1. Chairman’s Statement:
A Happy New Year to all SBAA members and hope we continue to have another successful year together in all our ventures. Lang may your lum reek.
Thank you for your support and to those who attended the AGM in November which was successful especially with a number of peoples input including our guest speaker, John Reade.

In the April Newsletter we will confirm the arrangements for this year’s activities as we discussed at the AGM.
No doubt you will have read last years Journal which featured several interesting and varying articles, including the origin of Old Jock, an award-winning beer that celebrated its 40th birthday last year. As a result, I treated myself to a case which I enjoyed over the festive season.
John Martin
2. They just keep popping up.
A legacy of one of Scotland’s most prolific and enduring brewers, J&R Tennent , is the continuing interest amongst the public and enthusiasts regarding memorabilia associated with the Glasgow brewer.
Recently four items came to our attention



Following some research, he was surprised it dated from the mid 1970’s and was almost as old as his Mum !
The “Lager Lovely” on the can was Lee Marshall who was Miss Scotland in 1970 and featured on the iconic lager cans from 1972 until 1977.

Finally , a rare can appeared for sale on eBay recently. A first edition Tennent’s lager Scottish scene can dating from 1959 titled “ Tron Steeple , Glasgow”. After the can was produced the then Tennent’s managing director W B Duthie pointed out to Bob Marshall , the Metal box salesman behind the can revolution at Tennent’s, that scene was actually “The Tolbooth, Glasgow”. Marshall was horrified and ask what should he do? Duthie replied “nothing”. In reality the Steeple was only remaining part of the Glasgow Tolbooth that had been demolished in 1921 , so it was a technicality. However, when the second edition can appeared in 1960 the title was changed to “The Tolbooth Glasgow”.


Thanks to Neil Lawrance for the can images.
3. Reaching other Parts!
You may remember a certain Dutch brewer advertising in the 70’s that its beers refreshed parts other beers could not reach. However, in recently combing through some papers my father left me I discovered that the beers of Scottish Brewers in 1960 were reaching as far as Argentina in the southern hemisphere, via Spain, Portugal, the Canary Islands, Brazil, and Uruguay.

The Amazon, Aragon and Arlanza were classically elegant vessels as can be seen by a photo of the Amazon below and were nicknamed the “Three Graces”. In addition to the traditional passenger liner trade from London to the Iberian peninsula and the major Atlantic ports of South America they returned with substantial cargoes of chilled beef and fruit.

1960 was a memorable year in other ways as it also saw Scottish Brewers joining forces with The Newcastle Breweries to launch Scottish and Newcastle plc.
David Macleod
4. Burton Unions in Scotland.

In September the Glasgow Herald reported “Glasgow Brewery saves ‘iconic’ piece of Scottish history”. Whilst we were delighted to see the story it really was Glasgow brewer EPOCHAL saves a piece of Burton history. The BURTON UNION system was a unique and complex fermenting system inextricably linked to the success of Burton Ales in the 19th century. Edinburgh brewer Wm.Younger had a ‘union room’ operating in the 1890s however we are unsure if the system was employed by any other Scottish brewer ? For more information on the history of the union system Robbie Pickering recommends “An evaluation of the number and distribution of Burton unions” by Paul Bayley in Brewery History No. 129. (2008) – http://breweryhistory.com/journal/archive/129/Burton%20unions.pdf
Apparently, the EPOCHAL brewery’s Gareth Young has acquired 6 union barrels ex. Bass and they have been installed at his brewery based in Port Dundas , Glasgow. The SBAA are hoping to visit the brewery later this year , keep an eye on events in the April newsletter. (photo Colin Mearns)
5. Murray’s Pale India Ale.

6. MacAndrew’s Scotch Ale.
The SBAA have been asked if we have any information on MacAndrew’s Scotch Ale.
It was brewed by Caledonian Brewery.


7. Best Pub in Scotland.
A Scottish pub has won a beer quality award for serving up the best pints in the country.
The Scottish Licensed Trade News unveiled the winners of the annual Scottish Licensed Trade Awards.
The yearly ceremony celebrates the top food and drink businesses in the country across a range of categories.
One of the prizes, the Beer Quality Award, was awarded to an Angus pub for serving up pints of “the highest quality standard”.


The Stag is a restaurant, bar, and café situated in the heart of the bustling market town of Forfar. Originally a hotel, it has been serving its local community for more than 100 years.
According to the Scottish Licensed Trade News, judges were looking for “excellent cellar management” and “excellence in dispense with good staff knowledge of pouring and presentation techniques for a range of beers”. The Stag was chosen for “delivering the perfectly poured pint every time”.
This article appeared in the Daily Record on the 12th November 2024.
Many thanks to Bill Brown who informed the SBAA of this.
8. Edinburgh Society of Brewers
The SBAA were asked recently for information on the Edinburgh Society of Brewers (formed in 1598) and in particular the names of its first members. This request for information was from Beth Golden who lives in Georgia, USA and is her family’s historian. Following several emails, Beth has agreed to prepare an article on her research for this year’s Annual Journal. It is good to learn of family connections with historical breweries.
Thanks Beth, it will certainly be interesting to learn more about your family genealogy and in particular the part played by your family ancestry in the formation of the Society of Brewers of Edinburgh.
For members who attended one of our brewery historic walking tours in Edinburgh may remember the Society of Brewers being mentioned and their location on Chambers Street.
I was wondering if anyone knows what type of beers they were brewing at this time in Edinburgh, at the end of the 16th century and beginning of the 17th century. If you know, please get in touch.
9. Glenfinnan Enquiry
The SBAA received this image from the Glenfinnan Station Museum , famous for its railway viaduct and more recently the location for Harry Potter films , which was from a photoshoot taken by Tennent’s for a calendar in the 1980s or 90s and asked if we have any further information on this and the calendar.

It is reckoned to be from one of the last annual Tennent’s calendars dating from c.1994. If anyone has the calendar, please get in touch we would like to see the entire calendar contents with its Scottish locations.
10. Last Runnings
Warm welcome to new SBAA Student members Rachel Kulp and Dougal Clumpas. Corporate member at Belhaven Brewery Gary Todd and finally Kath Roper-Caldback who has previously assisted the SBAA from her position at the Glasgow University Archive.
Remember and send in any articles or interesting photos, next newsletter April
Correspondence to the SBAA Secretary secretary@scottishbrewingarchive.co.uk
SBAA Newsletter No. 62 – Jan. 2025