Eigg brewery team delighted at ‘breath-taking’ response to plea

The Isle of Eigg Brewery project team had managed to raise the initial £125,000 investment it needs to build Scotland’s first community-owned micro-brewery earlier this month, writes Mark Entwistle.

And hopes were high that by yesterday (December 29), the final target date for the appeal, a further £65,000 will have been gathered in.

The team behind what is planned to be the UK’s most environmentally-friendly brewery want the extra cash to allow them to incorporate additional environmental elements into the project.

‘The response to the campaign is breathtaking,’ said Stu McCarthy, The Isle of Eigg Brewery’s founder and brewer.

‘Almost 400 people have bought a community share. Their backing means they want Eigg Brewery to bring positive change to our community and environment and I can’t wait to get started.

‘Achieving our initial target so quickly really ups the pace that things can happen. Before, it was about creating the actual brewery building. Now it’s about how much greener our brewery can become and how fast. There’s huge potential.

‘Further investment means we can invest in an electric van for transporting our beer on Eigg and to the mainland - at the same time creating Eigg’s first electric vehicle charge point for fellow islanders’ cars.

‘The additional £65,000 investment also means we can start growing hops on Eigg, increase our solar battery capacity and explore re-usable bottles sooner.’

Mr McCarthy added that the success of the Brewdog brewing story has shown that people want environmental business: ‘While Brewdog are doing an amazing job on a macro-scale, we wanted to explore doing similar on a micro-scale.’ The Isle of Eigg, 12 miles off the Scottish mainland, is famous for its community land ownership and its unique renewable energy system powered by wind, water and sun.

Mr McCarthy continued: ‘People have invested in the Isle of Eigg Brewery because of what it is offering socially and environmentally. They see the wider good that can come about. I’m very proud to be a part of what can happen when people come together.’

The brewery plans to produce beer using 100 per cent renewable energy, with the raw materials produced supporting local farming and Eigg’s tree nursery.