Belhaven Brewery
Encyclopedia
Belhaven brewery is a brewery
Brewery
A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....

 near Dunbar
Dunbar
Dunbar is a town in East Lothian on the southeast coast of Scotland, approximately 28 miles east of Edinburgh and 28 miles from the English Border at Berwick-upon-Tweed....

 in Scotland owned by Greene King.

History

Belhaven claims to have begun brewing in 1719. In that year the burgh of Dunbar levied a local tax on brewers to fund civic improvements. Since Belhaven's site is immediately outside the limits controlled by the then Dunbar Council, and hence would be free of the 'impost' or tax, it is possible that the 1719 date records the relocation of an existing business. In the first half of the 18th century Belhaven had more than 24 small and large competitors nearby in Dunbar, Belhaven and West Barns. Only three, the Dunbar, Belhaven (then called Johnstone's and later Dudgeon's) and West Barns breweries survived until the middle of the 19th century and only Belhaven lasted through the 20th, in part due to its small scale of production and its much larger malting capacity.

The manager's house (which sits to the west side of the approach lane) was built c.1790 but extended several times. It has been detached from the brewery for at least 50 years and is currently under private ownership. Its grounds include a small pedimented folly
Folly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs...

 screening the brewery from the house. Its entrance gates were previously the jaw-bones of a whale (as also found on nearby North Berwick Law) but these have eroded to stumps.

By 2005 Belhaven had become the largest and oldest surviving independent brewery in Scotland. In August 2005, the Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

 based brewery Greene King announced a £187 million takeover bid for Belhaven. This offer was accepted and completed by November 2005. Greene King has stated that Belhaven will retain its brands and brewery following the takeover.

Products

Domestically, in 2006 Belhaven distributed only four brands of beer: Best, Best Extra Cold, St.Andrew's Ale, and 80 Shilling. In the past there were many others: regulars like stouts, porters, brown ales, 20/- to 110/- ales (rising at 10/- increments) and even lagers as well as periodic specials celebrating anniversaries and royal events. Even further back harvest ales and 2d ales were the brewery's standby. Now Best Extra Cold is claimed to be the United Kingdom's first non-stout extra cold dark beer. St.Andrew's Ale and Scottish Ale are exported, primarily to the United States. As well as its own brands, Belhaven also bottles and distributes beers from other breweries, including Tennents and Stella Artois
Stella Artois
Stella Artois is a 5% ABV lager brewed in Leuven, Belgium since 1926. In the UK, Canada and New Zealand a 4% ABV version is also available.-Production:...

.

Sports sponsorship

Belhaven sponsored Dundee United
Dundee United F.C.
Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club located in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923...

 for six seasons between 1987 and 1993.

Innis and Gunn

Innis & Gunn
Innis & Gunn
Innis & Gunn is a specialist independent brewing company based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Established in 2003, its beer has gone on to be the most popular British bottled beer sold in Canada, and second most popular in Sweden...

is an oak-aged beer which is brewed and bottled under contract by Belhaven for Innis and Gunn.

External links

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