The Grange Distillery
The Lowland region Grange distillery stood beside Grange Road in Alloa. It was first established in 1786. Its first owner is unknown, however by 1795 it was run by Alexander Glen. The owner changed several times. Below is a short timeline.
1786 - Distillery opened.
1795 - Owned by Alexander Glen.
1813 - 1816 - Owned by Andrew Stein & Co.
1817 - 1819 - Stein & Wilsons, also the Alloa Distillery Co.
c. 1820 - Owned by William Young & Co. That year the distillery was noted as having a 2081 gallon wash still, a 1260 gallon low-wines still, and of having produced 15,853 gallons of spirit between November 1820 and February 1821.*
1825 - Robert Stein Jun. & Co. when William Scotland withdrew.
1825-26 - Robert Stein & Co.
1831 - “Mr Green, the Aeronaut, respectfully intimates to the Nobility, Gentry, and inhabitants of Alloa, Stirling and their vicinities, that, by the kind permission of Mr. Stein, his next ascent will take place from Grange Distillery Square.”
The gas balloon, requiring 23,000 cubic feet of gas, was inflated at Alloa Gasworks, in two stages. “At ten minutes before five the balloon, which consisted of striped silk covered with a preparation of oil and Indian rubber, and was upwards of fifty feet high, rose gently and magnificently over the heads of the spectators who testified their delight by the most deafening cheers.”
The ascent on the Saturday was a trial run by Mr Green. The balloon, first of all, veered towards Stirling, but turned eastwards over Ben Cleuch to land eventually at Blackford.**
1833 - 1834 - John Philp & Co.
In 1834 it became the first Scottish distillery to install a Coffey still. By this time it was owned by Andrew Philp, a cousin of the Steins and previously connected with the Dolls / West Dolls Distillery of John Philp & Co. However the investment proved to be disastrous and the distillery went into sequestration.
1835 - Andrew Philp reached an agreement with his creditors, and continued work on the site.
1846 - John Philp & Co. sells West Dolls Distillery to the MacNab Bros., which is renamed Glenochil Distillery.
1848 - November - Andrew Philp Dies.
1849 - John Philp & Co. declare bankruptcy.
1851 - Grange Distillery Closed.
1852 - John McMillan.
So ended whisky production at the Grange Distillery site, but it was not over yet, because....
The Grange Brewery
The building re-opened in 1852 as the Grange Brewery, Robert Meiklejohn & Sons having been relocated there by Hugh Kennedy from their original brewery in Alloa's Candleriggs.
OS Map 1865^
The Grange brewery building was sold in 1919 to Alloa brewer George Younger & Sons Ltd, and continued until its closure in 1941.
The buildings were later purchased by R.G. Abercrombie, widely known for producing copper vessels etc. for breweries and distilleries. They moved from their original nearby works in Broad Street, Alloa to this site in 1965.
The company and site are now owned and run by Diageo.
References:
The Scotch Whisky Industry Record - H. Charles Craig, 1994.
whiskymag.com
^ maps.nls.uk
** CFSS - April 2004 newsletter
* Parliamentary Reports from Committees, July 1821, Vol. VII.