Beer of the Week – Knops Musselburgh Broke
It’s Friday once again, so time for another in my (now long-running) series of weekly recommendations on a single Scottish beer that should be in your tasting glass if you haven’t already had the chance to try it. With so much amazing new beer out there, sometimes it can be hard to keep up – but there is a fall-back option. Stick to the classics. The beers that, even if unsung, are worthy of a place in anyone’s beer cupboard.
For this week, it’s a play on a Scotch Ale. It’s no co-incidence that as the months are moving on I’ve been pulled towards the darker end of the spectrum – for one thing, Scottish breweries produce more amazing dark beers than anyone gives them credit for – and for another (and more obvious) they are just more fitting for this time of year. But Scotch Ales don’t have to be thick, meaty and enjoyed in an armchair – just ask the guys at Knops Brewing.
45. Musselburgh Broke (4.5%)
Knops Brewing Co, Dirleton, East Lothian
Style: Scotch Ale
330ml bottle
Pick it up here:
At at Real Ale Warehouse online (as individual 330ml bottles)
Brewed with Crystal and Chocolate malts and roasted barley, there’s no prizes for guessing the stars of the show – this is a beer rich in woody, toffee-like nutty flavours that verge into molasses territory at times. It’s bitter at first, but then all of these flavours arrive to move the beer into that typically Scotch-esque warming richness. A malt-forward session-strength brew – what Scotland is renowned for; and justifiably so.
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
32. Fallen Platform C
33. Black Isle Porter
34. Top Out Altbier
35. Black Metal Gates of Valhalla
36. Fierce Beer Cranachan Killer
37. Loch Lomond Southern Summit
38. Tempest Old Parochial
39. Williams Bros Profanity Stout
40. Windswept Tornado
41. Campervan Pacific Zest
42. Swannay Sneaky Wee Orkney Stout
43. Cromarty Ghost Town
44. Fyne Ales Vital Spark
