Six degrees of fermentation

Robert Lindsay, founder of Sixo North, doesn’t have a typical brewing background. In fact, his love affair with Beer only began when his job – launching mobile platforms for Scottish Telecom – took him to Brussels for a three-year secondment. While there, he discovered the huge depth of beer and beer culture the country offered, which was a million miles away from the cheap lagers and bland ales of his native Britain.

“I immersed myself in the product, travelling around the whole country every weekend, visiting new breweries trying new products,” he recalls. “But I suppose the moment I realised was when I discovered XX Bitter really on an open doors day at De Ranke. That’s what motivated all the original brewing and direction, and was the motivation behind our original styling.”

He spent a long time looking for home brew clubs, but found that Belgium’s high quality, low cost and strong regional beer styles meant there was very little motivation for people to start brewing on their own. Eventually though, he heard about a gentleman in Lochristi near Ghent, who would be running a brewing course for the people of his village over five weekends. Robert was impressed by his passion, knowledge and professional 200-litre steam jacket brew kit, but even more impressed by the quality of the beer they produced.

“At the end we had a product that was as good as or better than a lot of the stuff on the market - and the market had a good depth at that point. So that was it; the realisation that you could brew something yourself on what was effectively a professional level of quality. Then the cogs started turning.”

This was 2000, but it wasn’t until 2002, when Robert was back in the UK, that he began to realise his dream. His intention was always to have a bar from which to sell his beer, and the Creel Inn in his native Stonehaven was an obvious choice. Selling his own beers (still brewed in his garage at this point) and the best imported Belgian beers, the Creel Inn quickly shot to prominence as one of Scotland’s best beer bars.

Another bar, the Marine Hotel, followed and Robert’s time and attention was further diverted into the service side of the business. By 2012 though, he finally had the time and funds to build his dream brewery, and Sixo North was born.

“We brought in a Belgian brewer called Joseph Maas, who had worked as a consultant on a number of large breweries. We just hit it off very well and he mentored us through those early days. He’d take us around Belgium, show us into breweries that we otherwise might not be able to get into, to see their equipment and processes. He’s a good friend.” 

Robert’s flagship beer remains one of the first he brewed - the Hop Classic. Inspired by XX Bitter, it’s a reflection of the brewery’s overall approach; modern interpretation of Belgian style, with a reasonable level of bitterness, but a high complexity. “None of this New World floral stuff,” as Robert says.

The brewery has a daunting number of beers on the go at any given time. Go into either of the Sixo North bars in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, and you’ll find 10 or 12 house beers on tap. But how have Belgian brewers – a notoriously protective lot – taken to a Scot parking his tank on their lawn?

“We’ve been invtied to a number of festivals in Belgium to showcase our products, and were certainly nervous about the initial reaction. But we were pleasantly surprised when there was a lot of positive interest. We’ve subsequently brewed with breweries there including Alvinne and De Ranke.”

While Sixo North will continue to make its core range, it’s not standing still. Robert is keen to continue recent collaborations with top UK breweries such as Magic Rock and Cloudwater. With Robert’s personal brand of respectful innovation, we can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.