Business / New small batch brewery launches first two beers
Wreck Creation Ltd. was formed during last year’s lockdown
A NEW microbrewery based in Scalloway will have its first small-batch beers behind the bar to tie in with pubs reopening following the latest easing of Covid-19 restrictions from Monday.
Having experimented with various home brews over the past couple of years, during lockdown last year Scalloway-based friends Stephen Lamming and Lewis Grant teamed up to form Wreck Creation Ltd.
From next week The Lounge Bar in Lerwick will be stocking their first two bottled offerings – a 4.6% strength golden ale called Y Knot and a lower alcohol (2.3% ABV) table beer called Mid Ships. Each bottle bears the slogan “drink for taste not effect”.
Stephen and Lewis have previously staged a series of informal beer tasting nights and also ran a small beer festival in Scalloway in 2018, largely showcasing ales from Stephen’s native Yorkshire.
“It’s just been a labour of love,” said Stephen, who works for NHS Shetland. “I’ve really enjoyed the creative side of things. It came out of lockdown really, idle hands and I was going a bit crazy.
“We played around with home brews, and took the notion of ‘let’s start a brewery’, focusing unspent energy on something a bit more creative.
“I think we’ve got a pretty good product. The golden ale, Y Knot, was our initial recipe [that] Lewis created, and we’ve just been perfecting that.
“Midships is a small beer, lower alcohol, more pale and fizzy, and a bit more toned to people who drink lager. Very light, refreshing, it’ll be a cracking summer beer, I think.
“It’s something new for people visiting Shetland to try something local. It’s just [going to be stocked at] The Lounge at the moment. I’m speaking to some others but we don’t want to overstretch it.”
They have capacity within their licensed shed/garage to brew around 200 bottles a month and Stephen said that if the initial batches go down well “we may try different recipes – I wouldn’t mind doing a darker beer, a porter or a stout, maybe.”
Stephen described Jono Sandilands of Artmachine as “almost like the third member of the band”, praising his “brilliant” creativity in coming up with the stylish graphics for the bottle labels.
Become a member of Shetland News
Shetland News is asking its many readers to consider paying for membership to get additional features and services: -
- Remove non-local ads;
- Bookmark posts to read later;
- Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
- Hide membership messages;
- Comments open for discussion.
If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.
Already a member? Sign in to hide this message.
