Interest is brewing in Borders beer production

FARMER John Henderson has turned back the clock by launching a micro-brewery that will produce Scotland's only "plough to pint" beers.

The Scottish Borders Brewery will turn out its first brews next year, restoring a tradition of farm estates producing their own ales.

Henderson - whose plans featured on Channel 4's Country House Rescue programme in 2008 - said he will brew the beer using his farm's own malting barley and spring water.

His brewery will be based in Chesters Farm at Ancrum, north of Jedburgh, near the appropriately-named Ale Water. Two jobs have been created and three more will be taken on as production ramps up.

Henderson, who has invested a "six-figure" sum in the venture, said: "We will use our own traditional barley product to create the ale and then feed the spent brewing grains back to our cattle.

"We won't be aiming for the high-strength market. I want to produce beers that will appeal to both dyed-in-the-wool and real ale enthusiasts."

Figures from the British Beer and Pub Association show that total beer sales rose by 2.9 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter, the first rise since the second quarter of 2006.

Despite falling beer sales in pubs, cask ale sales have continued to rise, gaining market share for the first time since the 1960s.

Henderson added: "My aim is to add a new element to the real ale market by going back to the routes of micro-brewing in Scotland when farms produced their own estate ales."

He has received funding under the Scottish Government's rural development programme.