Heriot-Watt seeks £35m for new distilling centre
Edinburgh-based Heriot-Watt University is aiming to raise £35 million (US$47m) to build a new distilling and brewing centre that will embrace sustainable practices.
The new Centre for Brewing and Distilling (CBSD) will be a ‘state-of-the-art’ version of Heriot-Watt’s International Centre for Brewing and Distilling (ICBD).
It would replace the current ICBD, which opened in 1990 and offers undergraduate and graduate courses on brewing and distilling.
Heriot-Watt said the new project would enable the university to evolve its teaching and research to ‘meet the challenges of the future’.
The university intends for the new facility to function as a laboratory, constructed solely with low-carbon materials. It also aims to utilise the university’s iNetZ+ research institute to help it operate using only clean energy.
The plan is for the CBSD to house plug-and-play brewing and distilling testbeds, enabling companies to trial new production methods, as well as advanced sustainability research labs to develop low-carbon distillation techniques and circular economy solutions.
The facility will also include a dedicated entrepreneurial hub to support startups, spinouts, and small- to medium-sized businesses in creating innovative products.
Heriot-Watt believes the new site could help the distilling and brewing industry tackle climate crisis, along with providing employment and economic wealth around the world.
The university noted a ‘significant skills gap’ in the industry, which it hopes to combat by offering specialist training programmes, including graduate apprenticeships, executive education, and research-led industry collaborations.
Professor Gillian Murray, the university’s deputy principal for business and enterprise, said: “Heriot-Watt’s association with teaching brewing and distilling dates back to 1903. However, it was over 35 years ago that our unique brewing and distilling teaching and research facility – recognised by the Institute of Brewing and Distilling – was established.
“Ever since, it has been home to vibrant research and unique innovation that has revolutionised both industries.”
She noted that the university has “big aspirations for the future” and will bring a “revamped and revitalised approach to academic research into brewing and distilling” through the new project.
Murray continued: “We want to encourage people from around the world to help us fund this multi-million-pound vision that sets the next generation of brilliant minds the challenge of finding ever-more economically viable and environmentally sustainable ways of driving both industries forward into the 22nd century.”
Support from Diageo
Ewan Andrew, president of global supply chain and procurement and chief sustainability officer at Diageo, added: “As a global leader in alcoholic beverages, we recognise the importance that brewing and distilling makes to Scotland’s – and indeed the world’s – economy.”
Andrew said the company is backing Heriot-Watt’s new centre, which will offer a “modern environment for innovation, support the development of ground-breaking sustainable processes, and develop a new highly skilled workforce that helps futureproof this vitally important economic contributor for decades to come”.
Related news
Pisco Masters UK selects winner
