The BeerCast

The concept of seasonality is now one of the hallmarks of modern cooking, pushed to the general public by the ranks of TV chefs and foodie magazines. Everything has a ‘time of year’, whether it’s the British asparagus, salty samphire, or humble mackerel (as one BeerCaster asked for in a fancy Edinburgh fishmonger’s, only to be embarrassed in front of a queue of shoppers when told there were none in the sea at that time of year). But can this approach be transferred to beer? Hops are seasonal, certainly, but after the harvest they can be dried and used at any time. It’s down to the styles and types of beer that can be varied depending on what the calendar says.

Now that Autumn is on us, it’s time to change the attitude and go for something different. The long summer (or in our case, short summer) is over, so the time for light hoppy pale ales is over. No need for urgent, tingling refreshment on a hot day now the clocks have gone back (or forward, as I put mine by mistake). Autumn brings crunchy leaves, darker nights, cool windy afternoons – and should be celebrated by the glorious British bitter. There can’t be another brewing nation on earth that can put out a finer nutty, foaming brown ale than us Brits – and now’s the time to partake.

So until the winter arrives and we all move on to warming stouts and porters, and then Christmas beers with alcohol and spice (before celebrating the return of Spring with zesty golden ales), take time out for a fruity, toffee-ish best bitter. Let the rich mouthfeel and malt characteristics reward you after that long Autumnal walk, or spot of Christmas Shopping (it’s never to early – and most breweries have online stores). Here are five choice Scottish beers for the season - Bitters, Ruby Ales, ESB’s, Amber Ales – all styles are well suited to this time of year. As we head towards November – have a seasonal beer on us.

1. Maverick (4.2%abv)
Fyne Ales, Cairndow, Argyll.
Classic fruity mahogany ale from BeerCast favourites Fyne Ales.

2. Red Kite (4.2%abv)
Black Isle Brewery, Munlochy, Black Isle.
Technically an amber ale, organically brewed north of Inverness.

3. Red Squirrel (3.9%abv)
Arran Brewery, Brodick, Isle of Arran.
Nutty, malty beer that donates to Red Squirrel charities on Arran.

4. St Magnus Ale (4.5%abv)
Highland Brewing Company, Swannay, Orkney.
Another nutty one, but with more roast than the Red Squirrel.

5. Red MacGregor (4.0%abv)
Sinclair Orkney Brewery, Quoyloo, Orkney.
Fruity ruby ale, current silver medal Champion Beer of Scotland.

(looking slightly further afield, five English beers that would go down very well on an Autumn evening are Bath Ales Barnstormer, York’s Yorkshire Terrier, Bristol Beer Factory No.7, Fuller’s ESB, and Daleside Old Leg Over).

Grooben checking the beer list

Another day, another day at the beer festival. We returned to the Assembly Rooms for a second helping of the best of Scotland’s real ale, eager to see what else we could discover. The beers were pretty much the same as the day before, so we fired straight into the list sampling ones that had caught our eye from the Friday. The first beer I went for was the weakest in the entire festival - the traditional Scottish mild, Belhaven 60/- (2.9%). Brewed to a very old recipe, it was characteristically light and roasty. Milds always taste to me like watered-down porters, and this one was no exception. But as a delicate starter beer, it was a nice subtle start to the proceedings.

Next up it was the newest beer from Edinburgh’s other producer, Stewart’s Edinburgh Marathon Ale (4.2%). This family-run brewery from Loanhead make some great beers such as Pentland IPA and Edinburgh Gold, both of which were also at the festival - but Marathon was one I’d yet to sample. It was a very drinkable malty session bitter in the - dare I say it - ‘Northern style’. There was a touch of sweetness to it as well, which came through in the aftertaste. After that, I went for one I was looking forward to from the preview list - Plockton’s Starboard IPA (5.1%). One of Scotland’s smallest breweries, they are attached to the Plockton Inn in the Ross-shire village of the same name, and started up in 2007. Starboard is a strong hoppy IPA with a fantastic dry bitterness. It was pretty cloudy stuff, but that didn’t affect the taste at all - it was superb.

Beer four was one that was also highly rated - it had just been awarded the Champion Beer of Scotland for 2009, decided on the previous day. Sinclair Orkney’s Raven Ale (3.8%) won the top prize, becoming the third consecutive champion beer from that group of northern islands (following 2008’s Scapa Special and 2007’s Dark Munro, both from the Orkney Brewery). Their neighbours Sinclair Orkney did very well indeed this year, picking up second overall as well with Red MacGregor (third placed was Caledonian XPA). Raven had a sweet smell and taste, which was predominantly fruity with a growing biscuit aftertaste. It was nice, and certainly improved as you drank it, but for me there were better beers on show this year.

For example, Fyne Ales Vital Spark (4.4%) is a dark ruby ale with so much fruit in the malt it almost tastes of blackcurrants. The hops come and go, and the richness of flavour give it a great lasting finish. It’s fantastically drinkable, and a prime example of a session beer that isn’t pale and slightly hoppy. However, we learned at the festival about the sad death of Fyne Ale’s co-owner Jonny Delap. It was only a couple of months ago that we met him on a trip to Cairndow in Argyll to pick up some beers for a long weekend - he was such a friendly man and will be sadly missed.

The last beer I tried in the festival was Hillside/Deeside’s Broichan (5.2%). After thinking very highly of their Nechtan yesterday, the Broichan was just as interesting, although very different. A strong Scottish ale, this was fruity but not like Vital Spark - more pruney than blackcurrant. There was a smokiness to it as well - the tasting notes suggested it would be a “perfect beer for fireside drinking with cheese and oatcakes”. I don’t think you can argue with that, it was even pretty good when drunk around a rickety table on a Friday afternoon.

So that was it, another Scottish Real Ale Festival over. We managed to get through a huge amount of differing ales, with various degrees of success. The overall winners might have been Raven Ale, Red MacGregor and Caledonian XPA - but for us the standouts were Windie Goat’s Gutter Slab, Hillside/Deeside’s Nechtan, and Plockton’s Starboard IPA. We’ll hit the festivals again at August’s Great British Beer Festival in London. See you there…

Gift packs are a relatively new phenomenon in the real ale world - multipacks of beers on a theme for easy purchase in supermarkets. Either several beers showcasing one producer, or a mixed pack giving a selction, they serve as a safe bet for people willing to go above the usual randomly-chosen bottles for that real ale fan. But are they any good? One such gift set is Great British Ales, which consists of two beers from England and one each from Wales and Scotland. Unfortunate for real ale fans in Northern Ireland then - maybe a true British Ales selection could include one from somewhere like the Whitewater Brewery? Anyway, be that as it may, this particular pack features four ales - here’s the BeerCast’s verdict…

Black Dog 3.6%
Elgoods Brewery, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire
“Our award-winning dark mild, full of roast malt flavour” says the back of the bottle - and we love an award-winning ale here on the BeerCast. A mild though? Our (admittedly limited) experience of that particular style of beer hasn’t been a good one until now. But Black Dog is really rather good. It is roasty, with a touch of the dreaded caramel and a dark molasses aftertaste - it’s almost like a shandy version of Theakston’s Old Peculier. It certainly has more taste than any of the milds I’ve had before - probably put together.

Fraoch Heather Ale 5.0%
Heather Ales Ltd, Alloa, Scotland
We’re no strangers to Fraoch, indeed it featured in our BeerCast #23 when we looked at beers with unusual added ingredients. It scored 50% that day - we’re immune to accusations of Scottish favoritism here - even though it is produced by the affable Williams Brothers, Bruce and Scott. Pronounced ‘fro-ik’, it has a “floral peaty aroma, full malt body, a spicy herbal flavour and a dry wine like finish” according to the label. There is a dryness there, but it couples with the floral taste from the heather really very well.

Double Dragon Ale 4.2%
Felinfoel Brewery, Llanelli
‘The National Ale of Wales’ according to the boast on the label, Felinfoel’s Double Dragon pours a rich dark brown and has a seriously malty aroma. This continues in the taste - malt malt malt all the way, with a sweetness at the end. It actually gets sweeter the more you have. This is in no way negative - it’s a very good brown ale, and certainly belongs in the pack due to the style. It gets a bonus for being named after a tremendous 80’s computer game, as well.

Spitfire 4.5%
Shepherd Neame, Faversham, Kent
Spitfire is also a British ale in the classic style, so no surprises to see it included in the selection. Amusingly it describes itself as ‘The Bottle of Britain’ - ho ho - yet it actually tastes pretty similar to the Double Dragon. Also a dark nutty brown colour, it has a consistent malty flavour. According to the tasting notes, a ‘generous aroma of tangy malt’ can be detected, and this is imparted on the taste as well - tangy is the word for this one. Average is another. It would be better if it was a bit stronger maybe, but it’s certainly drinkable.

Nothing stomach-churningly awful in the Great British Ales gift pack then - but what would we like to see in a similar set? We’re a British beer website after all. Despite my opening tirade, sadly we’ve yet to taste any beers from Northern Ireland so we’ll follow the country format of the original pack. Here are the BeerCast’s suggestions for a Great British Ales boxed set…

St Peter’s India Pale Ale 5.5%
St Peter’s Brewery, Suffolk
The first thing to package up is an IPA - just one of the many styles of beer we’ve given to the world. Admittedly several other countries have down a lot more with it since, but the 5%-ish India Pale Ale is one of the quintessential British beers. We’d be tempted to rock the boat with something like BrewDog’s Hardcore IPA, but as this is a mass-marketed boxed set, something classic like St Peter’s India Pale Ale, from Bungay in Suffolk. Hopped to survive lengthy voyages, it’s robust and really zesty.

Brains SA Gold 4.7%
Brains Brewery, Cardiff
Our Welsh offering is from the most successful brewery from the country - Brains. Their flagship beer is Brains SA, a dark coppery ale similar to Spitfire or Double Dragon (although none of the parties may appreciate the comparison). But they produce a fantastic golden ale which I enjoyed tremendously during a trip to the Welsh capital last year. Us Brits invented the golden ale - and pioneers like the wonderful Hop Back Summer Lightning and Exmoor’s Exmoor Gold are world-renowned. But they make great golden ales outside of the South West of England, too.

Yorkshire Terrier 4.2%
York Brewery, York
York Brewery was established in 1996 at the site of an old motorcycle showroom inside the city’s famous walls. Any foursome of ales from this part of the world has to include a premium best bitter - and Yorkshire Terrier certainly is that. Named after a small dog that used to be taken to work every day by it’s brewer owner, this one mixes well the lively hops and creamy malt. The Great British Ales set seems to be all about tradition, so there’s no chance we could put one out without a northern English bitter.

Dark Island 4.6%
Sinclair Brewery, Orkney
It would also be unforgivable to put out a best of British selection and not include a porter or a stout - and the very greatest exponent of that style is Sinclair Orkney Dark Island. Twice CAMRA Champion beer of Scotland, it’s an iconic standard bearer for traditional Scottish ales (their words, not mine). They never really refer to it as a porter, only a ‘very dark beer with a ruby tint’ - but however you pigeonhole it, Dark Island is wonderful. Chocolate, figs, dried fruit, it’s warming, malty and moreish, with hops on the finish. It’s at the very top of British beers.

One of Scotland’s classic beers could be in a whole lot of trouble. The Sinclair Orkney Brewery’s standout barleywine Skull Splitter (8.5%abv) has fallen foul of drinks industry watchdogs the Portman Group over it’s “aggressive” theme. The London based organisation have a strict (and rigidly enforced) code of practice on the naming and promotion of alcoholic drinks, to protect us members of the public from all kinds of potential evils:-

“The Code prohibits the marketing of alcoholic drinks to under-18s; the alcohol content of a drink must be made absolutely clear; its alcoholic strength should not be dominant; it must not encourage rapid or down-in-one drinking; there must be no association with illegal drugs, bravado, aggression or anti-social behaviour and any suggestion that the drink will lead to sexual success or increased popularity is also banned…”

Just recently a management consultancy (PIPC) produced a report for the Portman Group and highlighted Skull Splitter because “it’s name implies violence and also the impact the strength may have on the drinker”. If found to be in breach of the code (the Portman Group will meet later in the year to consider the PIPC report), Skull Splitter could be removed from sale. An idle threat? A quick look at their website reveals ‘Cider Drinks taken off shelves’ (Blackout Cider was deemed to carry “strong connotations of alcohol-induced unconsciousness”, and Mega White Cider was pulled up because the label described it’s ‘mega strength’).

It should be stressed that the group are made up of members of the drinks industry themselves, and any complaints made to them are heard by an independent panel currently chaired by former Director General of the Prison Service, Sir Richard Tilt. They switched to marketing regulation in the mid-1990’s alcopop boom, and no doubt saved many schoolkids hangovers as a result. They are also behind the established Drinkaware campaign.

But Skull Splitter is no Mega White Cider - it’s one of Scotland’s best barleywines, and massively popular (particularly in North America, where they know a thing or two about 8-12%’ers). It’s not sold in supermarkets or off licences, has won numerous awards, and the suggested food pairing on the label is pâté, for crying out loud! If the name Skull Splitter is aggressive, it’s because it’s named after Thorfinn Hausakluif, the Seventh Viking Earl of Orkney - who clearly had a firm way of settling arguments.

And as for the ‘implication that the strength will have on the drinker’ - how are breweries supposed to market strong ales? The first one specifically labelled as a barley wine was the turn of the century Bass No.1 Ale - no implication there. But all you have to do is Google for that style of drink, and what names do you get? Headcracker, Blithering Idiot, Old Horizontal, Buzzard’s Breath, and the quite brilliant Baz’s Bonce Blower. Are the Portman Group going after all of these as well?

The bottom line is Skull Splitter is a serious product, not cheap pissup fuel. The Portman Group have a serious responsibility, and removing the likes of Blackout Cider from our shelves can’t be that much of a bad thing (and that particular complaint was lodged from within the industry, by the National Association of Cider Makers) - but honestly, let’s hope common sense prevails and the Sinclair Orkney Brewery retain their strong ale and can continue to market it to lovers of strong beer everywhere…

…incidentally, we tried the beer in question when the BeerCast visited the Scottish Beer Festival in June. For the record, this is what we thought. We’ll keep you posted on the findings of the complaints panel when they meet later in the year.

5. Skull Splitter (8.5%)
Sinclair Orkney Brewery, Quoyloo, Orkney.
Recently named Scotland’s best Barleywine for 2008, Skull Splitter 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.

Brewery’s Skull Splitter Headache [BBC]
Sinclair Breweries

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