St Ninian's Well Brewery

Business: Andrew Colquhoun and Co

Location: Stirling

Type: Brewery

The St Ninian's Well Brewery was established in 1865 by Andrew Colquhoun and his half-brother Charles MacDonald, who traded as Andrew Colquhoun & Co. The brewery was built to the south of what became Colquhoun Street opposite the Rockvale Mills, and consisted of a rectangle of buildings arranged around a central courtyard.

In 1899 the brewery was sold to James Cairns Miller and his cousin James Miller, who then traded as J. & J. Miller.

The brewery was fully renovated by James Cairns Miller when he became the sole proprietor in 1900.

Beer was produced using water drawn from a 200 foot artesian well. The brewery was capable of producing 1,000 dozen bottles and 180 barrels of beer a week, as well as 2,000 dozen bottles of aerated waters.

The brewery closed in 1917 and the extensive brewery and aerated water plant was sold off at public auction. In 1918 Robert Maclaurin, who was in the forefront of the movement to build the Stirling Homesteads, took over the building as an experimental laboratory and gas plant.