Pubs
in Ross and Cromarty.

It’s 20:03 in Ross and Cromarty.
Ross and Cromarty

Organic ales and Munlochy roasts.

The pubs of Ross and Cromarty are proper locals, with good food and a warm welcome. Near Munlochy, an organic brewery has been brewing on its own farm since 1998. Down the road, a white country inn serves Sunday roasts and local beer, with rooms upstairs. In Cromarty's old town, a friendly gastropub has a wide menu and a snug corner of bookshelves by the fire. Across the Cromarty Firth, a long, low stone inn sits by the harbour at Balintore, with a beer garden looking over the Moray Firth. Hours change through the year, so check before you go.

From the magazine15 hours agoThe printed copy of Issue 10Issue 10Spring / Summer 2025

The Black Isle Brewery, near Inverness, began in 1998 in an old cowshed, where its founder David Gladwin brewed ales to sell at farmers' markets at weekends.

It is Scotland's first organic microbrewery, and it tells a grain-to-glass story: the beer is made with malted barley grown in the farm's own fields, and the spent mash is fed to its Hebridean sheep. David's proudest moment was buying the 125 acres around the brewery, which had been farmed for more than 40 years with chemical pesticides and herbicides, and converting them to organic, which took three years. 'Seeing the first harvest of organic barley and using that for brewing was a proud moment'. Visitors can see how the beer is made on a tour of the brewery.

See Black Isle Brewery · Ross and Cromarty
From the magazine29 minutes agoThe printed copy of Issue 10Issue 10Spring / Summer 2025

Since the Black Isle Brewery, near Inverness, set about restoring wildlife on its farm, a survey has found eight red-list bird species there, the birds of highest conservation concern.

When the brewery took on the land, it had been farmed intensively. Its founder, David Gladwin, has twin passions, the environment and brewing beer, and the brewery's motto sums him up: 'Save The Planet Drink Organic'. After work to restore biodiversity and wildlife habitats on the farm, an ecological survey turned up those eight bird species, along with five species of butterfly and seven of bumblebee. The farm works with local schools too, introducing children to a working farm, where they help with the animals, dig the soil and harvest the vegetables.

See Black Isle Brewery · Ross and Cromarty

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