Spey Valley

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. The team behind the brewery is as eclectic and characterful as the beers themselves . . .