Alechemy

There are actaully 2 breweries within Alechemy Brewing, there is the main plant which is 1650 litres (10BBL) and a much smaller pilot plant, which produces up to 100 litres (0.5BBL)

James has always had a passion for brewing, and began in 1995 whilst at university in Edinburgh. Having studied for a masters degree in chemistry, followed by 3 years studying for a PhD in microbiology (studying the genetics of brewery yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae) he went on to work in the pharmaceutical industry (starting as a molecular biologist and ending up in drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics) for 6 years before taking voluntary redundancy.

During all of this time the he continued to brew, upgrading from the homebrew kits to full mash brewing (essentially a small scale version of the full commercial brewing process, but just a bit more Heath Robinson). Having always been interested in the science behind the brewing and always reading up on new ideas and innovation he thought it was time to take the theory and put it into practice.

In 2011 he decided to return to Scotland and his home town of Mid Calder, Livingston to start up Alechemy Brewing.