Fire forces popular Scots brewery to halt production of award-winning beer

Daily Record

2 days ago

The blaze destroyed a tank at Sulwath Brewers in Dumfries and Galloway, meaning it has had to stop production of its popular ales.
A fire has forced an award-winning Scots brewery to call a halt to production.
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The blaze broke out at Sulwath Brewers in Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
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And the flames have destroyed one of the tanks, meaning the firm has had to stop production of its popular ales.
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A fundraising campaign has been launched to help the family firm - which is celebrating its 30th anniversary year - get through the crisis, with the King Street taproom still open for business.
Boss Allen Henderson said: 'There's never a good time this could happen but this is the worst possible time because this is at the height of the season with fetes and fairs.
'The good news is we still have beer so we can still do a lot of the things we'd have done, but it's put us on the back foot quite considerably.
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'I know our customers will understand and we'll get back up and running but for now we're quite completely out of production.
'One of the tanks has been destroyed and there's a bit of damage in the brewery.
'We are trying to decide whether we put in a replacement tank or do we sort everything out and update everything.
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'We've put the feelers out, until we can figure out what we're able to do, for another tank but this is all custom built for our brewery.
'Once we source a suitable tank we would need to customise that.
'It's going to be an uphill climb. This is us in our 30th anniversary year. We've come through lots and lots in the past, hopefully we can come through this as well.
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'The local community been spot on, already had offers of help, but until we know what direction we're going in not a lot we can do.'
Although production has stopped, the King Street taproom remains open for visitors.
The blaze was caused by an electrical fault and firefighters from Dalbeattie and Kirkcudbright had to force entry to the brewery, meaning doors and windows will need replaced, but Mr Henderson praised them for their response.
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He said: 'The main thing is nobody was hurt and the building is still standing, albeit it needs a wee bit of TLC as does the equipment.
'It's a bit devastating – a third generation has just joined us – but we'll do whatever needs done.
'We'll power through, we've done it before and do it again.'
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To support Sulwath Brewers, visit GoFundMe.
Sulwath Brewers is the second business on King Street to suffer a fire in the past month, with The Olive Retreat hit in early July.
A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: 'We were alerted at 2.25am on Wednesday, July 30, to reports of a fire within a two-storey building in Castle Douglas.
'Operations control mobilised two appliances to the scene, and the fire was extinguished.
'There were no casualties and crews then left the area after ensuring it was safe.'