BELHAVEN BREWERY (Scotland)

Belhaven is the oldest operating brewery in Scotland as well as that of Britain as a whole. Brewing has taken place here in the coastal town of Dunbar, about 30 miles southeast of Edinburgh, since the time of Benedictine Monks as far back as 800 years ago. The brewhouse's lintel is engraved with the date 1719, recognized as the founding of the present brewery when it was taken over by John Johnstone. The brewery still maintains a staunch dedication to historical Scottish style brewing. At one time, like many of Scotland's long gone breweries, Belhaven had its own maltings that supplied not only the brewery but nearby distilleries. Before being sold to a hotel group in 1972, ownership was maintained by the same family for 250 years trading as Dudgeon & Company. Sandy Hunter acted as the final family chairman and head brewer until his retirement. Sadly, Sandy passed away in the late summer of 2007. Tumultuous times hit the brewery in the years after leaving family hands but management bought the company outright in 1993 and it remained one of the few independent breweries to have survived in Britain. Under the guidance of boss, Stuart Ross Belhaven achieved significant financial success year after year. The brewery was purchased by Greene King of Suffolk in 2005 and Stuart retired from Belhaven in 2008.