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Description
Spey Valley Brewery was the first commercial “micro” brewery to be located in the heart of Speyside, creating the finest hand-crafted beers from the same water as Speyside’s world renowned malt whiskies.
The company was founded in 2007 by a distiller, David MacDonald, and a local farmer, Innes MacPherson, who set out to produce world-class beers on the farm in Mulben. Initially brewing from a tiny pilot plant, for the first four years the brewery survived on the owners’ day jobs and focused exclusively upon getting the recipes and the products right. Distribution was deliberately confined to a limited number of informed, local buyers and it wasn’t until 2011 that the first commercial casks arrived on the market.
The first product – Spey Stout – was enthusiastically received by consumers and critically acclaimed throughout the wider brewing world. Encouraged by this early success, the company expanded production in 2012 and began distributing more widely throughout the North East and further afield. In early 2016, production moved to a dedicated unit – still on the farm! – that has seen Spey Valley Brewery become the largest brewery in the local area.
Brewery closed in 2020 and relaunched in Summer 2023 with a different beer lineup.
The company was founded in 2007 by a distiller, David MacDonald, and a local farmer, Innes MacPherson, who set out to produce world-class beers on the farm in Mulben. Initially brewing from a tiny pilot plant, for the first four years the brewery survived on the owners’ day jobs and focused exclusively upon getting the recipes and the products right. Distribution was deliberately confined to a limited number of informed, local buyers and it wasn’t until 2011 that the first commercial casks arrived on the market.
The first product – Spey Stout – was enthusiastically received by consumers and critically acclaimed throughout the wider brewing world. Encouraged by this early success, the company expanded production in 2012 and began distributing more widely throughout the North East and further afield. In early 2016, production moved to a dedicated unit – still on the farm! – that has seen Spey Valley Brewery become the largest brewery in the local area.
Brewery closed in 2020 and relaunched in Summer 2023 with a different beer lineup.
7.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
6.3 cask at revolution... Dark amber.. Small white head nose... Soft sweet floral fruit nose... Juicy sweet fruits.. Dru herbal fruit dry fruit.. Quite big intense fruit
Tried
from Cask
on 27 Nov 2016
at 11:15
6.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Cask at craft beer revolution. Pours golden orange, nose is toffee, salty citrus, taste is salty, grapefruit, sweet toffee. --- Beer merged from original tick of Publican Advisory - Experimental Content Brew #1 on 10 Dec 2016 at 09:06 - Score: 7. Original review text: Cask at craft beer revolution. Pours golden orange, nose is toffee, salty citrus, taste is salty, grapefruit, sweet toffee.
Tried
from Cask
on 26 Nov 2016
at 12:41
6/10
Bottle at the water of leith. Pours clear golden, nose is grassy, floral, malty, taste is sweet, grassy, bitter, floral.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Nov 2016
at 09:29
7.6/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle from Appellation Wines. Appearance - a gorgeous copper, amber autumnal. The heid is fluffy. Perfect. Nose - red fruits and caramel. Some honeycomb. Taste - red fruits and honeycomb. Lovely caramel biscuit undertone. Palate - close to medium bodied with a creamy yet crunchy texture and a long dry crunchy finish. Overall - lovely ESB.
Tried
from Bottle
on 07 Nov 2016
at 07:19
7.5/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
500ml bottle from Appellation Wines, Dalry Road. Thanks to Ashton McCobb. Pours a lovely copper amber with a thick off-white head. Aromas of yeast spice, honeycomb. Taste is red fruit, rich tea biscuit. Tannins. Decent.
Tried
from Bottle
on 07 Nov 2016
at 07:16
5.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
Bottle from Appellation Wines. Appearance - golden with a thin head. Nose - sweetcorn and light honey. Taste - more of the same. The honey is dominant though. Palate - light bodied with a creamy texture and a finish that is just too sweet. Overall - could be fresher.
Tried
from Bottle
on 07 Nov 2016
at 05:27
6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
330ml bottle from Appellation Wines, Dalry Road. Thanks to Ashton McCobb. Pours clear golden with a thin ring of white head. Aromas of cooked corn, faint lemon. Taste is light sweet. Not a lot going on.
Tried
from Bottle
on 07 Nov 2016
at 05:23
7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottle from Appellation Wines. Appearance - opaque black but a hint of orange around the rim. Nose - milk chocolate, probably verging on drinking chocolate. Taste - creamy chocolate, light caramel biscuits. The lengthy finish gets even more caramel and biscuits. Palate - close to medium bodied with a creamy texture and a long dry crunchy finish. Overall - a really good traditional stout.
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Nov 2016
at 14:57
6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 6
Bottle from Appellation Wines. Appearance - golden amber with a nice fluffy head. Nose - light red fruit. Mostly grain and biscuit. Taste - strawberries but very metallic. Grainy again. Palate - light bodied with a crunchy texture and a long dry crunchy finish. A bit astringent. Overall - ok.
Tried
from Bottle
on 04 Nov 2016
at 15:39
6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Bottle at the water of leith. Pours clear amber, nose is grainy, musty, toffee, taste is sweet toffee, cereal, floral.
Tried
from Bottle
on 02 Nov 2016
at 03:52