McEwan's

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McEwan's is a range of beer brewed at the Caledonian Brewery in Edinburgh, Scotland. The brands are now owned by Scottish & Newcastle. Its logo depicts a character from a Frans Hals painting known popularly as The Laughing Cavalier enjoying the beer.

1 History
- 1.1 The Fountain Brewery
2 Football sponsorship
3 Beers
4 References
5 Further reading
6 External links

[edit] History

[edit] The Fountain Brewery

William McEwan opened the Fountain Brewery in 1856, in the Fountainbridge area of Edinburgh. By the time it became in public company in 1889, the brewery was valued at £1 million. At the beginning of the 1900s, the brewery had a large share of the market throughout Scotland and north-east England, and was exporting to Australia, New Zealand India and South Africa. McEwan's merged with William Younger's Brewery (founded in Edinburgh in 1749) in 1931, becoming Scottish Brewers. The company merged again in 1960, joining with Newcastle Breweries to form Scottish & Newcastle.

In February 2004 Scottish & Newcastle announced the closure of McEwan's Brewery, at the same time as partially buying Caledonian Brewery in Slateford, Edinburgh. McEwan's brewery finally closed in June 2005, with production of the McEwan's and Younger's beers being transferred to Caledonian.^[1]

[edit] Football sponsorship

During the 1980s and 1990s, McEwan's sponsored three football clubs.

[edit] Beers

McEwan's 60/- (3.2% abv)
McEwan's 70/- (3.7% abv) is a stronger version of the above - otherwise known as 'Special'
McEwan's 80/- (4.5% abv) is a strong Scottish Ale otherwise known as 'heavy'. The cask conditioned version was controversially withdrawn from the market in 2007. A replica, Diggers 80/-, was launched in response by small Edinburgh brewery Stewart Brewing.
McEwan's Lager was introduced in the 1970s as lager became more popular. It was discontinued in 2003, although it is still possible to purchase beer served from 'McEwan's Lager' branded pumps in some pubs.

Two notable TV commercials for McEwan's Lager - with soundtracks by popular Scottish rock bands Win and Hipsway - were released in the mid-1980s.

McEwan's Export (4.5% abv) is a strong, caramelised dark beer originally made for export. It remains one of the most popular canned or bottled beers in Scotland.^{[citation needed]} It is famous for its various logos "To copy is forgery", "Quality and Strength" and "only ever made in Edinburgh, Scotland".
McEwan's India Pale Ale (4.7%abv)
McEwan's Champion ale (7.3% abv) recently labelled as McEwan’s No. 1 Champion is an extremely sweet beer with flavours of toffee. The toffee persists into the finish, along with burnt oak. It has a sweet texture, with scents of caramel, malt and oak. A creamy head tops this dark beer.
McEwan's Scotch Ale (8.0% abv) ^[2]
McEwan's Best Scotch (3.6% abv) ^[3]