There’s little doubt that the Traquair House brewery has to qualify as a good home. It’s located in Scotland’s oldest inhabited castle and celebrating its 900th anniversary this year. It truly is a home brewery.

The original brewery operated in the 18th century, producing beer for the house and estate workers. It sat idle from some time before 1800 until the equipment was rediscovered in 1965. Although Traquair House produces a modest 600-700 barrels per year (perhaps less than your local brewpub) its beers are justifiably well known.

And now there’s going to be another. The local newspaper reports a 900th Birthday Brew is being produced to mark the anniversary of the signing of the Royal Charter by Alexander I at the house in 1107.

Only 40,000 bottles of the limited edition beer will be produced, of which a quarter will be exported. The rest are available from both the Traquair House shop and independent retailers.

“The new beer’s been about a year in the planning,” said Catherine Maxwell Stuart, the 21st lady of Trquair. “We obviously knew the 900th birthday was coming up and we wanted to mark it appropriately. The brewery is very important to the life of the house, so it was an obvious way to mark the occasion.”

The 900th Birthday Brew is packaged in a specially designed silk-screened bottle and is 9% abv.

Importer Merchant du Vin expects to receive a limited number of bottles. Marketing manager Craig Hartinger reported in an e-mail that it will be months before the beer arrives - the importer must still produce a U.S. version of the label, get the label printed, etc.

Posted: April 9th, 2007 under Beer culture.