Orkney Brewery
Encyclopedia
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. Atlas was formed in 2002 by Neill Cotton and merged with Orkney in 2004 under the name Highland & Islands Breweries. Highland & Islands was taken over by Sinclair Breweries in 2006.
History and development
In June 2004, the Orkney Brewery was acquired from its retiring founder by the shareholders of Atlas Brewery to form Highlands and Islands Breweries. Neill Cotton, founder of Atlas Brewery, was Managing Director of Highlands and Islands and drove a series of changes at The Orkney Brewery, including a rebranding and the launch of a very interesting lager. In summer 2006, the company was bought by Sinclair Breweries Ltd.Availability
The cask ales are available in various pubs around Britain and at British beer festivalBeer festival
A Beer Festival is an organised event during which a variety of beers are available for tasting and purchase. Beer festivals are held in a number of countries...
s. The filtered bottled ales are sold throughout Britain and in North America.
Beers
Cask ale
Cask ale or cask-conditioned beer is the term for unfiltered and unpasteurised beer which is conditioned and served from a cask without additional nitrogen or carbon dioxide pressure...
and filtered beer
Filtered beer
Bright beer is beer in which yeast is no longer in suspension. There are several methods used for clearing yeast from beer, from waiting for the yeast to drop of its own accord to filtering it.-Dropping bright:...
in bottles, and since October 2005, a lager. Dark Island a rich, fruity, vinous dark ale, is the biggest seller. Dark Island has won Champion Beer of Scotland on several occasions. Red MacGregor, a 4% bitter
Bitter (beer)
Bitter is an English term for pale ale. Bitters vary in colour from gold to dark amber and in strength from 3% to 7% alcohol by volume.-Brief history:...
has won the World Cask Beer Gold Medal (BIIA 2001). The same name is used for a 5% premium bitter available filtered in the bottle.
Orkney brewery uses isinglass
Isinglass
Isinglass is a substance obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish. It is a form of collagen used mainly for the clarification of wine and beer. It can also be cooked into a paste for specialized gluing purposes....
in the production of all of its beers, making them unsuitable for vegetarians.
SkullSplitter
SkullSplitter is a 8.5% abvAlcohol by volume
Alcohol by volume is a standard measure of how much alcohol is contained in an alcoholic beverage .The ABV standard is used worldwide....
wee heavy SkullSplitter won the award of Supreme Champion Winter Beer of Britain 2001 at CAMRA's national winter celebration of beer. SkullSplitter takes its name after Torfinn Hausakljuv
Thorfinn Turf-Einarsson, Earl of Orkney
Thorfinn 'Skullsplitter' Hausakljufr was earl of Orkney. He was the youngest son of Torf-Einarr. Thorfinn married Grelod, daughter of the Mormaer of Caithness and granddaughter of Thorstein the Red. Thorfinn and Grelod had five sons and two daughters...
who was nicknamed "Skullsplitter". Hausakluif was the 7th Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
Earl of Orkney sometime around 950 AD.
SkullSplitter was recently in the centre of some controversy over its name. The Portman Group, which is the alcohol watchdog group, carried out an investigation based on complaints that the ale had an "aggressive theme". The Portman Group decided on the 23rd December 2008 not to uphold the complaint after the brewery launched a strong campaign to save this 20-year-old beer, informing the Group of the beer's namesake.
There has been speculation as to who modeled for the Skullsplitter label. Photographer Michael Hockney http://www.michaelhockney.ca, who lived in Quoyloo was asked by Roger White if he could take a shot for a small promotional poster. A member of Orkney Islands Council who was a Shetlander, offered his full Viking regalia and himself to provide a suitable Skullsplitter image. At the last minute he decided it was something that an elected official should maybe not do, but he insisted Roger borrow the costume. Michael arrived at Broch of Gurness to meet Roger and the "model" only to be told of the last minute change. Roger suggested Michael looked suitably Viking-like and that perhaps he should wear the costume. The Fuji 6x9 camera was set up and Michael struggled to get his size 10 feet into size 7 deerskins. Roger White also brought his 35mm camera and it was, in fact, Roger's camera that took the shot.