McEwan's is one of Scotland's most storied brewing names, with roots stretching back to the nineteenth century in Edinburgh. Founded by William McEwan, the brand built its reputation at the Fountain Brewery on Fountainbridge, becoming one of the dominant forces in Scottish brewing. In 1931, McEwan's merged with rival William Younger & Co. to form Scottish Brewers, and later became part of Scottish & Newcastle, one of Britain's largest brewing conglomerates. The brand has since passed through several corporate hands, including Marston's, which explored a major joint venture with Carlsberg worth hundreds of millions of pounds. McEwan's is closely associated with traditional Scottish ale styles, particularly its celebrated 80 Shilling, known as McEwan's 80/-, a malt-forward Scottish heavy ale that became a benchmark for the style. The brand also produced McEwan's Export, a beer that dominated the Scottish market throughout the 1960s and 1970s alongside Tennent's Lager. Their Scotch Ales were historically supplied as ship's stores for Royal Navy vessels and sold in distinctive dumpy bottles and ten-fluid-ounce cans. Perhaps one of the most remarkable footnotes in McEwan's history is its indirect influence on Belgian brewing. The Moortgat brewery, creator of Duvel, is said to have sourced its original yeast strain from the Fountain Brewery in Edinburgh, giving McEwan's an unexpected legacy far beyond Scotland's borders.