The BeerCast

The SIBA Bottled Beer awards were judged and announced yesterday, and just like last year the BeerCast were there, taking part. In actual fact, last year’s competition also took place this year – the epic winter of 2010 meaning December’s judging had to be abandoned and moved to January, so our SIBA branded blue pencils have been getting plenty of work in 2011. Williams Brothers were the big winners last time out, taking three of the five categories (and second and third overall) – would they repeat this time?

In a word, no. The excellent Profanity Stout took bronze in the bottled Porters and Stouts category, Joker bronze in over 5%’s, and Williams Ginger silver in Speciality – so they had a good overall showing – but this time out they were eclipsed by their near neighbours from along the B908; Harviestoun. Matching WB’s triumph last year, the boys from Alva also took three of the five categories – but went one better and won the overall SIBA Champion Bottled Beer award as well. The new champion beer? Harviestoun Bitter and Twisted.

The old warhorse is one of the more popular of Scotland’s flagships – having won Champion Beer of Britain back in 2003, as well as a smattering of World Beer Awards (not to mention the very same SIBA bottled beer gong back in 2006). At 4.2%, it’s extremely easy drinking – which always reflects well in judging events such as this. Last year’s winner, for example, was Stewart Brewing Holyrood. Looking back at previous champs reveals a similar trend – Kelburn Cart Blanche, Broughton Champion Double Ale (the exception), Sinclair Atlas Latitude.

Golden session beers tend to work well in the bottle, they are refreshing and stand out when judged alongside a plethora of darker, richer styles. There are very few drinkers and judges who don’t like blonde, zesty beers – whereas things with a bigger hop profile, or traces of barrel-aging – are likely to divide opinions. There are also far more of them, of course – with three categories that favour the golden side of things. I’m glad B&T won, though – it’s a beer I’ve been drinking for years, another worthy reward for the team at Harviestoun.

The other winners in the categories…

Bottled Bitter (up to 4.9%)
Bronze – Inveralmond Lia Fail
Silver – Highland Orkney IPA
Gold – Fyne Ales Highlander

Bottled Bitters (over 5%)
Bronze – Williams Bros Joker IPA
Silver – Harviestoun Wild Hop IPA
Gold – Inveralmond Blackfriar

Bottled Gold Beers
Bronze – Fyne Ales Avalanche
Silver – Inveralmond Ossian
Gold – Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted

Bottled Speciality Beers
Bronze – Stewart Brewing Hefeweizen
Silver – Williams Bros Ginger
Gold – Harviestoun Ola Dubh

Bottled Porters, Milds, Old Ales & Stouts
Bronze – Williams Bros Profanity Stout
Silver – Ayr Rabbie’s Porter
Gold – Harviestoun Old Engine Oil

Bottled Beers (overall)
Bronze – Fyne Ales Highlander
Silver – Harviestoun Old Engine Oil
Gold – Harviestoun Bitter % Twisted

Best Movember Moment
Bronze, Silver and Gold – Steve Stewart

Earlier this year, we listed our BeerCast alternative ‘Best of’ bottled Scottish beers – you can find our final post, and all the winners, here

Red Kite, released into the wild (etc)

For a brewery to make that next step, several things need to happen. Firstly, building on a solid base, to make the leap they clearly need a great brewer. Someone onboard who really knows their onions. From this, diversity is key – be consistent with the flagships, but look to other methods of production, other recipe ideas. Then you need to tell people about it – get the message and the brand out there. Finally, keep those elements together, and then build on them – get more brewspace, better people, a brighter message. An example? The Black Isle Brewery.

Located in the Highlands just north of Inverness, Black Isle were established by David Gladwin in 1998 on the non-island of the same name. Their focus from the start was on the local and the organic. Having been blessed with a great location, surrounding farmland was put to use and the brewery estate grew. Steadily building the brand and the idea, their beers were session strength and traditional at first, before the arrival of the mighty 7% Hibernator III in 2006. They then began to dabble in hosting beer festivals, before a major brewery expansion was first mooted in 2007.

The news page of their website runs back for almost ten years, so it’s possible to follow these developments chronologically. 2008 seems to have been a year when the brewery took another step, releasing all kinds of new beers – Imperial Oatmeal Stout (8.5%), Goldeneye (5.6%), Highland Heavy (6.8%), and winning awards from the likes of the soil association. The organic, locally produced ethos was clearly getting through – and the range of beers on offer was clearly increasing.

Fast forward somewhat, and 2011 could similarly be a banner year for Black Isle. Having finally opened their £1m brewhouse, they have secured an export market to Sweden with the increased capacity. Ex-BrewDog Sales Manager Chris Mair joined, to become Sales and Marketing Manager – resulting in many more Edinburgh pubs stocking Black Isle products than ever before. Then, they took the big leap and appointed ex-Marble Production Manager Colin Stronge to be their Head Brewer.

One of the first things Colin did was tweak the recipe of the flagship Yellowhammer. Clearly, he’s a man not afraid to put his own stamp on things – and a flurry of new beers has already appeared from the Black Isle. Having the shiny new brewery, the old kit has been put to use for small, experimental batches – and with creativity running riot the brewery decided to host a total takeover of Edinburgh’s Cloisters Bar to showcase their new offerings. So it was we turned up there at 4:50pm to bag the only free table available (for an event that started at 7pm).

One of my favourites on the night wasn’t even new (only to me) – Altared State is a classic Black Isle-style red ale, great caramel edge with plenty of toffee. It may actually be called Altered State, but I think the pump clip had that extra ‘a’ in there. Coffee Porter had plenty of ashy tobacco flavour in with the coffee, and the other new cask beer present – the 6.5% Scotch Ale – was even better. Deep ruby black, sweet plummy fruit and a finishing touch of boozy oak and chocolate.

Of all the Scottish breweries (with the exception of their neighbours in Aberdeenshire), Black Isle are doing most to embrace the keg. Their Blonde Lager is my girlfriend’s favourite beer (which we now refer to simply as ‘Bib’). We got through four others on the night – the pale amber Goldeneye, peppery Chilli Porter, Black Stout and Pacific Red. The Porter’s chilli flavour became far more prominent as the beer warmed from the keg, becoming really noticeable.

The Black Stout rolls in at a Treasury-tastic 7.4%, and is long and bitter on the finish. The alcohol’s there, but never too much. It’s a touch spiky from the CO2, but as the beer warms the smoky, chocolate flavours really come out, leaving peppery liquorice on the palate. The Pacific Red, is quite frankly, bizarre. On keg – hazy red, tart, raspberry flavour. On cask at the Red Squirrel the next day – toffee, caramel malt, berry fruit – but more raspberries. Fascinating Sorachi-esque stuff.

Quite obviously, Black Isle are on an upward trend. As their beers become more ubiquitous in Scotland – and elsewhere – this can only continue…

Note to self…remember to take photo before drinking the beer

If you’ve been following the BeerCast for the past couple of weeks, you’ll (hopefully) know we’ve been talking a great deal about a recent piece of Government legislation. On the 1st of October, the UK Treasury raised duty on all beer over 7.5% – ostensibly to tackle ‘problem drinking’. We’ve written several posts on why we feel this is a bad idea (here, here and here) – and so today we’re holding a protest podcast. Richard, Shovels and Grooben get together to sample four British beers over 7.5%, and debate the state of UK alcohol taxation (along with vikings, addictive coffee and why you can never lose a greyhound). The four strong beers we drink responsibly are:- Sinclair Orkney Skull Splitter (8.5%), Traquair House Jacobite Ale (8.0%), Thornbridge St Petersburg (7.7%), and BrewDog Abstrakt AB:06 (11.2%). Fight the power!

1. Orkney Skull Splitter (8.5%abv)
Sinclair Orkney Brewery, Quoyloo, Orkney Islands.
330ml glass bottle

Founded by Roger White in 1988, the award-winning Orkney brewery are another local producer who started in untypical surroundings – in this case an old school house in Sandwick. In June 2004 they merged with the Atlas Brewery of Kinlochleven, to form Highland and Islands Breweries – which in turn was taken over by the Sinclair Brewery Ltd in 2006. All the way back in January 2008, we sampled Orkney Dark Island as part of BeerCast #11. Drinkers in North America may know the brewery best for the very beer we’re sampling today – Skull Splitter is seemingly far more popular over the pond than back home.

What They Say -
“Sophisticated, satiny smooth with a deceptively light character, it is a tribute to our colourful forbear Thorfinn Einarsson, the 7th Viking Earl of Orkney.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Richard – Classic Skull Splitter aroma – sweet fruity caramel 7½
Shovels – Not as syrupy as I remember, good balance 7½
Grooben – I do like it but probably wouldn’t drink it much 6

2. Traquair Jacobite Ale (8.0%abv)
Traquair House Brewery, Innerleithen, Peeblesshire.
330ml glass bottle

Traquair House is an extremely impressive, and very old, country estate about an hour south of Edinburgh. Famed in Scottish history for it’s association with the Jacobites, it also contains a thriving microbrewery – which begun in the 18th Century, brewing for the estate workers. The 20th Laird of Traquair re-founded the brewery in 1965, and they specialise in Scottish styles – that are all rich, dark, and above all – strong.

What They Say -
“Brewed to celebrate the anniversary of the 1745 Jacobite rebellion the ale proved to be so popular it has become a permanent addition to the range. Based on an eighteenth century recipe the ale is spiced with coriander which gives a remarkably fresh aftertaste.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Shovels – Spices linger at the end, needs a bit more body 7
Richard – Not as spicy as I was expecting, it’s a nice old ale7
Grooben – Doesn’t bash you around the head for an 8%er 7

3. St Petersburg (7.7%abv)
Thornbridge Brewery, Bakewell, Derbyshire.
500ml glass bottle

The first Thornbridge beer to make it onto one of our BeerCasts was their chestnut honey ale Bracia, back in BeerCast #61. A 10% powerhouse of flavour, we’re following that with another of their big hitters – the fantastic Russian Imperial Stout St Petersburg (7.7%). We already know it’s fantastic, as it was awarded one of our much-prized Best New Beer Awards for 2010. Doesn’t mean we can’t put in on a podcast…

What They Say -
“Rich and dark with smoke, subtle peatiness and the power of the dark malts. Molasses and liquorice and chocolate goodness all wrapped up in a smooth, warming liquid.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Richard – Black, roasty, creamy, chocolatey, smoky, love it 9
Shovels – Lovely flavours – one of my favourite beers 8½
Grooben – Doesn’t have any bitterness at the back of the palate you get with some strong stouts 8½

4. Abstrakt AB:06 (11.2%abv)
BrewDog, Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire.
375ml glass bottle

BrewDog are without doubt the most talked-about brewery in Scotland, with their charismatic press releases and wacky ideas. Not afraid to experiment, there’s no denying they always elicit strong opinions. What is often overlooked amidst all the hoo-hah is that they have only been going for just over three years. Their ‘concept beer brand’ Abstrakt is already on the 7th version (a whisky aged Scotch Ale), the original, AB:01, made it to our most recent Beer of the Year Show, and AB:04 (a coffee, cacao and chili Imperial Stout) might just be the best beer they’ve ever made. Can AB:06 cut it?

What They Say -
“AB06 is a 11.5% Imperial Black IPA which has been triple dry hopped. This beer is savage; boasting more bitterness and more hops than any BrewDog creation to date, combining loads of awesome malts and monumental amounts of our favourite hops.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Shovels – You can definitely tell it’s dry hopped, love those hops 8½
Richard – Very good beer, this could be a great regular 8½
Grooben – Decent, but I expected it to be better 7

Panellists – (clockwise from top left) Shovels, Grooben, Richard

BeerCast panel verdict
Thornbridge St Petersburg 26/30
BrewDog Abstrakt AB:06 24/30
Sinclair Orkney Skullsplitter 21/30
Traquair House Jacobite Ale 21/30

• Listen to the episode on Soundcloud here:

• Or here if you’re on iPhone/iPad: BeerCast #64 – Big BeerCast
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Please keep those comments and emails coming in, and check back in a couple of weeks for our next podcast. In the meantime, keep drinking those strong beers wherever you are. In the UK, you can sign this petition against the duty rise. For the BBC article on responsible drinking we discussed during this episode – click here. We’ll be continuing with our strong beer month right the way throughout October. Fight the power!

Looking around for a suitable starting point for our month of strong beer, there was one obvious place to begin. Sitting in my mahogany panelled, climate controlled beer storage area – just behind the ironing board, watch out for the spider – was a 2009 vintage Highland Orkney Porter. Waiting for the right moment to be drunk, with the UK Treasury raising duty on all beer over 7.5%abv (the porter rocks up at 9.0%) – that time had come. I’d also bought a 2010 version, the vintage currently available, and decided to put the two stablemates up against each other.

Rob Hill and his team up in Orkney are one of the most consistent – and award-winning – breweries in Scotland. At one point, they’d carted off three Champion Beer of Scotland awards in four years (for three different beers). Rob is one of the most experienced brewers in the country, having worked for the Orkney Brewery for many years, before moving from Quoyloo to Swannay to set up his own facility (love those Orkney place names). From 2006, the Highland Brewery were up and running, and immediately competing with their near neighbours.

Like many Scottish producers, the vast majority of Highland’s output is well below the 7.5% duty threshold (although regular alcohol duty increased in the previous budget as well, just not to the extent of the extra tax on big hitters). The notable exception is their Orkney Porter, of course. Released annually in 275ml bottles – and even more rarely, on cask – it’s a fabulous beer. Rumours were that Rob was re-considering the next vintage, as the increased costs – both of production and to the customers – will be even higher.

This is one of the potential, and very serious, consequences of the increased duty. Brewers will become more conscious of the margins involved in their strong beers. Often released as seasonals or annual vintages, the return on the significant investment might just not be worth it. Whilst the economy in general is fixated on down-sizing, recipes might become tweaked to get the beer in under the duty ceiling. When you sample a beer like Orkney Porter, you realise why this would be a crying shame.

Comparing the two vintages, both are deep brownish black in appearance. The 2009 has a fast-reducing head, whereas the 2010 is far more carbonated – the pillowy inch-high head retains a lot longer. The affects of ageing come out from start to finish in the ’09 – smooth, mellow wood and a touch of peaty malt on the nose, it’s more restrained than the blustering ’10, which has a far more alcoholic nose.

The ’09 is wonderfully rich, distant smoky notes mingled with dark chocolate and a hint of cherry*. The more recent release has heavier carbonation and more tobacco on the taste – plus an alcoholic finish that’s more bitter than the 2009. There’s no questioning this is a big beer – and a tremendous one at that. I’ve already bought some 2010 to put behind the ironing board for twelve months.

‘Problem drinkers’ – that group of very real people the Government set out to protect with this new legislation – probably won’t ever get within twenty miles of a bottle of Orkney Porter. It’s one of the best beers to come out of Scotland – and if it is affected even slightly by the duty rise (other than increasing in price, which is sadly inevitable), I will hunt down George Osborne and make him very sorry.

UPDATE Thankfully the rumours of Orkney Porter becoming even more rare seem to be unfounded. Only today, Lewis Hill tweeted that demand had actually increased – and they are brewing a cask version for a pub in London. Could this be an unexpected result of the duty rise? Brewers will sell more >7.5% beer, as people hear about these big beers, and associate cost with quality? We can only hope. Until then, however, Rob and everyone else – keep on with those big hitters…

*It’s impossible to write tasting notes without sounding wanky – apologies

Highland Brewery website

Long name, long story. For those of you outwith the range of the culinary-tentacled beast that is BBC’s MasterChef, it’s essentially the X-Factor of cooking. There are several series, staged concurrently so they never overlap – one for celebrities, one for young chefs, and one for Joe Public. The most recent series was the latter of these, and it was won (gasp) by an American – and a beer-lovin’ Anglophile American at that. Tim Anderson, then manager of the Euston Tap, wowed all with his wacky fusion cuisine, and was head and shoulders over the other contestants.

Being a beery sort, and clearly a supremely gifted chef, Tim has recently turned his spatula to pairing dinners – one at Aberdeen’s Musa with BrewDog, and one at Edinburgh’s Caley Sample Room with Black Isle. As part of the event, the lucky Wisconsonian also brewed a special beer with each of the two producers. At BrewDog he came up with a 7.5% miso and walnut-infused schwarzbier called Mr Squirrel. With Black Isle he dreamed up a 7% smoked chilli doppelbock – Red Hot Chilli Bock.

Clearly an imaginative chap, the Chillibock was debuted at the Caley Sample Room pairing dinner – which alas the BeerCast was/were unable to attend. However, unlike the Mr Squirrel, the beer is now out in bottled form, so we managed to pick one up and put it to the test. Run as a limited edition, ours was number 73/864 (I can only imagine what 864 would taste like – plenty of chilli in there, I’ll bet). It poured a deep brownish black, and quite a thick pour at that. A frothy off-white head formed almost immediately.

The first thing of note was the aroma – highly peppery, like ground black pepper, which really tore through everything else. On tasting, you realise just how complex the beer is. Firstly, spicy peppercorn and a touch of sweet smoke, before that smoke builds until the finish – which is snatched away by the chilli. The more you have, the more smoke becomes evident, but the chilli really follows every time. It’s not red hot, but it’s definitely there. After a while, it catches the throat quite a bit. There’s certainly a buzz about it.

But is it nice? I guess that depends on whether you like the idea or not. It’s brilliantly put together – all of the big components are there, they all follow on from each other. It’s highly inventive. But again, is it nice? Well, no. Not really. It’s just too much – pepper, smoke and chilli. Pepper, smoke and chilli. Pepper, smoke and chilli. After a while, it simply beats you into submission.