A craft brewery and a group of university students – sounds like a recipe for chaos, right? But not in this case, as Scottish brewer, Stewart Brewing and the Heriot-Watt University have collaborated to launch a new beer.

The beer, called Common Ancestor, has been created by four masters students at the university’s International Centre for Brewing and Distilling, and is the seventh collaborative project by the university to date.

All part of the Natural Selection brewing project, the Msc Brewing and Distilling students made their way to the Stewart Brewing brewery in Loanhead where they were tasked with trialling beer recipes, brewing 5000 litres of their chosen creation, branding their product and selling it across the UK… now how’s that for a dissertation?

The project takes place each academic year and is a nod to the brewery’s co-founder Steve Stewart, who graduated in Brewing and Distilling Science from Heriot-Watt University in 1993.

So, what’s this year’s beer? A 5.2% abv California Common, available across cask and keg format and distributed across Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Newcastle and London, as well as in bottles.

‘Natural Selection Brewing is a chance for selected MSc Brewing and Distilling students to employ their creativity and knowledge in brewing their own unique beer and selling it across the UK,’ said Jo Stewart, Stewart Brewing co-founder.

Read more at source Imbibe