Beer of the Week – Orkney Red MacGregor
The end is in sight, but there are still a few more amazing unsung Scottish beers on the horizon before we hit the 52nd and final beer in this series – and that beer, I should say at this point, is going to be the overall singlemost unsung beer we have currently in this part of the world. So stay tuned for that, due up on Friday the 29th of December. Before then, it’s time to head all the way to Orkney for beer #46.
It’s yet another version of the quasi-style that Scotland does better than anyone. I say quasi-style as a) it makes me sound sophisticated and b) this particular beer falls into the bracket we have seen a lot of so far. Red Ales. Ruby Ales. 80/-. Scottish Exports. Amber Ales. Essentially, what they sometimes hang on the great branching tree of bitter down in England, the roots of which don’t quite get past Carlisle. Anyway you care to categorise them, these beers are cask-hearty and taste amazing at this time of year. Like Orkney’s Red Macgregor.
46. Red MacGregor (4.0%)
The Orkney Brewery, Quoyloo, Orkney
Style: Ruby Ale
500ml bottle
Pick it up here:
At at Scottish Real Ales online (as individual 500ml bottles)
‘Delicate and sophisticated’ goes the byline, and I can totally get this as the amber ale here (or ruby) is toasty, with a caramel backbone and a fair bit of red berry fruit about it. Yet there’s an easy-going nature about it throughout. Soft and floral, this could be the ideal session beer for the late Autumn months as the nutty and bready quality give off a feeling of all the best desserts you can consume at this time of year.
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
45. Knops Musselburgh Broke
