Bottlenose Beer for Moray’s Dolphins
A beer named ‘Bottlenose’ is being launched today in Scotland’s Moray Firth in support of Whale and Dolphin Conservation. It’s thought to be the first ever wildlife conservation beer and for every pint drunk, cash will be donated to help conserve and promote the work of the charity.
Called Bottlenose Bitter after the Moray Firth’s resident population of dolphins, the beer has been created by the new Speyside Craft Brewery in Forres, just yards from the shores of the Firth.
Managing director Seb Jones, 25, said that when he started his business it was always an ambition to find a way to support WDC. “My business relies upon the success of the hospitality business, such as bars, restaurants and hotels, which in turn rely on tourism, which to a large degree in the Moray Firth benefits from the resident dolphin colony. Their continued presence here relies significantly on the work of WDC. “To me, helping them in this way is a no-brainer.”
The bottlenose dolphin population in the Moray Firth is vitally important to the area both in conservation and tourism terms. VisitScotland say the attraction generates more than £4million a year in tourist income.
Seb Jones is an unusual brewer, having graduated from Aberdeen University with a degree in Chemistry. Many of his friends went to work for the oil industry, but Seb remembered his passion for home brew as a teenager, and decided to turn that art into a science.
Seb admits that beer is not a product normally associated with wildlife protection and conservation, but explained that Bottlenose Bitter continues the brewery’s philosophy of naming beers after local icons to promote the area’s natural assets.
“I’m a keen kayaker and, like everyone, get a thrill every time I see a dolphin in the Moray Firth,” he said.
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