Sinclair Breweries Limited is the parent company for Orkney and Atlas ales. Orkney Brewery was founded in March 1988 at the old schoolhouse in Sandwick,

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

, one mile from

Skara Brae Skara Brae is a stone-built Neolithic settlement, located on the Bay of Skaill in the parish of Sandwick, Orkney, Sandwick, on the west coast of Mainland, Orkney, Mainland, the largest island in the Orkney archipelago of Scotland. It consiste ...

and was one of Scotland's first microbreweries. Atlas was formed in 2002 and merged with Orkney Brewery, where both beers are now brewed. Owned and run by Orcadian, Norman Sinclair, Orkney Brewery is Orkney's oldest brewery. The brewery operates all year long brewing and supplying beer to the UK, Europe, Australia, Canada and the US with the Visitor Centre running from Spring to Autumn. The visitor centre is equipped with a Tasting Hall offering a full menu and Orkney Brewery Ales as well as shop where local crafts, merchandise and the beers are sold.

History and development

The brewery is located in the former west mainland

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

school in Quoyloo, which was founded in 1878. When Norman Sinclair took over in 2006, he made sure the school was preserved as much as possible while the brewery grew, especially since it was the school his father attended as a boy. In 2010 Norman rebuilt it into a new 30 barrel brew plant. The old school part was turned into a visitors' centre and tasting hall. The visitors' centre was awarded five-star status by the national tourism organisation

VisitScotland VisitScotland, formerly the Scottish Tourist Board (), is a national tourism organisation for Scotland. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, with offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness, and ...

, just weeks after opening to the public. 128-Orkney-Brewery-CMcGC

Availability

The cask ales are available in various

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

s around Britain and at British

beer festival A beer festival is an event at which a variety of beers are available for purchase. There may be a theme, for instance beers from a particular area, or a particular brewing style such as winter ales. Asia China *Qingdao International Beer Fes ...

s. The filtered bottled ales are sold throughout Europe, North America, Canada, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, and most of the European countries. Bottled beer can also be found in supermarkets across the UK including

Waitrose Waitrose Limited, trading as Waitrose & Partners, is a British supermarket chain, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. In 1937, it was acquired by the John Lewis Partnership, the UK's largest employee-owned b ...

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

Lidl Lidl ( ) is a trademark, used by two Germany, German international discount supermarket, discount retailer chain store, chains that operates over 12,600 stores. The ''LD Stiftung'' operates the stores in Germany and the ''Lidl Stiftung & Co. K ...

, Co-operative and

Asda Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...

Beers

The Orkney brewery produces

cask ale Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for ale that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous ca ...

and

filtered beer Filtered beer refers to any ale, lager, or fermentation, fermented malt beverage in which the sediment left over from the brewing process has been removed. Ancient techniques included the use of straw mats, cloth, or straws, and frequently left so ...

in bottles, and since October 2005, a lager. ''Dark Island'' a rich, fruity, vinous dark ale, is the biggest seller. Dark Island has won Champion Beer of Scotland on several occasions. ''Red MacGregor'', a 4% bitter has won the World Cask Beer Gold Medal (BIIA 2001). The same name is used for a 5%

premium bitter Bitter is an English style of pale ale that varies in colour from gold to dark amber, and in strength typically from 3% to 5.5% alcohol by volume. History The term "bitter" has been used in England to describe pale ale since the early 19th cent ...

available filtered in the bottle. Orkney brewery uses

isinglass Isinglass ( ) is a form of collagen obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish. The English word origin is from the obsolete Dutch ''huizenblaas'' – ''huizen'' is a kind of sturgeon, and ''blaas'' is a bladder, or German ''Hausenblase'', ...

in the production of all of its beers, making them unsuitable for

vegetarians Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. A person who pra ...

. Atlas Brewery was originally based in

Kinlochleven Kinlochleven () () is a coastal village located in Lochaber, in the Scottish Highlands and lies at the eastern end of Loch Leven. To the north lie the Mamores ridge; to the south lie the mountains flanking Glen Coe. The village was formed fro ...

in a

category B listed This is a list of Category A listed buildings in Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern ...

former aluminium smelting facility. It closed in 2010 with operations moved to Orkney. Among its beers are Nimbus Pale Ale, Latitude Pilsner, and Three Sisters Scotch Ale which are available on tap and in bottles throughout

Lochaber Lochaber ( ; ) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig. Lochaber once extended from the Northern shore of Loch Leven, a distric ...

and Scotland. They also produce a number of

seasonal beer A seasonal beer is a beer that is typically brewed during or for a particular season, holiday or festival period. Many breweries produce seasonal beers. Seasonal beers may be produced when fresh ingredients are available during various seasons, p ...

Skull Splitter

''Skull Splitter'' is an 8.5%

abv Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as alc/vol or ABV) is a common measure of the amount of alcohol contained in a given alcoholic beverage. It is defined as the volume the ethanol in the liquid would take if separated from the rest of the solution, ...

wee heavy ''Skull Splitter'' won the award of Supreme Champion Winter Beer of Britain 2001 at

CAMRA The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, which promotes real ale, real cider, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. History The organisation was founde ...

's national winter celebration of beer. ''Skull Splitter'' takes its name after Torfinn Hausakljuv who was nicknamed "Skullsplitter". Hausakluif, a

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

, was the 7th

Earl of Orkney Earl of Orkney, historically Jarl of Orkney, is a title of nobility encompassing the archipelagoes of Orkney and Shetland, which comprise the Northern Isles of Scotland. Originally Scandinavian Scotland, founded by Norse invaders, the status ...

sometime around 950 AD.SkullSplitter at Legends Ltd.

References

External links