An ale has been brewed from Islay single malt for the first time.

Micro-brewery Islay Ales, on the Hebridean island of the same name, has hooked up with neighbouring distiller Bruichladdich to produce a powerful and heady brew.

By interrupting the whisky-making process at the stage of mashing, 600 litres of the pre-fermented liquor known as 'wort' was shipped to Islay Ales brewery.

Here, using brewer's yeast, the 'wort' obtained from a maceration of Optic barley, was fermented to a knee-trembling 9% alcohol ale.

Brewer Paul Hathaway added Challenger and Bramling Cross hops for extra flavour:
"The distillery usually gets a 7% alcohol using different yeast strain - but I managed to get a thumping 9% alcohol."

"It's a crossover drink: it has the delicious malty richness of Bruichladdich's wort and the bitterness of hops. You can drink it now - it will get even better with time."

1,800 bottles (33cl) entitled "Worts n'Ale" will be sold at £3 each exclusively by Islay Ales. 25 pence from each bottle will go to the RNLI.

The debut for this monster was Sunday 28th May at the opening day of the Islay Whisky & Music Festival "Feis Ile" at Bruichladdich Distillery.

"At 9% alcohol this is a beer for savouring and certainly not for session drinking. We're hoping for a cool weather: Heaven help us if it's a hot, thirst-quenching day…"

The Islay Ales Company Limited was founded by Paul Hathaway, Paul Capper and Walter Schobert in 2003 to establish a microbrewery on the Hebridean Isle of Islay.

Paul Hathaway moved to Islay in August 2003, having visited many times on holiday in the past. His long-term ambition was to live and work on the Island.

Paul Capper moved to Islay to live in 1993, though he only became a full time resident in January 2003 after retiring from the West Midlands Fire Service after 27 years.

Walter Schobert recently retired after many years working as the curator of the German Film Museum in Frankfurt, Germany. He has a life long interest in beer and Single Malt Scotch Whisky, subjects on which he has written extensively. With his interest in Single Malt Whisky it was natural for him to retire to Islay with its seven working distilleries.

Enquiries: Islay Ales 01496810014 enquiries@islayales.com