#IMBeerGal: Mhairi Shaw-Hawkins’ Beer Journey | Inverarity Morton

A GENUINE INSTAGRAM HIGHLIGHT – #IMBEERGAL

If you’re making just one New Year’s resolution in 2025, let it be this: tune in to Inverarity Morton’s weekly Instagram catch-ups with Mhairi Shaw-Hawkins – our IM Beer & Softs Buyer – over at @invmorton Mhairi’s engaging and insightful discussions are a must-watch for anyone eager to delve deeper into the world of beer, cider, and soft drinks. Whether you’re a seasoned enthusiast or just starting your journey into these beverage worlds, Mhairi’s content is designed to educate and inspire. We recently sat down with Mhairi to discover more about the passion and expertise behind our very own #IMBeerGal.

“Basically over the last decade or so I’ve worked in and around every part of the beer industry! I started off pulling pints in the Guildford Arms, and I’d say whilst working there, and also in the Hanging Bat, was when I started to get more interested in specialist beer – that is Scottish craft, and particularly cask beer. I’ve always loved cask beer because of my dad. We used to sit in a pub in Bo’ness – The Corbie Inn – an old school pub where we would drink cask beer. Then we started home brewing together! I loved working in the Hanging Bat, which is well-known as one of the first pubs in Edinburgh dedicated to craft beer.

After I finished university, I travelled abroad and when I ended up in Australia, I knew I wanted to work in hospitality and find a really ‘beery’ place. I found just that in Sydney, The Keg and Brew, where they have around thirty 30 different taps! It was loads and loads of fun. While I was there, there was a tap takeover by a brewery called Feral Brewing who are based in Western Australia, in the middle of nowhere. My partner and I decided we loved their beer so much that we packed ourselves into a station wagon and drove across the desert to go and work in the brewery! It was exhausting but great, and I worked in Feral for seven or eight months. I got to brew with the brewers, which was a big change from my stove top at home! I also tried so many different types of beer there. When I eventually came back to the UK, I worked in Barney’s Beer in Edinburgh, and I stayed there for seven years. During my time at Barney’s I started off doing sales and events and a bit of marketing, but over the years that developed into me taking on the role as brewery manager – which was a great learning experience, and has probably been the most impactful influence on my work to date. When I moved through to Glasgow I then started working in sales and events for Brewgooder, before finding my feet in the world of wholesale buying, and eventually ending up as a part of the wonderful IM team!

One of the things I love about beer is its history. The way that beer and wine crossover historically is so interesting, and the importance of provenance with beer is really relevant too. (There’s even certain beers that are brewed with champagne yeast!) So, when you talk about new and old world wines, that exists in beer as well. Instead of grapes, it’s hops. Wine enthusiasts tend to really like the story behind their glass, and you have exactly the same thing with beer. Hops are new and old world, and it’s all about terroir and the climate that they’re grown in, and the elevation. Beer and wine have very much grown up in history together. They just split at a certain point because of socioeconomics. That’s all it came down to. And I think beer has been, and still is, in a real renaissance with the craft boom occurring from around 2010 onwards. Since 2010 there has been a big insurgency in the beer industry of more brands, more choice, low and no options, and different flavours. Our palates have expanded over the years, and we’re no longer drinking just claret wine or a few types of beer in a pub. Consumers are a lot more educated now and savvy – understand more about drinks terminology.”

If you’d like to learn more about Inverarity Morton’s portfolio of Beers, Lagers and Ciders you can contact our Customer Services team on 0141 620 6100 or email Sales@Inveraritymorton.com Alternatively, you can contact your local Area Sales Manager.