Four Heriot-Watt University students who left behind careers in physiotherapy, music, environmental lobbying and kinesiology to pursue their love in beer have created a special-edition brew that will be on sale throughout the summer.
Origin beer
€˜Origin' as the beer is named, takes the best of brewing traditions from Scotland, the USA and Canada. The traditional base of barley and yeast has been given a little extra spice and sweetness from new world hops, rye and wheat.
Natural Selection brewing
The project is part of Natural Selection brewing, an annual project designed to give students on Heriot-Watt's MSc in Brewing course an opportunity to develop transferable skills by producing, branding, marketing and selling their own beer.
David Ross, one of the team members from Heriot-Watt University, said, "There's a real demand for craft beers and Edinburgh is at the centre of this trend. Beer will continue to evolve as long as there are enthusiasts like us to keep pushing the limits.
"Designing the beer has taken a long time and required a lot of research into different flavours and textures. We had to sample many, many beers to decide on the approach we wanted to take - this is the sacrifice we made for our craft."
Steve Stewart, MD of Stewart Brewing, which sponsors Natural Selection Brewing, said, "David, Patrick, Campbell and Bruce all share our passion for brewing top quality, innovative craft beers.
"We're sure that their Origins beer will go down a treat throughout the summer."
Professor David Quain, Professor of Brewing at the International Centre of Brewing and Distilling at Heriot-Watt, said, "The Natural Selection programme offers our Masters students an opportunity to demonstrate their transferable skills in a real-world scenario, devising their own beer, branding, marketing and selling it.
"This year's recipe, Origin, will get an extra outing, as the official beer for the celebrations to mark the twenty fifth anniversary of the International Centre of Brewing and Distilling at Heriot-Watt, although of course we have been training brewing students at Heriot-Watt for over a century."