & Islands breweries. Isle of Skye
Cuillin Beast was on sale when I visited “because customers had been asking
for it”.
Music nights will be a regular feature and alterations have already
been made to the lighting to enhance the atmosphere for these events.
There are plans for a beer festival later in the year.
So if you are in Inverness, make a
point of paying a visit to Blackfriars. Help the new hosts to put this
once famous real ale pub back on the real ale map.
13th May 2005 - Duck at CononBridge
Now open, the Duck at CononBridge. Four real ales on tap,
including their CononGoldeneye
house ale from the Cairngorm brewery. Open all day, food served all
day, and with a no smoking area. A large selection of bottled ales from
around the world.
25th April 2005 – Duck at CononBridge
Opening soon, the Duck at CononBridge.George MacLean, licensee at the
award-winning Clachnaharry
Inn, has taken over the former Drouthy Duck
pub.George hopes to create the same
homely open fire atmosphere that customers are used to at the Clachnaharry Inn, providing Good Pub Food at reasonable
prices coupled with his winning formula of Real Ales.
