I think you have an excellent point here.

But Scottish & Newcastle does not brew in Scotland! They are a holding company involved in brewing across the globe. You could hardly get further from <i>local brewers are local businesses whose market and concerns are at the same scale as residents </i>

As for Baltika, I doubt whether they are shared between Carlsberg and S&N or wholly owned by Carlsberg will influence the amount they give to good causes.

On the other hand, Carlsberg is controlled by a foundation which supports scientific research within the fields of natural sciences, mathematics, philosophy, the humanities and social sciences.
Carlsberg has funded a great art museum and, more recently, gave away the old Tuborg brewery to a great hands-on science centre.
So Carlsberg is not wholly evil. They are just not the place to go for interesting beers.

And maybe the takeover will lead local patriots to drink local micro brews instead? Which will lead to local sponsorships etc.
Will the circle be unbroken, as they say in the song.

"...You could hardly get further from local brewers are local businesses whose market and concerns are at the same scale as residents..."

What? Are you suggesting the HQ of the company in Edinburgh and the charitable work in Scotland was disconnected to place? That makes no sense, Knut.

As Knut says, S&N can in no way be considered a "local brewer" in Edinburgh. The fact it rents office space in the city, however, will doubtless have influenced the decision to offer sponsorship to museums/projects there.

I have little faith in the efficacy of this kind of "corporate charity" at the best of times, and doubtless others will pick up the slack anyway.

It is not brewing in Scotland, so it is not a local brewwer. It is like a local bank, insurance company or whatever.

Bah-humbug! I am not deeply concerned about this charity stuff that will be lost with the end of the name and the loss of an HQ but you lads seem to have an unexpected puritan streak in you that is a, you know, bit extreme. If you were a Scots charity in need, would you not accept their money if they were branding themselves as Scots, had a Scots history, Scots staff and a Scots HQ. <p>Where does this purity end? Contract brewers? Licensed brews? Employment records showing more than three people getting pay packets?

If it doesn't smell of malt, it is not a brewery.

On the other hand, I believe the Scots will happily accept money from anyone.

You saw the proposal for an alternative slogan for the Scottish Tourist Board?
Welcome to Scotland. We take cash!

You are lucky that the "Leod" part of my name is Norwegian or the Gaelic "Mc" portion would be coming aboard you on this.<p>I think you must be affected by a lack of light and too much herring as I do not understand how a firm with an Edinburgh HQ and a board riddled with Mc-this and Angus-that is not Scots. Have we become so pure that it is only where the kettle is that matters? Can Flying Dog no longer give to the charities of Colorado? Is Nigeria now Irish because Guinness is brewed there? Is Brooklyn beer not NYC because it is made upstate in Utica? If we love the beer and not the brewer, does it really matter that administration operations are in spot X (and have been for a bazillion years) while the brewer is in spot Y?

Have a look at their beers, Alan. It's Kronenbourg and Fosters. No Mc prefix there!

We love the brewer for making the beer. The brewer does not give money to charity, the brewer makes beer.

Donations come from administration, them saying I should give a little back to the community that buys my product. Donations usually go to the community where the administrators live.

Ah, now I understand your confusion. Simply because Scots go out and conquere the world through the expansion of what we call "the tartan borg", Scotland is still Scots. I would also recommend the book <i>How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World and Everything in It</i>.<p>Scots and Scotland are not diminished by its international success any more than we are improved our few failures like Darien.

If anyone could understand their accents, they would have ruled the world! I'll consider buying the book.

I have to say that you started the confusion yourself, Alan, by mixing up a multinational company with <i>good neighbourhood folk </i> But it's a pity about the Botanic Garden.

To borrow from Sesame Street, the multinational conglomerate accountant in charge of charitable giving is a person in your neighbourhood...in your neighbourhood...she's in your neighbourhood...

"you lads seem to have an unexpected puritan streak in you that is a, you know, bit extreme"

I'm surprised by that. I simply backed up Knut in saying S&N is not a "local brewer" viz a viz Edinburgh, something which is simply true and doesn't represent an extreme position at all. How can a multinational brewer be considered "local" in a country it doesn't produce any beer in? It's a local *company* (in that the registered office of the holding company is in Edinburgh), just not a local brewer. I make no comment on any of the other stuff which doesn't really interest me at this time.

Yes, I think you were collateral damage in the never ending Norwegeo-Ecossian taunting.

Here's something to throw in the mix, then: I've got Scots ancestors from Caithness and Sutherland who themselves have Norse ancestors (the Gunns). Beat that.