Wells ‘rejuvenates’ McEwan’s

ICONIC Scottish beer McEwan’s will return to the United States as part of a £4 million investment plan unveiled yesterday by owner Wells & Young’s to “rejuvenate” the brand.

Chairman Paul Wells told The Scotsman that McEwan’s is already back on sale in Canada, having been withdrawn by previous parent Heineken.

Wells also plans to introduce McEwan’s to France, where his company owns a chain of nine pubs selling its own-brand beers, including Bombardier, Courage and Waggle Dance. He added: “We already sell our beers in European markets such as Italy, Russian and Spain and so I envisage selling McEwan’s in some of those countries too.”

His comments came as he unveiled Red, the first addition to the McEwan’s range since the family-owned company bought the brand from Dutch brewer Heineken in 2011, in a deal believed to have been worth £18m.

The 3.6 per cent strength session ale is aimed at “younger and more-affluent” drinkers aged 30-50 who identified McEwan’s Export as “their dad’s beer”.