It was in the vanguard of the modern age of microbreweries, spawning a wealth of competitors across Scotland.

But yesterday, last orders were called on the management of the Isle of Arran brewery, leaving a bitter taste for other specialist producers working in the market.

Administrators have been called in to save the brewery, at Cladoch near Brodick, which produces some of Scotland's most popular cask ales including the Arran Blonde pale golden beer and the Isle of Arran Dark ale.

Redundancies are expected among the workforce of 11 at the plant which was established in 2000 and has a turnover of £1m.

Graham Martin, of PricewaterhouseCoopers LL, joint administrator, said the administration was triggered by cash-flow problems caused by operational difficulties in getting the product to market.

Mr Martin said: "The beer produced by The Arran Brewery Company has been very well received and has already won several awards.

"But with a business this size, unless you have a lot of capital sitting there, any such impact is going to have a disproportionate effect.

"Unfortunately, there will have to be some redundancies but we don't have a figure yet. "However, there has already been interest from more than one party."

Arran councillor Margie Currie said: "Eleven jobs make it an important employer on Arran, so the news is worrying. But I would think the brewery would be attractive to other companies. However, in the face of the killer transport costs, they may also have to have a base on the mainland."

Mike Gibson, SNP MSP for Arran, said he was hopeful that a buyer could be found, given the brewery's reputation for quality.

But Angus MacRuary, the former Portree High School teacher who founded the Isle of Skye Brewery in 1995, said that other microbreweries could suffer in the current commercial climate.

Mr MacRuary, whose brewery at Uig also employs 11 staff, said: "There has been talk in the trade over the last year that there would have to be a shakedown of the number of breweries that can operate profitably in Scotland.

"I am shocked that it is Arran who are in trouble as they were always seen as a first-class operation. To be honest, I would not come into the industry today and the only reason we keep going is because we got in early and managed to build up goodwill and customer loyalty.

"When we started there were about half a dozen small breweries competing for the cask ale and bottle beer market. There are now something like 42."

He understood that the Arran brewery had been putting a lot of effort into supermarket sales which could have caused particular difficulties.

"The mark-up in supermarkets is not high, but they demand greater volumes because they don't like to see a product on their shelves one week but not the next. So the brewery has to keep producing, which is expensive.

"On top of that Arran has the expense of the ferry fares. When we started the Skye Bridge had just opened with its tolls based on ferry fares, so we supplied Kyleakin but couldn't afford to go over the bridge to Kyle of Lochalsh."

Nobody at the Arran brewery was willing to comment on the news last night.