In every brewery tour we give, folk ask us how we got started. It started with Mr John Fish.  John made beer with two friends in Glenfinnan. He arrived at our door one day, a sartorial wonder in a mature sweatshirt, aged short pants and shoes made in the middle of the 20th C to deliver me some beer for a party and simply asked if I would like to buy his brewery.

A month later, Lucy and I were at the thick end of a dinner heading from Euston on the Sleeper home. Lucy had finished her job where she’d been taking the long commute from Spean down to London that very day and was contemplating life running their guest house at Tirindrish. I mooted that we should purchase John’s Glenfinnan Brewery.

By Crewe this had developed into a fulsome plan with the only outstanding dilemma being who would make the beer. Every brewery needs a brewer. Lucy hit on the answer; James is a chef and can work out how to make beer. James, Lucy’s partner, is indeed a chef but he may not wish to make beer. Lucy insisted that this was the answer and informed James that he was about to be a brewer when he came to drive us all back to Tirindrish. 

Simple as that. We bought the brewery. John Fish came along for the ride and showed us how to make beer and was well rewarded with smart new clothes, all branded appropriately with ‘Glen Spean Brewing Co’. This was five years ago. John has not left and is now our official chief engineer, Isambard Kingdom Fish. 

On Monday 23rd March 2020, The Prime Minister locked down Britain and The Glen Spean Brewing Co was awarded a retail licence. This allowed us to sell our beer directly to people at home. We hit our social media and we told our community.

The response was immediate with folk from Acharacle to Achluachrach all asking for beer to be delivered to their homes. ‘Why do you not supply wine ?’ was a question asked so often that action had to be taken. James and I both hold diplomas in wine from the WSET and were well up for the challenge. With a portfolio of our beer, local spirits and wine we were offering solace to the needs of many a locked down household.

Our friends at Lochaber Larder and at Iain Stewart fish merchants also had customers clamouring for their local produce. Surely we could help each other. Within days, Stewart and Iain were delivering our boxes over to the west and down to Oban and I was heading up Lochs Arkaig, Lochy and Laggan delivering their boxes to our local customers.

What a great way to collaborate and with our van one of the few vehicles on the road, every local saw us ‘Trucking great beer’!

Simply too old for it. So said I and many an observer as I delivered 62kg kegs at 7pm in Mallaig last summer. Stuart was off to be married in Washington State and we needed to expand the team of brewers to meet the growing demand for our beer. All in all it was time for a change, a time to bring up a new team to help as sales were double those of the previous summer. Charlie Troman, a young ex-soldier currently studying at the WHC and working in The Highland Cinema approached us.

Extraordinarily he had been at the same, rather obscure school in Surrey that Stuart had been to. A keen mountain biker, willing to learn and willing to apply himself, Charlie was really keen to learn the trade and to join us. We have taken him on as our Trainee Brewer. Iain Fyffe, a well known local shinty player and entrepreneur with his own garden table making firm, was looking for a new skill which he could attend to on a part time basis. Iain’s experience working at the Ben Nevis Distillery profoundly in formed his understanding of the processes and he is contributing handsomely to the growth of the business.

Finally, somebody was needed to help get the deliveries out. As demand has grown we are simply needing to get more beer to more places. Ali Fish is an experienced bus driver and delivery expert who knows the area like the back of his hand. A wry, amusing soul he has taken to the role with ease and seems to relish the lugging of many heavy casks. We couldn’t continue to do what we do without this great support team working alongside us.  Cheers to the Brew Crew!

Our beer is of Lochaber, the enormous open wild area west of the Cairngorms and stretching out to the west coast. We make it here and our beers reflect this place. With a distinct history and particular characteristics, we are proud to use local references to tell the stories of each beer.

Our IPA, ‘Highbridge’, is named after an important local historic landmark, the site of the first engagement of the Jacobite campaign and the highest bridge in General Wade’s endeavours to tame the highlands. Several folk have said to us, that it was tasting the beer and reading the back label that made them aware of the ‘Highbridge’. We love this, that someone buys a beer at the Great Grog wine warehouse, cracks it open in their living room in Leith and learns about our place and our society.

Our other beers are called ‘Dark Mile’, ‘Snowgoose’, ‘Red Revival’ and ‘Glenfinnan Gold’.  Have a closer look next time you buy a bottle and find out more about the story behind the beers.

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