The Edinburgh woman who launched a brewing venture that now sells over 1 million cans a year
The woman behind a family-run brewery, launched over 20 years ago, reflects on juggling motherhood and business planning.
With Mother’s Day just passed, many families across Scotland will have found themselves gathering around the table to celebrate the mums who balance work, family life and everything in between. For Jo Stewart, co-founder of Stewart Brewing, that balancing act began more than two decades ago when she helped launch a craft brewery while caring for her three-month-old son – a moment that would mark the start of a remarkable Scottish success story.
When Ms Stewart gave birth to her first son, James, in May 2004, she was on course to launch Stewart Brewing, which has been a mainstay of the Scottish brewing scene ever since.
Ms Stewart said: “When our first son James was only three months old we began turning the idea of Stewart Brewing into a real business. While most other parents are in the newborn bubble, we were full steam ahead with trying to make a successful business out of our other baby – Stewart Brewing.
“It certainly wasn’t easy – there was a period after my maternity leave that I had returned to work and was the sole earner while we got things off the ground, which was incredibly daunting. I was learning how to be a mum at the same time as helping build a brewery from scratch, but we were determined to make it work.”
That’s because Stewart Brewing, the now well-loved Scottish brewery she co-founded with her husband Steve, was born not in a corporate office but in the spaces between nappies and late-night brewing sessions.
.jpeg?crop=3:2,smart&trim=&width=640&quality=65)
Ms Stewart’s entrepreneurial drive runs in her blood – her parents ran a steel fabrication firm in Leicestershire – and she brought that same determination to Stewart Brewing, alongside Steve’s deep knowledge of brewing and distilling.
Prior to Stewart Brewing, Mr Stewart studied brewing and distilling and later completed an MSc in Energy and Environmental Systems at Glasgow Caledonian University, while Ms Stewart worked in marketing and events, but they knew they always wanted to run their own business.
“We have always been risk-takers, and we like to move fast when we think we’ve got a good idea,” she said.
“Money we had saved for travelling went straight into the business. Every step was hands-on, from buying second-hand tanks to creating the mini microbrewery in a lock-up unit in Edinburgh. My parents even helped adapt stainless steel kegs into brewing vessels for us.”
In 2003, the company was officially registered, and by 2004 the first real production began. Ms Stewart was still juggling a full-time job while raising James and later Robbie, born in 2006. “I remember being terrified when I decided not to go back to work after Robbie was born” she said.
“We were all in, and there was no safety net. I was supporting the family while working on the brewery’s marketing and sales plans, while Steve focused on developing the recipes and building the brewery from scratch - all while we were raising two young children.”
The early days were a patchwork of ingenuity and perseverance. The couple rented a small unit in Loanhead, where they trialled their recipes and slowly built a customer base. By 2013, after years of growth and careful planning, they purchased their current home at the old Bilston Mine site. Here, they transformed the site into a state-of-the-art brewery with a 50 Hectolitre kit, continuing to innovate with seasonal and signature brews, including the ever-popular Hazy IPA.
.jpeg?crop=3:2,smart&trim=&width=640&quality=65)
It’s this same commitment to innovation and community that brought Stewart Brewing into partnership with Aldi Scotland.
Since the partnership with the retailer began in 2015, Stewart Brewing has grown from a tiny microbrewery into a production powerhouse, providing Scots with 643,328 litres of beer – the equivalent of 1.46 million 440ml cans – bringing their signature brews, including the Hazy IPA, to homes across the country.
Alan Leslie, buying director at Aldi Scotland, said: “The Stewart Brewing journey is truly inspirational. From starting with a tiny microbrewery to becoming a staple for Aldi customers far and wide, they are a fantastic partner.”
Ms Stewart was also part of the launch of the first ever gender-balanced beer aisle in Lidl in 2025, giving equal shelf space to beers brewed by women and female-owned breweries. Alongside its gender-balanced beer aisle, 50p from every beer sold in the retailer’s Scottish Favourites line-up funded the Lidl Scholarship at Heriot-Watt University’s International Centre of Brewing and Distilling, supporting a female brewer to qualify at a commercial level. The Stewart Brewing beers in this were: Jurassic Guava Infused Hazy IPA and Fresh Hops of Bel-Air West Coast IPA.
Marking Mother’s day or International Women’s Day, which both fall in March, can be a celebration of resilience, and the everyday heroes who juggle family, work, and passion projects. “Starting Stewart Brewing with a newborn was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but also the most rewarding,” she reflected. “That spirit is what we celebrate every day, and especially on Mother’s Day.”
Historically, beer-making was considered ‘women’s work’. In households across Scotland women brewed beer as a safer alternative to water.
As brewing became commercialised, women’s presence diminished, their contributions often limited to keeping breweries running during the World Wars or appearing in advertising - including the infamous Tennent’s Lager Lovelies, where negligee-clad women adorned lager tins.
With this in mind, and in a time when both BrewDog and Innis & Gunn have been acquired, and Glasgow’s Overtone has been purchased after a liquidator and a wind-up order was issued it’s inspiring to see a female and family-owned and operated small beer business thriving.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.