The BeerCast

The theory sounded highly plausible. Whereas in the first Battle of the Brewers (between Stewart Brewing and Williams Bros Brewing) it was immediately evident which beer was produced by which company – this time, it wasn’t so obvious. Back in July, just a quick sip of each 5% summer ale was enough – that distinctive caramel sweetness from Williams, put against the Holyrood-esque gentle hopping of the other. Clearly Beer X came from Loanhead, and Beer Y from Alloa – and so it proved. But last night, as Stewart took on Harviestoun in BotBII – a Black IPA-off – it was much harder to tell. But I had a theory.

There was a noticeable difference between the two beers. Beer X came with a white head, and a nose full of grassy hop. Although there was some caramel, and a roasty finish, the hops really were the prime component of the flavour – as you’d expect, from a Black IPA. Beer Y had a beige head, and was infinitely more complex, with less hop, but more roast. Richer – and smoother – than X, it ended in a mocha coffee finish. Creamy – almost to the point of an old milk stout, it was very different from what you’d expect a Black IPA to be. This, of course, led into the familiar discussions on beer styles and how important they are (the consensus being that on the whole; they aren’t).

But, which was which? And which was nicer?

I preferred Y – even though I love hop-forward Black IPA’s. There was just something a bit extra in the flavour to Y, an extra element. I loved the smooth, creamy finish. To be honest, I think I loved it because it reminded me of a great roasty stout and it was close to freezing outside. Obviously, if we were judging solely on style it was far behind the X. However, taste trumps style (nearly) every time.

But back to the theory as to who was responsible for each. Both make some decent hoppy beer, although with their peerless Old Engine Oil Harviestoun have a longer history of the darker offerings. The deviously clever idea I had came from lateral thinking. Very recently, Stewart have done another run of their lovely Coconut Porter – aka ‘Bounty in a glass’. I could see the resemblance to Y. It would be easy enough to add a touch more hop before the coconut went in, and cask it. Both the Coconut Porter and Beer Y have that smooth, creamy edge. I could see how they fit together. Therefore – Beer Y was from Stewart Brewing. Yes! Of course!

Beer Y was produced by Harviestoun, Beer X by Stewart.

In the voting, Y scored 52 to X’s 100. So for the second Battle of the Brewers in succession, it’s a win for the home team. Next up, BotBIII – Stewart vs. BrewDog*

*Note – this may not actually be true

The arrival of tailbacks on the roads and wasps in the parks can mean only one thing – Spring is here. After enduring months of snow, sleet, winds and haar (something we say every year, only this time it actually happened) the weather is taking a turn for the better. Here in Scotland that means average highs in the mid-teens Celsius. So while we all rush to reveal that pale flesh and stick another white pudding on the barbie, beer sales traditionally rocket.

So what to drink? Clearly, avoiding macrolager is the only decent option. But there are so many alternatives out there, it can be something of a muddle. That’s why we’ve compiled another BeerCast guide – to the best of the Spring/Summer seasonals. Just because it’s time to rush to the nearest beer garden/park/roadside verge, doesn’t mean there can’t be a good beer involved somewhere along the line. So put down that oak-aged imperial blackcurrant porter, and pick up a golden session ale. (Whisper it) – it’s not always about the abv…

Cask
If you manage to get yourself into that rarest of things – a sunny Scottish beer garden – then what should you select after wandering, blinking, into the pub (which will still have a roaring open fire)? Light, golden beer has a great tradition north of the border, stretching back to the days of Edinburgh Pale Ale and beyond. There are plenty of modern-day equivalents, such as the peerless Fyne Ales Avalanche. Hoppy, refreshing and unbelievably drinkable – it’s the perfect beer garden pint.

Along the same lines, Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted is another corker – one of only two beers from Scotland to win Champion Beer of Britain. A very rare sighting on cask, but Williams Brothers Ceilidh is tremendous when served this way, the slight spicy edge from the bottle mellowing really well on cask. Other great quenchers include Strathaven Summer Glow, Deeside Nechtan and Stewart Brewing Forth Mist – a really underrated wheat beer.

Bottle
The beauty of bottles is of course the fact that they are portable. Until Scotland truly embraces the canned beer revolution that (if you look very, very hard) is taking place, then the bottle is the best option. Alfresco drinking here usually involves either one of Scotland’s great exports to the world – Irn Bru – or one of the big imports – Buckfast. But if beer is on your wishlist, then dig out that opener and wander along to the nearest green space, with a clinking carrier bag of…

Cairngorm Trade Winds, which has a touch of elderflower to give it that distinctive summery flavour – in my humble opinion it’s one of the few beers that tastes just as good from a bottle as on cask. Inveralmond Ossian is another golden thirstbuster, as is Williams Brothers Harvest Sun. We adore Fyne Ales Jarl here on the BeerCast – but stablemate Hurricane Jack was also bottled for the first time recently, and is just as good. Finally, to rival Trade Winds – what about a bottle of Tryst Blathan? Another zesty elderflower beer that translates as ‘little blossom’ – what could be more Springlike?

Keg
Yikes. Keg beer. Well, the majority are pretty much made for good weather – easy drinking, crisp and refreshing, high carbonation. Obviously we’re not going to recommend drinking Fosters, but if something cold is on your radar then what about the two kings of Scottish kegged lager – Harviestoun Schiehallion and Black Isle Organic Blonde? Either would be much more preferable, surely.

Also on the cooler, fizzier side of things we have Stewart Brewing Edinburgh Gold, which has made recent appearances in the capital on keg. Heading along the M8, WEST Hefeweizen is a clovey, banana delight – particularly when drunk outside the Templeton brewery watching the ‘goings on’ in Glasgow Green. Finally, keg fans would be foaming (artificially) at the mouth if we didn’t mention BrewDog – their re-styled, reduced but much improved Punk IPA would make any sunny afternoon much the better.

So what are your ideal summer thirst quenchers? As we move into Easter long weekends and Royal Wedding holidays, what will you be reaching for? South of the border there are many great golden-esque ales that fit the bill – Pictish Brewer’s Gold, York Guzzler, Thornbridge Kipling, Purity Pure Gold, St Peter’s Golden Ale, Ossett Pale Gold etc etc

So many beers…so little sunshine. Drink up!

In our recent preview of the 2008 Scottish Real Ale Festival I wrote that we were all looking forward to trying some new things, as it’s really the main reason for going along. Last year’s festival (the review of which is here) was something of an eye-opener to the BeerCast – we’d only just started out on the real ale path – so practically everything we tried was new. I remember the first beer I sampled then (picked totally at random) was Fyne Ales’s Pipers Gold, which I described as “like drinking an entire flowerbed”. It seems my baffling beer descriptions haven’t improved over the last twelve months.

Fast forward a year, and we turned up at the Assembly Rooms on Friday and it was suddenly all so familiar. The brewers, the brands, the styles of beer, the boozy queasinesses – we seemed like old hands striding around with our pint glasses at the ready. But of course the beauty of a beer festival is that even those who try and learn as much about local beer as they can will still be able to find something they’ve yet to experience. So here’s what I managed to pack into a few short hours on Friday afternoon…

1. Orkney IPA (4.8%)
Highland Brewery, Birsay, Orkney.
‘A refreshing well-hopped pale ale’ said the tasting notes in the festival guide, and what better way to start an afternoon’s research? I’ve long wanted to try this given the reputation of the Highland Brewery (reigning Champion Beer of Scotland winners for Dark Munro), but not yet seen it during our beery travels. As an IPA it’s characteristically hoppy, more in the aftertaste than up front, but a really good session ale.

2. Gold Rush (3.9%)
Harviestoun Brewery, Alva, Clackmannanshire.
Next I made a bee-line for the Harviestoun section, as their little-seen seasonal Gold Rush was pretty much the first thing that caught my eye when wandering around. If it’s even half as good as Bitter and Twisted or Schiehallion then it’d be a winner. As it was, it was just as good – zingy and packed full of hops, it reminded me a bit of Stewart’s Edinburgh Gold – which is probably my favourite beer. Great stuff.

3. Peden’s Cove (3.5%)
Windie Goat Brewery, Failford, South Aryshire.
‘Pale Bitter named after the area where Alexander Peden preached from’, apparently. After a quick Google, Peden was a 17th Century Covenanter repeatedly jailed for preaching about his Presbyterianism. As for the beer, the classic musty Fuggles hop smell really comes out of this very pale session bitter. It’s pretty good stuff, and makes me want to try more from this relatively new producer (they started in 2006).

4. Midnight Sun (5.6%)
Williams Brothers, Alloa, Clackmannanshire.
Residents of the Wee County are really spoiled when it comes to brewers – just down the road from Harviestoun are the Williams Brothers, another big favourite of the BeerCast. They also had one of their seasonals at the festival, Midnight Sun – a hoppy porter with added ginger. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but it was ab-so-lutely fantastic. Smooth, dark tastes with the edge given by ginger (which was just in the very background), and pretty hefty at 5.6%abv, it was just great. My beer of the festival, and a real find.

5. Skullsplitter (8.5%)
Sinclair Orkney Brewery, Quoyloo, Orkney.
Recently named Scotland’s best Barleywine for 2008, Skullsplitter is a mighty concoction. We bought a collective half to sample (it was 4 o’clock in the afternoon) to see what the fuss was about. There’s certainly a distinctive ‘prunes soaked in vodka’ smell to it, although I didn’t pick up any of the suggested apple and/or plum. Very spicy taste, and surprisingly subtle, but to be honest one to sip in different surroundings than at a beer festival.

6. Dark Moor (4.5%)
Kelburn Brewery, Barrhead, East Renfrewshire.
Last year I went for a total random selection and ended up with Sulwath’s Solway Mist, a cloudy wheat beer I noted tasted like “lemonade mixed with antiseptic”. But I thought I’d give the idea another go, and plumped for Dark Moor, a ruby bitter from Kelburn. It was eminently more preferable – fruity and a lovely shade of red, a really nice session bitter.

And that was that, as we wandered out into the commuter-packed streets and went to a pub to draw breath*. Some really great finds at the 2008 Scottish Real Ale Festival (to give it the proper name), even given the high percentage of beers on offer we’re familiar with. Look out for other posts by BeerCasters who were there, and keep an eye out for future posts (and maybe podcasts) involving some of these new discoveries.

* I’m not ashamed to admit I had a pint of Kirin Ichiban, being totally real-ale’d out

‘Beers of the World’ magazine is one of the industry glossies that sings the praises of the planet’s favourite beverage. I’ve not read one, but apparently they have the usual brewing news and tasting notes on a series of beers. They sponsor annual gongs – the World Beer Awards – the latest winners of which were announced last Friday. Several BeerCast favourites were amongst those collecting trophies, so time for a quick run down of the brews highlighted by Roger Protz (the man gets around) and the panel.

World’s Best Ale
Bitter & Twisted, Harviestoun Brewery, Alva (Sco) 4.2%
Roughly 30 miles from BeerCast HQ in Edinburgh, Harviestoun are one of Scotland’s best brewers. Bitter & Twisted is possibly my favourite beer, so to see it given the coveted ‘best ale’ award was fantastic (it came through the tough pale ale category). By some co-incidence, the night of the announcement half of the BeerCasters were in Kays polishing off a large amount of Harviestoun’s other cracker, Schiehallion, which is simply wonderful on cask.

World’s Best Lager
Budvar Dark, Budweiser Brewery (Cze) 4.7%
Original and best, the Czech Budweiser brewery came out on top in the lager category with their dark beer. Our panellist MrB assures us that it’s seriously good stuff, and rest assured Lagerboy will be looking out for it soon to review. If it’s anything like their lighter coloured Budvar, it’s going to be tremendous.

World’s Best Stout/Porter
Obsidian Stout, Deschutes Brewery, Oregon (USA) 6.4%
American porters are highly rated, and the brewery in Bend, Oregon, now has the world’s best example. Named after the planet’s largest expanse of the shiny black rock, which conveniently occurs just near the town, Obsidian Stout is a ‘satisfying beer with underlying espresso and chocolate flavours’. We’d love to try one, if only we could find it over here. However, the runner up was Fuller’s London Porter, which we’ll be sampling in an upcoming podcast.

World’s Best Wheat Beer
Grolsch Weizen, Grolsch Brewery (NL) 5.3%
I have to say that Grolsch lager is truly awful stuff, so surprising that their wheat beer is deemed worthy of an award by the panel – particularly with the quality of wheat beers from Germany or Belgium. Still, the panel of experts clearly know what they are doing, so hats off to Grolsch. Or should that be ‘strange bottle tops’ off to Grolsch?

In the minor categories – i.e. the beers that didn’t quite get through to snare one of the top four prizes, notables for us have to be the Meantime brewery in Greenwich collecting an impressive haul – their best in show chocolate stout is currently in my cupboard ready for our upcoming London BeerCast. Edinburgh’s Caledonian Golden Promise won the award for ‘Best Experimental beer’ – we sampled that local beauty in BeerCast Episode 1 (thankfully for us we gave it the highest score). Also the award for ‘Best Fruit Beer’ went to Cain’s Raisin Beer from Liverpool (BeerCast Episode 3). Not bad for prune juice, eh Shovels?

2007 Beers of World winners

Old Engine Oil not pictured

As soon as we decided to divide our beery adventures into country-specific chunks, we could only really start in one place. With over eighty years of cumulative ale drinking between us, Scotland had to be the first stop. The four beers chosen for the debut edition are from some of the most respected brewers to be found here. But they have some standards to live up to – their predecessors have been producing beer for over 5,000 years. Before the hop era dawned, they were using heather and herbs as main ingredients. Afterwards, the industry prospered – in 1509 Aberdeen had over 150 brewers, all of them women (the original Alewives). When joined to England in the 1707 ‘Act of Union’, taxes on Scottish beer were reduced dramatically, and taxes on Malt removed completely. Brewing flourished, and Scottish beer drinkers still enjoy the results today.

1. Three Sisters Scottish Ale (4.2%abv)
The Atlas Brewery, Kinlochleven.
500ml glass bottle

The Atlas Brewery sits on the site of an old aluminium smelter in the town of Kinlochleven, a few miles south of the Highland town of Fort WIlliam. The brewery was founded on the site after it ended its 75 years of production, in 2002. Using local water with five varieties of imported hops, they have several seasonal beers and three favourites – Latitude, Nimbus, and Three Sisters Ale. The latter is named after a mountain range in nearby Glencoe. You can contract Atlas to brew a personal beer for you, which they will produce to your specifications and either bottle or put in kegs before delivering it to your door.

What They Say – “A lightly malted beer with a short, hoppy, bitter finish.” [The Good Beer Guide]; “A dark, fruity, refreshing ale with chocolate and crystal malts to give it a dark ruby colour, and a characteristic toasty and liquorice flavour.” [Atlas Brewery]

What We Say – “It’s bitter but flavoursome, smells malty, tastes malty. It gets better the warmer it gets.” [Shovels]; “First off it smells of whisky, but it tastes darker than it looks. It’s a grower, not a pub beer as it’s got a strong taste – but it’s nice.” [Mr B]; “It tastes of chocolate, but is very bitter – and it doesn’t keep it’s head. It’s an acquired taste, not immediately drinkable. Not really sure I like it.” [Richard]

2. Old Engine Oil Dark Beer (6%abv)
Harviestoun Brewery, Alva.
330ml glass bottle

Originially sited in a 200yr old stone barn, Harviestoun now produce their wares in a modern site on an Industrial Estate in central Scotland. They have been lavished with awards, the undoubted pundit’s favourite being Schiehallion, which has won seven CAMRA British champion medals in the nine years it has been produced. They won the Champion Beer of Britain in 2003 for Bitter and Twisted. Their brewery is sited in Alva, a small town of 5000 in the foot of the Ochil Mountains, near Stirling. It was founded by Ken Brooker, a former worker at Ford’s Dagenham motor plant – hence the name given to their darkest product.

What They Say – “A near black brew with a silky-smooth rummy aroma, a coffee-ish palate, and a suggestion of the darkest chocolate.” [Beer Hunter]; “The palate is full and malty, with dark burnt fruits and the promised liquorice and chocolate in abundance, with a slightly wine-gum-like quality offset by a bracing coffeeish hop bitterness.” [Oxford Bottled Beer Database]; “Strong and dark but wickedly, wickedly smooth. Chocolate dominates the flavour, which is nicely balanced by the bitterness of the hops. A delicious “after dinner” beer which leaves a bittersweet aftertaste to savour.” [Harviestoun Brewery]

What We Say – “Not fruity at all, there’s all kinds of things going on. Jet black – there’s no light coming through it. Big coffee/liquorice flavour.” [Richard]; “It really looks like oil, it’s blacker than Guinness. Very syrupy – it’s stronger than the last one.” [Shovels]; “It doesn’t smell of anything much, but there’s a bit hit on the back of the tongue. I get some rummyness and coffee – it’s nice.” [Mr B]

3. Arran Blonde Premium Beer (5%abv)
The Arran Brewery, Brodick.
500ml glass bottle

There are only 621 people in Brodick, but they are lucky to have a brewery right on their doorsteps. Arran (not to be confused with the sweater-loving Aran in Ireland) is Britain’s ninth largest island, an hour’s ferry ride from the mainland. Production started in early 2000, and now outputs 200 barrels a week, plus additional bottles for the busy supermarket trade. They have an amber ale, a malty dark, and a hoppy blonde in their range – the last one of these was sampled by the panel.

What They Say – “Arran Blonde has a floral hop and new mown grass aroma, the taste is well balanced with citric fruit and a good hop character. A clear tasting pale golden beer in a continental style.” [Arran Brewery]; “A hoppy beer with a substantial fruit balance, the finish is increasingly bitter. Aromatic, it drinks below it’s weight.” [The Good Beer Guide]

What We Say – “One of my favourite beers. Not as nice a smell as others, but easy to drink quite a lot of this in a night.” [Mr B]; “Hoppy, not malty. It looks like a lager and goes down much easier than the other two. It’s my favourite so far.” [Richard]; “This is quite tasty, despite the smell. It’s better than any lager out there.” [Shovels]

4. Black Isle Organic B.C. Wheat Beer (4.5%abv)
Black Isle Organic Brewery, Munlochy
500ml glass bottle

Whilst Arran is an island (and two islands if you count Irish Aran), the Black Isle isn’t. Surrounded on three sides by water (the Moray, Cromarty and Beauly Firths), the other side is a river. North of the highland capital Inverness, the Black Isle Organic Brewing Corporation started in 1998, and are based in an 18th Century building. They only use locally malted organic barley and wheat, and four of their six regular beers are bottle conditioned – live yeast ferments for a second time after production, resulting in a thicker brew with some sediment, but also more taste.

What They Say – “A semi-cloudy Belgian-style wheat beer brewed with orange and coriander. Delicious served with mussels and crusty bread.” [Black Isle Brewery]

What We Say – “It smells like a root vegetable, tingles the top of the mouth.” [Shovels]; “There’s a cooked garden pea/cabbagey smell to it – but it’s very refreshing. If you get the dregs it’s a bit chunky.” [Mr B]; “This smells quite bad, and it looks like bathwater. But it’s really good.” [Richard] *

* We found during tasting that we were actually drinking a bottle almost three months out of date. This possibly made it taste better, but smell worse…

So based on the three-member panel, it would seem Arran Blonde came out a clear favourite. Join us next time for the other five Scottish beers in the second half of Episode 1 – a similar range from lighter ales to darker stouts. Stay tuned for the debut BeerCast podcast, reaching the airwaves as soon as it’s been edited and compressed into something worth listening to (hopefully). Also, coming very shortly – our special post on the first BeerSnack tested. Tried along with the Black Isle Wheat Beer, as promised in the previous post it’s the most famous British beer snack ever. It is, of course, the humble pork scratching. Deserving of it’s own entry here, find out what they are, how they are made, and whether we liked them. (I’ll give you a hint – all the panellists totally agreed on that last aspect).

Until then, enjoy your beer.

Panellists – Mr B, Shovels, Richard