Brewers' Company Scholarship 2026 Awarded

The Brewers’ Company Scholarship is awarded every year to a student studying at the International Centre for Brewing and Distilling, Heriot-Watt University.

The scholarship supports a student on the University’s MSc in Brewing and Distilling course who submits the most innovate brewing proposal for their three-month research project. This year’s scholarship was granted to Hari Nair for the project “Influence of oak species and toasting levels on phenolic composition, volatile profile and sensory characteristics of an American pale ale through wood maturation”.

Describing the work, Hari said: “Beer has been aged in wood for centuries, but the science behind how different wood varieties alter the flavour profile and aroma of beer is still not fully understood. My project explores on how the two most used oak varieties (French oak and American oak) affect the flavour, aroma and chemical composition of a pale ale when used at different toasting levels during beer maturation.”