Swannay Brewery

Microbrewery in Swannay, Orkney, Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
Associated with 2 Venues

Established in 2015

Contact
Birsay, Swannay, KW17 2NP, Scotland
Description
The Swannay Brewery was founded by Rob Hill as Highland Brewing Company in 2005 in Moorhouses. Moved to Orkney in 2006. In 2015 the brewery rebranded from Highland Brewing Company to Swannay Brewery.

Our brewery is located on the northwesterly tip of Orkney’s mainland, a wind-battered area known as Swannay. Brewing in a rustic farmstead we’re in a unique location: showered in spray from the Atlantic Ocean in the winter and surrounded by fertile farmland in the summer.

Our founder Rob Hill - ever the collector - first came to Swannay Farm in 2003 looking to buy the old time clock. One year later, after being let-go from his then current head brewer job, he somehow bought the whole building complex and started to think about how to make beer at Swannay.

With no means or desire to purchase shiny new brewing plant Rob went on the hunt for something that’d been used before. He ended up with not one but three kits(!): a five brewers barrel (BBL), a 20 BBL and a 100 BBL.

Already with twenty-five years’ brewing in his boots Rob knew exactly what the first beer needed to be: Scapa Special, our flagship pale ale that still accounts for around a third of all we brew today. It wasn’t long before the five BBL kit was up to four brews a week using just three fermenting vessels. This was no mean feat considering Rob was also doing all the delivering, cask washing, sales, admin - literally all tasks involved in running the company - himself.

Around about 2010 Rob’s son Lewis returned home from university and (perhaps foolishly) started helping out at the brewery. The 20 BBL plant was soon ‘commissioned’ and production volumes continued to increase. Today a team of six comfortably brew Swannay’s range of modern classic beers four to five times a week.

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7.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 7.5

Can, gift from secret Santa. Clear golden body with a thin white head. Low carbonation. Faint lacing. Aroma of peach and orange. Flavour of mango and pineapple. Medium body with a slick texture. Soft fizz. Well balanced and juicy. I would love to try a stronger version of this beer (‘High Roller’?)

Tried from Can on 27 Dec 2024 at 23:21


6
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Can online from Cork & Cask. Pours clear yellow gold with white foam. Aroma: grains, bread dough, herbal, mild grass. Taste: light to moderate sweet with lighter bitterness, clean, herbal, grassy finish. Light to medium body with moderate carbonation. Fair.

Tried from Can on 16 Oct 2024 at 20:31


7.8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Butelka 33cl. Czekolada, wanilia, szlacheny alkohol, nutka ciemnych, suszonych owoców, bardzo delikatne, nawet ciut płaskie, praktycznie brak nasycenia ale tak to jest jak lejemy piwo z beczki, niemniej przyjemnie rozgrzewa, ogólnie bardzo dobre.

Tried on 30 Sep 2024 at 19:30


7
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 7

21/8/2024. Cask at the 45th Peterborough Beer Festival. Pours clear pale gold with a small bubbly white head. Aroma is tropical, orange, grass, hop, stone fruits. Moderate sweetness, medium bitterness. Moderate body, oily watery, soft carbonation. Nice drying bittersweet finish. Enjoyable.

Tried from Cask on 30 Aug 2024 at 09:03


7.2
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

21/8/2024. Cask at the 45th Peterborough Beer Festival. Pours clear golden amber with a small bubbly off-white head. Aroma is citrusy, orange, stone fruits, straw, touch herbal. Medium sweetness, moderate bitterness. Medium body, oily, soft carbonation. Nice drying bittersweet finish. Very nice.

Tried from Cask on 30 Aug 2024 at 09:03


6

Tried from Cask on 06 Aug 2024 at 20:49


6.1
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 5.5

Lukt: Malt, rosin, noe vinøst. Utseende: Mørk brun. Skum/kullsyre: Tynt skum. Smak: Rosin, vørter. Medium: Rating:3-645411, Flaske@500ml, ABV@4%, Når@05.07.2024. Hvor: Kjøpt@Vaaland, Bryne, Nydt@Hjemme. Swannay Dark Munro Mild Ale

Tried on 05 Jul 2024 at 20:21


6.8
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Cask at The Globe Inn. It pours clear golden - blonde with a bubbly white cap. The aroma is toasty grain, earthy, woody, toffee, varnished wood, ryvita and herbal/spicy accents. The taste is crispy, dry, pleasing bitterness which builds and lingers, biscuity malt, floral, peppery spice, toasty grain, freshly cut grass, herbal notes and light tannin with a drying, biscuity finish. Light body and soft carbonation. I like the level of bitterness on this, but I'm not so sure of the hop character. Drinks fine.

Tried from Cask on 01 Jul 2024 at 11:43


6

From backlog. 0,5 litre Bottle, from Ølutsalget Storo, at Tanum Gästgifveri. Straight from The Bottle. Malts, hops, yeast, Fruity, Wheat.

Tried from Bottle on 30 Jun 2024 at 17:18


7.1
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5

Lukt: Kaffe, røsta malt, kirsebær, lakris, mørk sjokolade. Utseende: Sort. Skum/kullsyre: Tykt dekkende skum, heng. Smak: Kaffe, røsta malt, kirsebær, lakris, mørk sjokolade. Medium: Rating:3,5-747413, Flaske@500ml, ABV@4.2%, Når@30.05.2024. Hvor: Vaaland Bryne, Nydt@Hjemme. Swannay Sneaky Wee Orkney Stout Stout

Tried on 29 May 2024 at 17:12