The BeerCast

Over the past few weeks, we’d been hearing rumours about the Illicit Still at Tollcross – that it was destined to become more continental in outlook. As such, a few days ago the Brougham Street pub quietly re-opened as The Ventoux. A name synonymous with the Tour de France, the new bar is the second in the city owned by Murray McKean and Cameron Hill – the other being the Tourmalet in Leith. Firm fans of the old cyclisme, they favour eclectic furnishings in their pedal-themed pubs, albeit serving mostly German (not French) beer.

I went in yesterday and chatted to Greg, the amiable new manager of the Ventoux (named after an infamous mountain stage of the Tour de France, as is the Tourmalet). He admitted things were still very much in their infancy – there was a classic ‘new pub smell’ of paint and varnish. A lone road bike bolted to the ceiling looks a bit out of place, at least until some of the other bits and pieces are added to give the theme a bit more life. That was the thing missing from the old Illicit Still, I thought – it was just a bit bland.

Following a cellar refit by Heineken (replacing the python removed by the previous Pubco), Greg is obliged to take their draft beer – so head down if you’re a fan of Birra Moretti or other lager. For the rest of us, the German bottled beer seems to be the draw – currently there are about a dozen different examples, from Aventinus, Köstritzer amongst others. The monolithic counter doesn’t give much room “Designed by an architect, not a barman” as Greg put it – but there are extra fridges on order to enable more bottles to appear.

In a sense, the Ventoux is stuck between stations – being literally round the corner from Edinburgh’s most established German-themed bottled bar, and a few doors up from one of its best real ale pubs. The patrons of Brauhaus and Cloisters might not flock to the newcomer anytime soon, but once everything is in place it should be a decent addition to the Tollcross pub scene. Having beers supplied by the same source as Brauhaus is a start, at least – and whilst it may have ruffled a few feathers, I can’t see the Ventoux displacing anybody.

For me, it would be great if they had something more interesting on tap other than the ubiquitous Heineken and Deuchars. Of course, you can head a hundred metres in either direction for choice, should you wish. The Ventoux has a nice, relaxed feel to it – and once everything’s in place, I can imagine slouching in a leather sofa with a Schwarzbier watching one of the ‘good-natured sports’ on the plasma TV (which hasn’t arrived yet, either). There’s certainly scope for the Ventoux to develop into a popular local, like it’s sister in Leith.

The Ventoux
2 Brougham Street
Edinburgh EH3 9JH

EDIT – Since that first week, the rest of the fittings have arrived – with pride of place going to a huge fish tank. The extra fridges are in, and Greg’s keen to get the kitchen renovated so food can be served. Until then, you’ll have to make do with Schlenkerla Rauchbier – a meal in a bottle…

Another day, another Edinburgh beer event. The Bow Bar are hosting a hop-based showcase at the moment, so with Richard still away, beercasters Grooben, Shovels and the esteemed Mr. B headed down to sample some hoppy goodness. The showcase features British brewers, and with most of the beers clocking in at between 4% and 5% there was no need to grapple with any syrupy 9% Double IPA’s. Here’s a selection of what we tried -

Blackwater Brewery Bulls Eye (4.1%) – A subtle fruity number, we were told to expect blackcurrant flavours due to the use of Bullion hops, but this wasn’t really coming through. Pleasant enough, but suffered a bit in comparison to some of the more flavoursome fare on offer.

Steel City Vane Tempest (4.8%) – Steel City Brewing are a ‘cuckoo’ style brewing company operating out of Sheffield, and certainly seem keen on their hops. Vane Tempest was brewed with no less than 6 different varieties, with a seriously pithy, bitter result. My mouth was puckering after a half of this and it may have been improved with a fruitier element to balance it out a bit.

Tempest Longer White Cloud (5.6%) – We were fans of Tempest’s Long White Cloud when we tried it at the Bow a few months ago, and this follow up, dry hopped with 3 New Zealand hops, didn’t disappoint. Surprisingly smooth, with a vinous quality from the Nelson Sauvin used in the initial brewing.

Offbeat Quirky Kiwi NZ Pale (4.6%) – More NZ hops involved here, with Pacific Jade and Nelson Sauvin making an appearance. One of our favourites of the evening – well balanced, fruity and sessionable.

Black Iris Great Eastern Transatlantic Porter (4.6%) – The big surprise of the evening for me from Derbyshire’s Black Iris, a brewery that I hadn’t previously been aware of. This was a rich and complex porter with strong berry notes overlaying the chocolate and coffee. The beer was lifted by the addition of Galena hops, giving a tart bitterness that really worked with the more traditional porter flavours.  Grooben’s beer of the night.

The hop off continues tonight 20th April with a slightly different selection, including beers from Dark Star, Acorn and Redemption, so get on down for some more hop-based action.

Exciting times for Edinburgh beer drinkers this week as we see the opening of the Southern, the new bar from Fuller Thomson, owners of BeerCast favourites Holyrood 9A and Red Squirrel. Head BeerCaster and all-round Renaissance man Richard is away in Berlin this week, but colleagues Grooben and Shovels stepped into the breach to sample some of the beers on display. As an added bonus, we were joined by Andy and Jess, all the way from the London branch.

The bar follows a similar approach to Holyrood and the Red Squirrel, with standard keg beers supplemented by a rotating range of casked and kegged ales. The food menu focuses on burgers, with 20 available (I know! 20 burgers!), as well as breakfast and other meaty treats. The difference here is on the range of beers on offer. I counted 9 that I hadn’t personally tried, and luckily they were offering reduced prices on 1/3 measures, thus reducing the potential for any hangover action the following day (hey, it was a Monday night after all). With some high abv fare on offer, this was probably just as well.

First up we tried Brooklyn Sorachi Ace (7.6%). Regular readers may remember our first encounter with this Japanese hop during our Brewdog IPA is Dead podcast, with mixed results. This one got a similar reaction, a distinct bubblegum flavour on first taste leads to an oddly synthetic, perfume vibe on repeated visits. An acquired taste then, but definite points for interest value. Next was the casked Export Stout from Kernel (7.1%). The usual high standards from Kernel here, and its great to see one of their beers on cask in Edinburgh, although personally it didn’t blow me away in the way I was expecting.

An even more powerful affair was next with Summer Wine’s Maelstrom Double IPA (9.0%). Thick and syrupy as one might expect, with ripe mango and passion fruit, it didn’t quite distinguish itself from other double IPA’s and could perhaps have done with an extra note of bitterness to cut through the tropical fruit. My personal favourite of the the night was Crooked Tree IPA (6.0%) from the Dark Horse brewery in Michigan. This was a nicely balanced U.S. IPA, with everything that implies, and I could easily have had a few pints of this (and then fallen over).

Shovels also rated Crooked Tree as his favourite, followed closely by his dark beer of the night, Hardknott Vitesse Noir, which at 11% was also the biggest hitter in the abv stakes. This triple imperial stout infused with vanilla, coffee and chocolate was sublimely balanced and hid the abv well, and also took the accolade of Mr. Garvie’s beer of the evening.

Finally, two from Fyne Ales new IPA project series, which invites you to compare the taste differences between different coloured IPA’s. Series 1 is Davaar (5.5%). The Blonde version is bittered with Cascade and dry-hopped with Simcoe, with a result that is a touch too bitter and pithy for my taste. The Black IPA version was much better, with the added malt balancing out the bitterness, resulting in a good example of the style. Look out for Series 2, called Lismore, in June.

So there we have it, another welcome addition to the Edinburgh beer scene. The Southern will hopefully prove to be as popular as its sister bars, and I predict repeated visits by the Beercasters in future.

Last month we were pondering about the rise of tap takeovers in the Edinburgh beer calendar, as we rumbled over to Leith for the Black Isle event at Nobles. This week there are two more in the city, with the first of those taking place last night. Rob Hill’s Highland Brewing Company arrived at Cloisters Bar with nine beers in tow (two of them brand new releases), so we had to head down to see what was going on. Nothing pricks up the ears of the BeerCast like a beer launch, after all.

There’s something almost comforting about bagging a table at Cloisters and watching the people flow in for an event, and as the pub filled up I started off on Highland’s Staff Pint. With a pump clip featuring Cloisterians past and present, this example of the rare house beer had been dry hopped with Citra. Having been one of the few to catch the bespoke Highland Citra at the Bow Bar recently – an ultimate, single cask, blink and you miss it beer – I was looking forward to this one immensely.

Let’s get something on the table straight away – Highland’s beers have, to me, a very distinctive flavour profile. Later investigation by BeerCast wingman Ash from Appellation Wines may have hit on the reason – the house yeast. Rob crafts his beers with style (I hope he wouldn’t mind me referring to it as a careful, old-timey style). There are few other Scottish breweries who I know immediately what kind of beer I’m going to be drinking – even if, as in this case, it’s had Citra piled in.

Their beers are brilliantly drinkable, and all (the golden ones anyway – and I’ll be coming back to that later) have a green bitterness, a pithy edge to them. Described by Ash quite brilliantly as being ‘nettley’ their beers then often finish with a pear-like fruitiness to them. Whether this suits dry hopping, I’m not sure. The additional hop load seems to not sit well with the base flavour of the beer – such as the Island Hopping with Nelson Sauvin (which in itself is highly vinous, of course).

To me, Highland have always excelled in two areas. Firstly – their drinkable session beers. Orkney Best is an abv-battling cracker – smooth, faintly grassy, and with that green pithiness balanced beautifully by a Weetabix-esque sweetness. Secondly – their dark beers. Dark Munro is the best mild in Scotland, and Sneaky Wee Orkney Stout is simply brilliant. Far and away the best beer of the night (and I include Old Norway in that). Go dark more often, Rob!

The two new beers came out at about 8ish, with an eager queue forming soon afterwards following a short speech. A 4.7% Pale Ale was joined on debut by the 5.2% The Duke IPA – nicely badged with a battleship toting pumpclip. The Pale again delivered that signature mix of bitter orange flavour mingled with sweet, almost honey-edged biscuit. The Duke – introduced by Rob as having “too much hop in for me, as a brewer” (said with a beaming grin, of course) was up next.

Similar to the Pale Ale at first – the soft, dull hop rose as it went on, becoming pithy and vinous. I believe (and please correct me, if wrong) that Rob’s son Lewis had more than a hand in this beer – which would explain Hill Snr’s cheeky comment. It reminded me a bit of Orkney Blast – very smooth, hides the alcohol well, and again that sweet pear finish. There’s a decent amount of sharp citrus in there – whilst the balance might not be exactly nailed on, it’s a drinker’s beer and a great effort.

There are always plenty of beer events in Edinburgh – as any regular reader of this website will know. Only a small proportion of them take place in Leith, however – which is a surprise, given how many great pubs you can find there. It’s also something of a shame, as Leith has a reputation for what Morningside types would no doubt term ‘interesting characters’. Friends of ours, for example, recently saw a woman crouched on the pavement looking through her handbag, which contained a large quantity of raw meat (although who hasn’t left the house in a hurry and picked up the wrong bag?).

A couple of sunny evenings ago – and it’s always sunny in Leith – we made the trip up there to Nobles Café Bar, and a Black Isle Brewery takeover. These type of events were once pretty rare, but have rapidly become the default beer/pub event. It stands to reason, as the brewer gets the full range of their wares showcased, regular punters can still find their favourite, and tickers get the new rates. The only losers (although hopefully they win in financial terms) are the pub management, who have to change about a dozen casks/kegs in an evening, and generally work up a sweat.

Everyone in Nobles was perspiring on Tuesday – due to the astonishing early-spring weather, the place was rammed. They aren’t known for hosting events such as this – or maybe the numbers of thirsty Leithers were underestimated – but it looked as if emergency bar staff had to be summoned to deal with the two deep queue. This says something for Black Isle – who, as we posted recently are really on a high at the moment, and obviously have an eager fanbase.

Nobles is a cracking bar – it looks great, both inside and out, and the staff (even when clearly stressed) are very friendly. We arrived about an hour before the event started, and went straight for the house beer – Nobles IPA. Brewed for them by Black Isle, I believe (correct me if I’m wrong) it to be an unfined, dry-hopped, cask Goldeneye. Hazy and with a thick head, it has the sweet biscuity malt characteristic of Black Isle beer, with some orange citrus on the finish, as the results of the dry-hopping come out through the aftertaste.

Next up, another tweaker – organic Red Kite served nitrogenated on keg. This is one I really wanted to try, as Scottish malty nitro offerings are usually fairly awful. Mentioning no names, of course, but Black Isle’s version (codenamed ‘Better’) was a revelation. It tasted like cool chocolate cream. The bubbles give it that mouthfeel, of course – but as opposed to all the others out there – the beer actually tasted of something. Demerara sugar, toffee, fruit, weetabix and cocoa. Yet, all those dark, ‘portery’ flavours served cool and gassed to the max were highly refreshing.

We finished on an experiment – a side by side tasting of Goldeneye and Unfined Goldeneye whisky cask. It’s always interesting to roll the dice on the same beer served on different dispense (although last time, at the legendary Magic Rock takeover of the Stockbridge Tap I was so far gone I can hardly remember the obvious differences – in fact, it may have just been one beer I was drinking, it only looked like there were two). Having more of my faculties this time around, we put them up against each other.

A huge difference, of course. Kegged Goldeneye is clear as a bell and properly golden in colour. It has a bittersweet, biscuity malt backbone that verges into the metallic on the finish. The newcomer (which, incidentally, was a one-off) was hazy orange, with a soft, woody flavour. Almost like a whisky milkshake, it was mild and oaky, with that whisky edge building into the aftertaste. This replaced the classic biscuity finish of the regular Goldeneye, and gave the beer a completely different feel. A quick straw poll found two votes on our table for each version…

Thanks to Nobles for hosting the event, and of course to Black Isle for the beers. Nobles Café Bar is on 44a Constitution Street – the number 16 goes right past, and stops outside. Stay tuned for our next tap takeover, as there are at least three happening in Edinburgh during April. Follow our Twitter feed to keep up to date.