Edinburgh-based Scottish & Newcastle, Scotland’s last major independent and one of the UK’s largest brewers, yesterday agreed to sell up to a consortium of Heineken and Carlsberg, for the trifling sum of around eight billion pounds ($16b US). According to the screaming headlines, so ends 250 years of brewing tradition in Scotland.

Great Scottish names like Kingfisher, Fosters, Newcastle Brown, Beamish, John Smith’s, and Kronenburg will apparently now fall into foreign hands. Whilst beer connoisseur’s delights like McEwan’s Export are at risk of having their, erm, traditional recipe could be turned into just another faceless brand. Pull the other one!

The truth is that S&N sold out as a traditional brewer years ago, and was already no more than another global conglomerate with no loyalty to its origins. The scent of hops that in my youth used to waft over Edinburgh hasn’t been smelled since they ruthlessly shut down an entire industry in their home town to cash in on the land for housing. Most of what they produce is cynical factory-formula packaging of foreign brands tasting nothing like their indigenous originals, designed to cash in on trend-victims’ obsession with labels. And let’s face it, McEwan’s is industrial pish.

For anyone who actually cares about beer, I can name half a dozen great local beers off the top of my head, starting with the wonderful Deuchars IPA. Then there’s Caledonian, Harviestoun, Broughton Ales, even Belhaven or the fabulous speciality ales from the likes of Traquair. There’s many more, and that’s without going into the realms of microbreweries. The brewing tradition is alive and well, and certainly wasn’t kept alive by S&N!

So farewell, destroyer of countless authentic pubs for the roll-out of the latest themed student-magnet atrocities. Farewell expert in ‘brand-values’ without an ounce of sense of social values. Farewell corporate accountants and international market strategists. Except, of course, you’ll mostly still be working here, continuing to destroy traditions in the quest for higher short-term share prices, but just more owned overseas (by conglomerates with large stakes owned in the UK!).

And long live brewing in Scotland! I’m off for a pint to celebrate that…