Blog Post

5. Big advantages of being small

Anna • Jul 10, 2020
Kitchen table business

When size matters. Quality & Community before Quantity

When we moved to Harris in 2014 one of our main motivations was to slow down and enjoy time with our kids. In Oxfordshire we ran a business with lots of employees, lots of clients and lots of stress. We knew that we didn't want to live like that in Harris.

The first people we told about our dreams of starting a small brewery were our family and friends. Almost without exception we were met with at least one, if not all, of the following reactions; "it will be expensive"," it will be stressful" and "lucky you". We made a decision very early on that we would start small and more importantly, stay small.

But how small is small? To be called a microbrewery you can only brew 60,000 hectolitres of beer every year. That is a mere 18 million bottles! Unsurprisingly we don't really think of ourselves as a microbrewery, in fact we're probably even too small to be called a Nanobrewery. Being neither "Micro" or "Nano" we prefer to think of ourselves as a "RidiculouslyTinyBrewery" but why does size matter? Ironically we believe the benefits of staying small are huge.

Firstly, and this is a big one, we haven't had to go into debt to set up. We don't have any investors to please so we can make the sort of beers that we like and brew "brave" beers rather than mass producing easy sells. Our old life taught us that building a business should mean more than making money. Our life in Harris is much simpler and so we don't have to work every hour and chase every penny to make a living for our family.

The second advantage of brewing in very small batches is that we don't need lorry loads of grain, hops and bottles (which is lucky as we live at the end of a single track road!) Our aim is to cause as little impact as possible so we recycle all of our waste products; spent grain is fed to our chickens and the neighbours' sheep or composted on our croft. We are also looking into reusing bottles and hope to be able to introduce a bottle return scheme soon.

Our batches are so small that we can lift grain sacks and fermenters ourselves. We don't need equipment to load grain or stir beer, processes can be completed by hand not machines. In an eight to ten hour day Nick and I can brew one batch, bottle another, label a third and pack the days orders. This means we also have time for walking Spud and talking to the teenagers through their bedroom doors!

One of the unexpected advantages of being so small has been that we have time to get to know our customers. I remember the thrill, just two days after launching, of getting our first repeat order (from someone we didn't already know.) I couldn't resist popping a note and a little surprise in with that order! All of our deliveries include a hand stamped beer mat and a handwritten message but we can also add a handmade card when the delivery is a gift. We have spent many, many hours chatting about beer and Harris (our two favourite subjects) on social media or when we meet local customers when we deliver their beer.

Finally, and most importantly, we think staying small means we are able to focus on quality and community rather than quantity.

So in reply to our loved ones; it hasn't been too expensive, it hasn't ben at all stressful and yes we are very lucky!

View from the Brewery at Leverburgh Pier

26. Is this the end?

08 Oct, 2024
Reflections on the end of our first summer season.
Sarah pouring a pint

25. Fàilte - Welcome to the Brewery

18 Apr, 2024
The community effort that opened a Brewery!
The Isle of Harris Brewery at the Pier in Leverburgh

24. BREAKING NEWS

14 Mar, 2024
We have just announced our opening date for the new Brewery, Taproom, Restaurant and Deli!

23. BEER BY THE PIER

09 Nov, 2023
We're moving to the pier in Leverburgh!!

22. Following your dreams

by Anna • 01 Sept, 2023
....and then there were two. Sarah's off to Uni
Isle of Harris Brewery shop

21. Huge News from the Tiny Brewery

by Anna • 06 May, 2023
We're opening a shop at our tiny Brewery on our croft in Borrisdale, South Harris.

20. Uncomfortable Change

by Anna • 19 Nov, 2022
Changes in life and Brewing

19. Something Exciting is Brewing

by Anna • 09 Oct, 2022
Winding down for the winter and gearing up for new adventures

17. Christmas Beer & Christmas Cheer

by Anna • 19 Dec, 2021
Christmas in a Brewery probably sounds like many peoples idea of heaven. In reality our Christmas preparations have been long hours, huge "To do" and "To brew" lists, a little bit of stress and nerves.... and we've loved every minute.

16. Middle of somewhere

by Anna • 11 Nov, 2021
Sometimes one sentence can capture a thought that would take a whole blog to convey! Recently I came across a lovely typography print on Etsy that really sums up my feelings about where we call home. “Some call it the middle of nowhere, we call it the centre of everything”. The Outer Hebrides are often described as remote or more theatrically “islands on the edge”. There is still a romantic misconception that we are are on the fringes of civilisation, miles from modern amenities and a step back in time. Visitors are often amazed that our kids catch two buses for the one hour journey to school, or that we drive for almost two hours to get to the nearest Tesco. But we are very proud of where we live and defensive of any suggestion that the island is a sleepy backwater - (Remember the outcry when BBC weatherman Tomasz Schafernaker called the Outer Hebrides “Nowheresville”) Far from feeling like we are in the “middle of nowhere” our little patch of South Harris is the centre of our world.
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