Battle of the Brewers IV

Can Stewart Brewing be stopped? Apparently not, it would seem. Last night, once again, they crushed the opposition in their Battle of the Brewers challenge, this time held concurrently in Edinburgh’s Holyrood 9A and Glasgow’s Inn Deep (I can imagine the Williamsii present taking a sip of each and tutting, wistfully). Following a Balboa-esque one-two-three combo to take out the aforementioned Williams Bros, then Harviestoun, and most recently Cairngorm, Stewart were busy dancing on their heels in the ring. Enter the lumbering might of Drago Fyne Ales. Argyll’s hop-forward heavyweights may come from surroundings more beautiful than the Bilston Industrial Estate, but they certainly mean business.

The brief this time was 5% flavoured stouts, and both arrived, labelled X and Y into the Holyrood ready for the off. Also there, every beer drinker in Edinburgh, it seems. I’ve been to a few full-scale events in the Holyrood over the years, but this one was as busy as I can remember. It was great to see, so many people crammed in, drinking augmented stouts on a Thursday evening. It was especially gratifying as the ticket price went to charity, meaning that once the overall result had been announced, it was revealed that over £1000 had been raised for good causes.

As to the beers, these events are great because everyone has their own reasons for picking a favourite. Beer X I found to be like a frozen Black Forest gateaux, with a touch of the Raspberry mivvi about it (clearly, I should have had a dessert after all). There was a great switch from the sweet, then slightly tart, to the roast on the finish. Beer Y was an instant coffee hit – instant as in speed, not provenance of coffee – left a lot of deep, bitter tannin on the palate as the coffee spread throughout. Both were good, but I preferred the dimensions of Beer X, I think. So, that was where the tick went.

As it turned out, I was not alone – Beer X won the Holyrood heat, by a score of 84 to 62 (meaning just shy of 150 people were present). It was then revealed to be Stewart’s raspberry and cacao nib stout, fermented with Belgian yeast, whereas Beer Y was Fyne Ales’s cold-infused, five-varietal coffee stout. Once the Glasgow satellite linkup had been established, Steve Stewart appeared on the big screen, and finger-in-ear announced the results of the Kelvingrove jury – his beer had also triumphed there, by a score of 23 to 17. So, 107-79. Drago’s not getting to his feet after that.

By my reckoning – and I had to use a calculator to work all that out, bear in mind – in the BOTB contests so far, Stewart’s beers have totalled 284 votes, to a combined challenger tally of 180 (excluding the Cairngorm BOTB, which I missed for holiday-based reasons). Ouch. So, what next? Where do we go for Rocky V? Well, one possible direction could be to exchange brewers – put Stewart’s finest in a TBC brewery, and vice versa. Or, what about a Beer Z? A collaboration between the two breweries, as a third wheel? Or maybe the next BOTB could involve keg beers, or something? Mind you, whatever is decided, it seems as if Stewart will circle the ring slowly, and inevitably land that telling blow. What price, five in a row?

Thanks to all at Stewart Brewing for organising the latest battle, particularly Emily, and the brewers. Also, to Caroline and the team at the Holyrood for being, as ever, calm under the weight of numbers…
EDIT With shattering predictability, this post has been edited to get the maths correct. These modern calculators…