Beer has long had a boys’ club reputation — from pints down the pub to those infamous Tennent’s cans plastered with bikini-clad women. But Lidl’s latest move is rewriting the narrative, with Scotland’s first ever gender-balanced beer aisle, where half the craft beers on shelves are brewed by women or female-owned breweries.
Rolling out across 112 Scottish stores from 28th August, the initiative brings together some of the country’s leading female brewers — including Glasgow’s WEST, Edinburgh’s Stewart Brewing and Innis & Gunn, Dundee’s 71 Brewing, Aberdeen’s Fierce and Loch Lomond Brewing in the Highlands.
The line-up includes everything from peachy radlers and hazy IPAs to mango sours and chocolate stouts, showcasing the full creativity of Scotland’s craft beer scene. And every purchase has impact: 50p from each sale will fund a new Lidl Scholarship at Heriot-Watt University’s International Centre of Brewing and Distilling, supporting the next generation of women entering the industry.
In reality, women were the original brewers — long before craft beer hashtags and tasting flights. Across Scotland, women brewed beer at home as a safer alternative to water, and the practice was considered part of daily life. As brewing became commercialised, men took over the industry and women were pushed aside. Their contributions were often limited to keeping things running during wartime or being used in advertising, most infamously as the “Tennent’s Lager Lovelies” plastered across cans. Lidl’s new aisle feels like a small but symbolic correction, putting women back at the centre of the story.
Expect to see 71 Brewing’s Peachy Radler (3%), Fierce’s Fancy Juice IPA (5%), Innis & Gunn’s Tequila Cask Blonde (5.1%) and Loch Lomond’s Big Mango Sour (8%) among the standouts, alongside WEST’s lemon radler and Stewart Brewing’s guava-infused hazy IPA. Together, they show just how wide-ranging — and exciting — the female-brewed offering is.
To mark the launch, Lidl unveiled a striking “pourtrait”: a group photo of six of Scotland’s leading female brewers, celebrating the women shaping the industry in 2025.
“This is a significant moment in retail history, and one we’re proud to lead,” says Mara Bäcker Scott, Senior Buying Manager of Beer at Lidl GB. “Women have been an integral part of beer-making for centuries, and today they bring extraordinary skill and creativity to every stage of the process. To be able to showcase that talent on our shelves, and know that every sale will help create the first-ever Lidl Scholarship for a future female brewer, is a moment we’re thrilled to share.”
The craft beer world is still mostly male, but this move gives female brewers more visibility on the shelves — and the chance to reach new customers. With equal space and a scholarship to back the next generation, Lidl is proving that women aren’t just part of brewing’s past, they’re shaping its future. We’ll be raising a glass — and keeping an eye on how this space grows.
Find out more and watch the BTS video at lidl.co.uk.
