As we were pushing our well thumbed copies of The Sun into the island recycling skip last night we noticed a not too out of date copy of the Lairds' favoured reading Scottish Field - so with an eye to getting a glimpse of the glamorous life of Scotland's aristocracy out it came.
It had an article, September edition, on the delight's of Islay and Mull and a hand drawn map of those two islands included an outline of our our dear landmass.
The Colonsay Map made reference to only two features, the 18th A listed Colonsay House, famed the world over for is magnificent gardens, and the 2007 addition - our brewery. The odd thing was that nowhere in the text, that we could find, is there reference to the finest brewery in the Hebrides.
Talking of such --- we got a great write up following a visit from one of Scotland's most famous sons - more on that tomorrow.
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Also keeping us busy this last while is increasing the capacity of the brewery - for the fourth time since we opened in 2007.
Considering the idea was to buy a plant that could be run successfully at half capacity we kind of underestimated the potential of this place.
So a massive shiny new fermenter, double the size of the existing ones, has gone online and is full already.
We are also working on the first change to our labels, we think its fairly major but most regular consumers will not notice, we bet.
The appeal of the beer to the folk yet to learn of its fantastic flavours is, one supposes, the quirky labelling and the highlighting of our Hebridean provenance.
Beauty in a Bottle has been our slogan all along -- and its staying. However we are adding, we think, the line Colonsay - the smallest island in the world with its own brewery.
We think that's rather appealing - a usp as they say in sales conferences.
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The Colonsay Festival is always a highlight of the brewery year and this one was no exception.
The buzz that radiates round the whole island creates a palpable sense of excitement and anticipation as this years acts walk (roll) off the ferry and race to the hall to begin a 48 hours frenzy of top class folk.
Chris the brewer has long talked of creating a Colonsay Porter, a fourth strand to our brand portfolio. He reckoned the festival was the time and place to do it. So in conjunction with our brewing guru George Thomson (remember him) a recipe was devised and the brewing done.
Its always an anxious wait until the day dawns that the brew is thought to be ready for sampling -- but that day dawned a few before the festival and verily the Porter was tasted and found to be good.
Or so we thought.
To be honest the brewery team is not the most dispassionate of observers -- I bet we could talk ourselves into believing the tank cleaning solution is fantastic -- the public had to be consulted.
A second piece of brewery history was made in the process when we decided to cask the porter rather than keg it and serve it via a hand pump.
The general view come the festival - brilliant. A second keg has gone to a mainland bar for more tasting but we reckon it’s going to be a permanent addition to the range.
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Sorry about the silence --- we've been busy - and in the summer its a hard call ----- blog or bar -- and the bar wins every time.
So now there are just the three of us in the brewery boardroom our former fourth director having decided it was time to step down and concentrate on other matters.
Ever ready to shoulder an increased burden, well Bob and Chris anyway, we're off on another chapter of the story of the brewery as it moves on to greater things - or staggers to the next crisis which ever you prefer.
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Recession - what recession ----- we are getting reports of Colonsay lovers finding our beer all over the country.
We have recently started supplying Dobbies Garden Centres and they are sending it all over. We actually thought it was just for the Scottish outlets --- but no its everywhere -- so if you are an off island fan of Colonsay beer and missing your holiday pint -- pop into Dobbies. Two pints of lager and a packet of seed please.
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