The BeerCast

The Scottish Real Ale Festival begins in earnest tomorrow at noon, but the preview night trade session took place today at Adam House in Edinburgh. Thanks to organiser Owen, the BeerCast secured an invite, and we arrived just in time to witness the award session for the 2011 SIBA Awards. Nine different breweries took home prizes, but the event was dominated by arguably the most successful Scottish producer of the last few years – Orkney’s Highland Brewery. Rob Hill wasn’t there in person, but Highland won four of the seven categories in a very impressive showing.

In the overall contest, however, they could only come second and third (with Scapa Special and Orkney IPA respectively). The Gold Medal winner in the main prize was the beer that made it through from the standard bitter category – and regular readers of the BeerCast won’t be surprised to learn that it was Fyne Ales Jarl – surely now recognised as the best Scottish beer debuted in 2010. Other notable winners included John McGarva, as Tryst took home a Gold and two Silvers, and the strong Porter category, with Black Isle Porter (Bronze), Kelburn Cart Noir (Silver) and Cairngorm Black Gold (Gold) deservedly taking the prizes.

On to the beer, and the lack of queues meant it was a great chance to get some sampled before the gates open tomorrow afternoon. The classic festival starter is a 3.9% golden ale – so Belhaven Bonnie Birdie fit the bill, starting off on a gentle upward curve. There was a slight hint of hop to it, but after a long day at work it definitely did the job. Next, another lighter offering in the form of Burnside Black Katz Mild (3.6%) – a good roasty start with a coffee and nutty end. Milds are always an interesting category – in that they need a certain something to keep the balance, but this one certainly has it.

Kelso’s Tempest Brewery have been making steady headlines since their arrival last year, and are bringing six of their beers to this year’s SRAF. RyePA (5.5%) is hopped with Columbus but has a blend of rye and Maris Otter malt – at least that’s what the festival guide said. It was absolutely fantastic – toffee and caramel on the nose mingling with the hops, on the taste a really drinkable bitter US-style Pale Ale, with a great hoppy finish. Their Elemental Porter (5.1%) was also great, a roasty, bitter but very smooth porter. A really good showing from the relative newcomers.

One-off beers are always interesting to sample at the SRAF, and Edinburgh’s Stewart Brewing have a range of exclusive ales on offer. Their IPA Hop Challenge, or ‘hop around the world’ beers, each feature a specific signature ingredient. Being fans of the isohumulone we ordered one of each, and piled through them. North Atlantic contained Crystal, South Pacific featured Southern Cross, and Europe contained the classic British Fuggles hops. A really interesting idea, the problem is that all are brewed to 3.9%, so the hops really can’t show themselves.

Clearly meant to be session strength – which is fine at a festival like the SRAF – the beers were inevitably a tad on the watery side. The North Atlantic had some fruity hop, whereas the classic tangy Fuggles hint just about came through on the Europe – together with a grassy creaminess. A hint of biscuit was in there as well. The South Pacific was the weakest of the three, with a pretty unpleasant nose. Thankfully, the 40th Anniversary beer for CAMRA was much better. A red ale with Cascade and Citra, the caramel edge from the malt worked really well with the citrus from the hops.

So with that, the first day of the 2011 Scottish Real Ale Festival was done. Beer of the day was Tempest’s RyePA – a fantastically well-balanced pale ale. Check back tomorrow as we’ll be on the panel judging the Champion Beer of Scotland, before heading into the festival mix once again. You can keep up with our hits and misses before our daily post by following us on Twitter – @thebeercast

SRAF website

Beer festivals needn’t always take place in musty town halls on the local high street. Rather than bringing the beer to the punters, some brewers make the drinkers do the legwork. Argyll’s Fyne Ales are based on a farm at the head of Loch Fyne, and when you have surroundings like that it makes sense to get people along to enjoy it. The debut FyneFest took place last year, and was greeted with glorious sunshine. Fyne not only serve their own beer at the event, some top quality English brewers supply their products as well. If that weren’t enough, Fyne Ales also brew a special beer for the event. Last year this was Jarl, which has since taken the beer world by storm.

As Cairndow is, let’s be honest, miles from anywhere, camping is the only option to enjoy the festival for a decent length of time. After arriving at the well-marshaled event, we managed to get the tent up in a record time of about forty-five minutes. With two fields set aside for people staying over, there was plenty of room to find a decent spot. The beer was being served inside a giant marquee, so a quick wander through the field and it was time for a well-earned pint. The new FyneFest beer for 2011 was Fiddler’s Gold, a hoppy 4.3% golden ale – which is exactly what Fyne do best. Very drinkable, the American hops give it a dry bitterness similar to Jarl, although with a touch less grapefruit.

The distinctive pump clips of Thornbridge were proudly sitting at one end of the temporary bar in the beer tent, so next up I went for Ashford (4.2%), an American-style brown ale. Caramel in colour, with plenty on the taste as well, it had a lovely fruitiness leading into a bitter finish. Thornbridge get fantastic balance into their beer, none more so than their new 6.2% porter Evenlode (pictured below is the ‘half’ that I got from the generous bar staff). This was my beer of the day – absolutely stunning roasty malt porter, so drinkable for such a session-slaying abv. Great bitter finish, but so tremendously smooth.

Other things on my menu were Hawkshead Cumbrian 5 Hop (5.0%), a citrus-lover’s dream containing Fuggles, Golding, Bramling Cross, Citra and Amarillo. The Citra stood out, but the other hops really worked well to give a big zesty hop flavour. Other picks were the Whim/Marble collaboration Utopia (5.1%), another two Thornbridge beers – Hopton and St Petersburg, and another dark corker from the hosts, Fyne Ales Sublime Stout (6.8%) – a smooth, malty fruit bomb, with a really mellow finish.

So a great time was had by all, the beers were in perfect condition, it was fantastic to see so many other great British brewers present – many that don’t feature in Scotland all that often. Hopefully everyone who attended had a great time, there were still plenty of people carrying on into Sunday. Many thanks to Jamie and the rest of the Fyne Ales crew for hosting, and hopefully next year the weather will help to get everyone back for more…

Fyne Ales website
Other Scottish bloggers were in attendance, of course – check out the reports from the Beer Monkey and I Might Have a Glass of Beer

We’re well into beer festival season at the moment, and next week all attention north of the border will turn to the big one – the Scottish Real Ale Festival, held every year in Edinburgh. This year it will be held at Adam House on Chambers Street between the 16th and the 18th of June. As you can imagine, being our local festival the BeerCast will have it covered from every angle – check back daily for our reports on the beers, follow our live tastings on twitter (@thebeercast), and keep an eye out on Thursday for the Champion Beer of Scotland (CBoS) announcement, as once again we’ll be on the judging panel.

The beer list has already been released, revealing which breweries have submitted their ales for the festival. If ever proof were needed that Scottish brewing is on the rise, then this beer list is it. Although six who were present at the 2010 SRAF will not be at this year’s festival, the overall number of entrants has risen from 32 to 37, giving us the chance to welcome twelve newcomers. Beer festivals are all about trying new things, so relative newcomers such as Tempest and the Scottish Borders Brewery are really welcome.

It’s encouraging to see small microbrewers are well-represented, such as Devon Ales (based behind the Mansfield Arms in Sauchie), and Robert Knops – a.k.a. the Mikkeller of Morningside. Both will be bringing the three beers they each produce. Elsewhere, although we didn’t get on with Barney’s Beet Red Beer, I’m really keen to try his 5.4% IPA. Other newcomers include Luckie Ales from Fife, Moulin from Perthshire, and Demon – the new guise of the Prestoungrange Gothenburg, following the tragic death of Fowler’s Roddy Beveridge last year.

Absentees from this year’s SRAF include a number of small Northern producers who have dropped off the list – Hebridean, An Teallach, Cuillin, and Valhalla breweries all miss out – the cost of transporting to Edinburgh maybe proving too great. Glasgow’s WEST brewpub were represented last year, but are not listed for 2011 – which is something of a shame given their recent resurgence (albeit with kegged beer, so I may have just answered my own question). One other change is the merging of Sinclair Atlas and Sinclair Orkney – only Nimbus from the former is added to the lineup of the latter.

So what do I have my beery eye on? Strong ale specialists Traquair House have a cask coming, which will be really interesting. Multiple champions Highland have two new beers along – Island Hopping (3.9%) and Sneaky Wee Stout (4.2%). Can they win their fourth CBoS award in five years? Other beers to try are Burnside’s Wild Rhino Blonde (4.5%), the outstanding Fyne Ales Jarl (3.8%), Kelburn’s newest porter Cart Noir (4.8%), and the always excellent Deeside Talorcan (4.5%).

As good as the old classics such as Cairngorm Trade Winds and Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted are, as I said before these events are all about new things. I’ve never tried any of the beers from the Tinpot Brewery – Blueberry Lager anyone? Scottish Borders 3.8% Foxy Blonde sounds like the perfect festival opener, and the Tempest beers have been getting great reviews from what I’ve seen, the Elemental Porter (5.1%) in particular. Finally, local producers Stewart Brewing are releasing an American-style red ale at the festival, as a 40th Birthday present to CAMRA – another beer which will go very quickly, so get there early…

The Scottish Real Ale Festival is this year being held at Adam House, Chambers Street, Edinburgh from Thursday 16th June to Saturday 18th June. Opening hours are 12pm-11pm Thursday and Friday, and 12pm-9pm on Saturday.

Entry is £3 for CAMRA members, £5 for non-members, but keep hold of the glass given out and you can get free re-admission over the other days. As this is a preview, breweries and beers submitted may change – visit the official website to keep up with any amendments.

For more on what to expect at this year’s Scottish Real Ale Festival, our reports on the previous SRAF years are here – 2010, 2009, 2008 and 2007.

The twenty-first Battersea Beer Festival was held last week, and as the stars had aligned to put me in London for work, I decided to wander along to check it out. The aptly named Grand Hall of Battersea Arts Centre hosted the event, which even on a random Thursday afternoon was remarkably well attended. Coming down from Scotland, the lineup was full of breweries that had never crossed my path before – so pretty much everything I sampled was going to be new. After finding a free seat by one of the side doors, it was time to get into the action.

1. Studland Bay Wrecked (4.5%)
Isle of Purbeck Brewery, Dorset
The name of this beer caught my eye, and as I knew nothing about the producer, it was first into my pint glass. The Isle of Purbeck brewery are a micro based at the historic Bankes Arms in Dorset, which dates back to 1549. Overlooking Studland Bay just north of Swanage, the pub must have witnessed plenty of shipwrecks over the years, and the name of their amber ale reflects this. It came almost totally flat, and poured a brownish red colour. Sweet, slightly toffee aromas competed with some malt and general bitterness. Caramel dominated on the palate with a thin middle, leading to a bitter aftertaste. A nice enough beer, but one that maybe needed a bit more oomph to set it off.

2. Cascade Pale Ale (4.8%)
Saltaire Brewery, West Yorkshire
I have heard of Shipley’s Saltaire Brewery – although only through watching the Oz Clarke and Hugh Dennis programme on BBC2. Being something of the hop fan a beer called Cascade Pale Ale just shouted at me to be sampled, so it was my second of the afternoon. I’m extremely glad it was, as it was fantastic. Golden yellow with really nice classic Cascade aromas – it was pretty big on the citrus for a sub 5% beer. Smooth and sweet, lovely orange citrus fruit on the palate, a very impressive beer indeed.

3. Natterjack (4.3%)
Southport Brewery, Lancashire
Being a proud Lancastrian, beers from the red rose county always draw me towards them, and one named after one of our rarest amphibians was the next beer I went for. The brewery started in 2004 in the seaside town of Southport – about 20miles from where I was born. The sandy dunes of the Central Lancashire riviera provide plenty of habitat for toads, and Natterjack is a slightly thin but eminently drinkable bitter. The tasting notes in the programme said ‘fruit notes and hint of coffee’ – there was a bitter astringency at the end, but that was about it.

4. Anastasia’s Exile Stout (5.0%)
Ascot Ales, Surrey
On to darker things, with a couple of stouts to finish. Ascot is within ‘LocAle’ distance of Battersea according to the programme guide – thirty miles or so as the crow flies. Their Exile Stout began as a seasonal, but has been fitted in to their regular lineup due to it’s popularity. I can see why, as it was pretty interesting. Dark, roasty aromas carried into the taste, which finished on bitter coffee and a touch of ash at the end.

5. Sargeant Pepper’s Stout (5.5%)
Spire Brewery, Derbyshire
The highlight of BeerCast #38 back in August 2009 was the black and green peppercorn infused Route des Épices from exclamation-happy Quebec brewpub Dieu du Ciel! It’s been a while, but finding another pepper beer at the Battersea festival was something of a surprise. Hailing from Chesterfield rather than Montreal, Spire add freshly ground black pepper to a Maris Otter and Chocolate malt stout. It’s not quite as thick and creamy as the Canadian, but the peppery kick to the finish is fantastic, it really tingles the back of the throat. A great way to end the festival.

On Friday there was further good news for Loanhead’s Stewart Brewing, as their 5% pale ale Hollyrood was named Champion bottled beer of Scotland. It will now go on to the national SIBA finals in February to take on the other regional champs from around the UK. MrB and myself were in attendance for the judging, having secured a couple of invitations for the BeerCast to take part. Alva’s Williams Brothers were also the day’s big winners, securing Golds in three of the five categories, and taking overall Silver for Midnight Sun and Bronze for 7 Giraffes.

Having taken part in the judging for last year’s Champion Beer of Scotland I was looking forward to the competition. The beers had been divided into categories, and the judges were allocated two each for the afternoon’s tastings. MrB was put into the ‘Bitters under 5%’ and then ‘Bitters 5% and over’ sections, meaning he got through a lot of golden session beers, whereas I was selected for the ‘Speciality’ and ‘Milds, Stouts, Old Ales and Porters’ categories.

The Speciality tag can mean pretty much anything (as you can see from the colours in the photo above), and it was interesting to judge an oak-aged porter against a Finnish-recipe juniper ale. Of course, the judging is done blind so you can only go on your senses – although it’s human nature to try and guess what it is you’re drinking. Only afterwards when the identities of the beers are released do those guesses prove to be wildly inaccurate. The standout for me were Harviestoun’s Ola Dubh 40 (that oak-aged porter) and Stewart Brewing’s Hefeweizen (which we identified immediately, there not being many bottled Scottish weissbiers).

After a short interlude and the swapping of stories – MrB asking for second helpings of Fyne Ales Avalanche, for example – it was back for the next category. Where speciality beers were varied, the stouts and porters were much harder to differentiate between. Six dark malty offerings later, and our scoresheets were heading back to be collated. In that category there was only one winner for me – Highland’s awesome Orkney Porter got the highest score on my sheet, although there were so many dark beers that it didn’t make it into the final reckoning.

So the overall winners were announced as Williams Brothers Cock o’ the Walk (Bitters over 4.1%), Stewart Brewing Hollyrood (Bitters 5% and over), Colonsay IPA (Gold beers), Williams Brothers 7 Giraffes (Speciality) and Williams Brothers Midnight Sun. These were all re-tasted in the final, with Stewart Brewing’s offering coming out on top – and only five months after it won best pale ale at the 2010 World Beer Awards – congratulations to Steve, Jo and all the team.

In a few weeks the national SIBA finals takes place, and amongst the cask (and for the first time, keg) competitions are the national bottled beer awards. Hollyrood will face stiff competition from the other regions, as Thornbridge’s peerless Kipling is representing the Midlands and Kernel Export Stout 1890 will be there for the South East. We won’t be able to make it to Nottingham for the finals, but we’ll let you know how Scotland’s entrants do against the rest of Britain.

SIBA Official Website