The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Cheers! Perth awaits launch of its very own craft lager
APerth bar will be offering its very own brand of craft beer when it reopens after coronavirus restrictions are lifted.
Mucky’s Bar in the Fair City has partnered with Martian Girl Brewing Co to produce Mucky’s Craft Lager.
And not only will the lager be available to drink in the bar – the new drink will be also made on the premises with the microbrewery currently under construction at Mucky’s in Canal Street.
Owner of the popular bar, Ricky Kennedy, is thrilled to be teaming up with two friends, Andrew Laurie and Andrew Burns, to bring Perth’s very own lager on to the scene.
Ricky, 34, said: “These are two of my best customers and our friendship has bonded.
“When they wanted to open their own brewery it just made sense for Mucky’s Lager to appear.
“The brewery will be onsite, so it will be made here by Perth guys in a Perth bar, so a completely Perth beer.”
Having always been interested in craft beer, Andrew Laurie, 27, said it seemed like a natural progression to begin making his own.
“Andrew Burns has always been into craft beer and I am one of those people who always wants to know how things work so one day I researched how to make beer,” he said.
“I drink a lot of it but I had no idea where it came from. I did a lot of research on how to make beer and concluded that I could do that. I bought a homebrew kit and I have been making beer for a couple of years now, as has Andrew. We realised that it is a lot of fun so we just kept it going and just kept making beer.
“It got really popular among friends and we weren’t able to sell it as there are a lot of tax rules about selling alcohol, so we found out how we could do it and were talking to Ricky and now we’re here.”
Andrew Burns, 26, added that while the lager will be exclusive to Mucky’s, there will be guest beers to look out for.
He said: “The lager will be constantly on tap here exclusively. Every month we are planning on making a beer that will be sold in bottles, whether that be an IPA or a crazy Belgian style that we fancy brewing. It will be a one-off brew, whatever we feel like.”
Owner Ricky can’t wait to get started, although he stressed that Mucky’s won’t be reopening until it is financially viable – so it is a waiting game dependent on restrictions.
“I think it’s going to be June-ish until we are properly open and trading. It depends what Level/Tier we go into. If we go into Tier 2 I just don’t see it being financially worth it. I would rather just wait and open when it’s right.
“As soon as they say I can open until 10pm or after 10pm I will be open. The like of 8pm or 8.30pm, it’s not worth it.
“It is something different. I know a few other bars have tried it and, to be fair to Andy and Andy, they have both worked hard into finding out the legalities of becoming a brewery and paying your duties. It’s not as easy as you would think.”
Andrew Laurie believes the trio are on to a winner as they tap into the burgeoning craft beer scene in Perth.
He said: “It’s been a lot of work, but craft beer is really popular in Perth. You have places like Cullach that do amazing beer, you have BrewDog.
“It’s getting really popular so to work with Ricky and be one of the first non-craft beer places to really get into the scene and open ourselves up is great.”
Mucky’s Craft Lager is a traditional Helles lager with a slightly sweet, bready body from the allGerman malt bill and a subtle bitterness from traditional German hops, making it full of flavour but still crisp and refreshing.
Having examined the craft beer scene, Andrew Burns added: “I think a beer like our own craft lager has that curiosity thing that will bring people in.”