Beer of the Week – Fallen Brewing Platform C

Another Friday and another beer recommendation from north of the border. With so many breweries in Scotland these days (over 150 at least) there is just so much to tempt your hard-earned cash with. So the best advice I can give is go at it in bite-sized chunks. That’s why at the end of every week throughout this year I’ll be shining the spotlight on a beer I believe is criminally unsung and deserves greater praise.

So let’s take a look at the style that dragged craft beer into the supermarket aisles if not fully into the public consciousness (yet) – the India Pale Ale. There are plenty of IPAs in Scotland now, which is great to see but can leave you staring at the ‘HOPS’ shelf with a puzzled expression on your face – even if you ignore all the versions of the style from the rest of the UK, the United States and everywhere else. For now, just pick this one – Fallen Platform C. You’ll be glad you did.

32. Platform C (6.3%)
Fallen Brewing, Kippen, Stirlingshire
Style: India Pale Ale
330ml can

Pick it up here:
At Drinkmonger’s online shop (as individual 330ml cans)

A canned 6% IPA may not seem like the obvious beer to come out of central Stirlingshire, but Paul Fallen and his team are brewing up a storm these days. They also know when they are on to a good thing, and this one-time seasonal blasted into their regular lineup due to the feedback it received. Well, here’s some more. Platform C is the best IPA in Scotland at the moment in my eyes, ahead of AKA, Punk, Tempest’s amazing range and the rest. They are all fighting over second.

These kinds of beers depend on the hopload getting to you in perfect balance and with a huge kick of bitterness – that’s what US IPA is all about. Platform C brings the former with the combination of Magnum, Citra, Cascade, Columbus and Mosaic and really tastes every inch of its 70 IBU. It is equal parts citrus, tropical and stone fruit and just as much that dank, sticky quality the best US taproom IPAs have, with a long-lasting finish and a kick of booze in the tail. If you’ve never tried Fallen’s Platform C then it’s likely the best Scottish beer you’ve yet to taste. It’s that simple.

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
23. Spey Valley Spey Stout
24. Top Out Schmankerl
25. Cross Borders Braw
26. Williams Bros Midnight Sun
27. BrewDog Kingpin
28. Fyne Ales Hurricane Jack
29. Deeside MacBeth
30. Drygate Ax Man Red Rye IPA
31. Swannay Orkney Session