We here at the brewery have decided to start a blog to keep you up to date on all things Harviestoun. From info on new releases and events to interviews with the Brew Team, we will be bringing you some light reading every couple of weeks so we can better share our story with our loyal fans and customers and provide some inside info from the brewery.
To kick start the blog, we thought we would dedicate the first post to our flagship, award-winning lager, Schiehallion. This will be the first in a series delving into our core range of beers. So here it is, the first ever Harviestoun blog post and the first of ‘The Core Range’ series.
First things first, let’s get the pronunciation out of the way. Schiehallion is famous for being pretty unpronounceable to most, particularly to those not from our native Scotland. Over the years, we have heard some creative attempts at pronunciation such as; ‘Shoe-hell-on’ and ‘Shee-hal-lion.’ We have even witnessed some people ordering ‘that one’ in order to save themselves from embarrassment. So, to put this to bed, once and for all, Schiehallion is pronounced ‘She-hal-ion.’
It is named after the famous quartzite and distinctively conical Munro in Perth & Kinross, Scotland. The name Schiehallion (an anglicised form of the Gaelic name ‘Sìdh Chailliann’) translate to ‘Mound of the Caledonians.” Thanks to the unusual symmetry, the Munro was famously used in an experiment to weigh the world in 1774. Now, it is the name of an equally recognisable and flavourful lager.
Schiehallion was first brewed in 1994 and later went on to win a gold medal at the Great British Beer Festival in 1996. Stuart Cail, our Master Brewer, was at the brewery when Schiehallion was first brewed. He describes it as a lager that has ‘a nice balance between malty sweetness, bready continental character and the hops.’ Schiehallion has won numerous awards over the years both in domestic and international beer competitions however Schiehallion’s crowning moment is when it won ‘World’s Best Pilsner’ at the World Beer Awards in 2008. The first UK lager to win the prestigious award which usually goes to breweries from countries most associated with the pilsner style, such as; Germany and the Czech Republic.
