“It was an incredible day at work” - Scottish family brewers team up with Alan Cumming to launch new beer

From Broadway to brewing, Alan Cumming is rolling out the barrel with the launch of a new beer in his name

‘Cumming Through The Rye’ is a collaboration between Perthshire brewery Wasted Degrees and the actor, who is now the artistic director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre.

Brothers Jack and Conall Low, who founded Wasted Degrees Brewery in Blair Atholl, already supplied the theatre with a number of specially-created beers , including Backstage lager and Playwrights pale ale.

But their relationship with the theatre was elevated further with the arrival of Cumming in Pitlochry, who picked up on the beers and their local credentials.

Jack said: “We were thrilled to bits to be invited in for a conversation with Alan and explored a couple of completely bespoke and unique beers, in their recipe, design and labelling.

“It was an amazing meeting, and an incredible day at work when you’re face to face with somebody who’s so successful, famous and well regarded and we’re just talking about the thing that, as brewery owners, we love.”

Soon, the three of them were sitting together working out a completely new brew.

Now, Cumming Through The Rye has emerged, with the actor’s face appearing on every can.

Jack said: “Myself, Alan and my brother sat down in the theatre with a variety of raw materials that drive different flavour components and we treated it like an a la carte dining experience.

“ We went through things one by one and Alan picked out the things he enjoyed and we explored dialling up some tastes and reducing others. The recipe came to life right there at that moment.

“One thing that Alan particularly enjoys about what we do is our barley which is predominantly made with barley grown half an hour south of the theatre and brewery so it uber local.

“ It supports local agriculture and the local economy which isn’t a normal thing in brewing or distilling.”

The brothers decided to take this conversation “to the nth degree” and invited Mr Cumming to the brewery to brew the beer with them, and he agreed.

The trio decided on a rye beer based on Mr Cumming’s taste preference, as

Mr Cumming was also impressed with the fact that all Wasted Degrees beers are vegan-friendly, something that “matters a lot to him”, said Jack.

The beer is now available from the Wasted Degrees website and at the theatre.

Jack added: “The initial batch we’ve produced is only 3500 cans but we are intending on having this beer available throughout 2026 because, aside from having Alan on the label, one of the main components of the label design of this beer is to celebrate the theatre’s 75th anniversary so we want to have that beer on the menu all year round.”

Cumming Through the Rye beer from Wasted Degrees | Wasted Degrees

The new beer also reinforces the brother’s long association with the theatre, which is in their hometown.

“We’ve got quite a long and established association with the theatre and really enjoy being able to bring more to our local community. It was great to create a business relationship with the theatre and see our beers being enjoyed by even more people locally.”

Currently based in Blair Atholl, Wasted Degrees is soon to build a new home for the brewery in the brother’s' hometown of Pitlochry, bringing brewing back to the town for the first time in over 155 years.