Beer of the Week – Spey Valley Spey Stout
Friday is with us once again and as the news filters through about the General Election it is business as usual in terms of the weekly selection of an unsung Scottish beer for your perusal. On the cusp of every weekend this year I will be shining a light on a single Scottish beer, which if you aren’t already aware of, it could be time to hunt out a bottle and add to your collection.
For this twenty-third edition it’s time to reconcile the recent terrible weather by turning attention towards a stout. Spring often means pale ales and other zesty floral affairs but north of the border it also means torrential rain and dark skies of an evening. The long and short of it is that stouts are in play far later in the year than in other parts of the country, and if you want something along those lines, this particular beer is the best of its type in Scotland. Spey Valley’s amazing Spey Stout.
23. Spey Stout (5.4%)
Spey Valley Brewery, Mulben, Moray
Style: Stout
500 ml bottle
Pick it up here:
At Alesela online shop (as individual 330ml or 500ml bottles)
Spey Stout really is something else, of all the stouts I’ve tried for this series and before it has a greatest depth of flavour. There’s the standard and expected roasty profile from the chocolate malt but the added crystal malt gives a touch of sweetness that borders on a milk stout (even though it contains no lactose). This beer is a triumph, and one that is all about balance. There’s the sweet roastiness but also a liquorice bitterness on the finish and a faint almost cola-like note throughout. It’s hugely drinkable for 5.4% ABV and is an all-round belter – in fact, I can’t think of another Scottish stout I would rather turn to. Spey Stout really is one of the most underrated beers in Scotland, as it is quite simply incredible.
Beer of the Week Series:
1. Fyne Ales Highlander
2. Swannay Old Norway
3. Broughton Old Jock
4. Traquair House Ale
5. Tempest Easy Livin Pils
6. Cromarty Brewed Awakening
7. Fallen Chew Chew
8. Black Isle Hibernator
9. Isle of Skye Red
10. Harviestoun Old Engine Oil Engineer’s Reserve
11. Orkney Skull Splitter
12. Windswept Wolf
13. Kelburn Dark Moor
14. Alechemy 5ive Sisters
15. Loch Ness Light Ness
16. St Andrews Eighty Bob
17. Harviestoun The Ridge
18. Orkney Dark Island
19. Williams Bros Seven Giraffes
20. Cairngorm Black Gold
21. Strathaven Craigmill Mild
22. Black Isle Red Kite