Bottled BeerCast Awards – the final

Last week here on the BeerCast we shortlisted some fantastic Scottish bottled beers, in our alternative SIBA Awards. That followed the actual SIBA awards, which took place in Edinburgh on the 21st of January (read our report here, and the full list of winners here). Judging the awards prompted a debate about what other class winners there might be out there, and every day last week we listed our thoughts for each category. Well – it’s now time to reveal the winners*.

Bottled Bitters up to 4.9%
First off are the lighter ales – bottled bitters up to 4.9%. Our shortlist contained ten beers, all of which have that sessionability (if that’s a word). Out of the twelve, there are three that on their day are just above the others – Fyne Ales Maverick (4.2%), Harviestoun Schiehallion (4.8%) and Highland Scapa Special (4.2%). It’s extremely hard to pick between them, but for me I prefer the zingy bitterness that you get with the lager as opposed to the other two.

BeerCast Gold – Harviestoun Schiehallion

Bottled bitters 5% and over
Next up, another really tough call. Bottled bitters 5% and over sees the introduction of BrewDog and the IPA’s. It also contains the overall SIBA winner, Stewart Hollyrood. Tryst Raj IPA (5.5%) made our recent Beer of the Year podcast, so deservedly makes our final three – as does BrewDog’s amber ale 5am Saint (5.0%). The third beer that stands out from the excellent pack is Highland Orkney Blast (6.0%), a cracking beer. On balance, the hop profile of BrewDog’s offering – in the bottle – gives it the advantage.

BeerCast Gold – BrewDog 5am Saint

Gold Beers
Gold beers was our third shortlist – Scotland has a great tradition of golden pale ales, to my mind there are three that clearly edge out the others in our highlighted listing. First of these is Fyne Ales Avalanche (4.5%), the second BrewDog Trashy Blonde (4.4%), and the third Harviestoun Bitter and Twisted (4.2%). The problem is picking between them. However, Avalanche is one of my favourite beers of all time, and sums up what – to me – a gold beer should be.

BeerCast Gold – Fyne Ales Avalanche

Speciality Beers
On Thursday we entered the wide-ranging world of Speciality beers. Picking eleven for the shortlist was easy enough – narrowing them down to a final three is certainly not. BrewDog Abstrakt AB:04 (15.0%) has to be on there though – and keeping on the darker theme Harviestoun Ola Dubh 40 (8.0%) makes it two for the aged beers. On a different note, Stewart Brewing’s Hefeweizen (5.5%) really impressed us when it was released a few months ago. Of those three, the variety of flavours from BrewDog’s fourth Abstrakt release put it on top.

BeerCast Gold – BrewDog Abstrakt AB:04

Milds, Old Ales, Porters and Stouts
Darker beers are always left to the end, and the shortlist for Milds, Old Ales, Porters and Stouts was our final selection. Of the ten we listed, the actual SIBA winner Williams Bros Midnight Sun (5.6%) deserves to be in our final three as well – it’s a fantastic beer. As is the Scottish classic Sinclair Orkney Dark Island (4.6%) – a roasty, easy drinking delight. Less easy drinking, but still delightful – Highland Orkney Porter (9.0%) rounds out our three for the dark final. As good as the first two are, the strong porter is just too good.

BeerCast Gold – Highland Orkney Porter

So there you have it. Again, this is purely my personal selection – I’m sure you may have a different choice for every category. I’m sure the rest of the BeerCasters do as well – but narrowing down the fifty we shortlisted into a final five takes some doing – if I did the same thing next week I’d probably come up with a different lineup. But as it is, our class winners in the Bottled BeerCast Awards are:-

Harviestoun Schiehallion
BrewDog 5AM Saint
Fyne Ales Avalanche
BrewDog Abstrakt AB:04
Highland Orkney Porter

Put any one of these in front of me with a bottle opener and the appropriate glassware and I’d be happy. Very happy, in fact. But we’ve come this far. SIBA select a Gold, Silver and Bronze award from the category winners, so in reverse order…

Bronze – Highland Orkney Porter
Drinking Rob Hill’s signature strong porter brings to mind many words – classic, roasty, traditional, smooth. It’s exactly how a strong porter should be, and rivals most of the uber-hyped US Imperials for depth of flavour. Just a great beer.

Silver – Fyne Ales Avalanche
The perfect thirst quencher – possibly my favourite Scottish beer on cask. Of course, these aren’t the cask awards – in the bottle it’s practically as good. Fyne Ales’ newest offerings like Jarl and Hurricane Jack may come to rival the master one day, but Avalanche is about as good as it gets.

Gold – BrewDog Abstrakt AB:04
I took a bottle of this, the fourth limited-release speciality beer from BrewDog, home for Christmas – and was amazed. As a 15% Imperial Stout with added coffee, cocoa and naga chillies it would have been easy to overload one or the other – but the balance is outstanding. There’s a earthy richness like 100% dark chocolate, and a hot mouthfeel from the 15% alcohol and the chillies. It’s really warming, a perfect evening beer – and the best Scottish bottled beer around at the moment.

* There is no actual BeerCast award – other than the rosy glow of recognition…