Another Craft Beer Festival for Scotland

Wow. Another craft beer festival comes to Scotland. This time from a couple of blokes called Richard Servranckx and Dan Quille.

Richard and Dan hail from Leith in Edinburgh, and this November they plan on putting on the Craft Beer Revolution Beer Festival in the city's Assembly Roxy.

The line-up's sweet. Pilot, Howling Hops, Top Out, Spey Valley, Six Degrees North, Up Front Brewing, Panda Frog Project and its sister Mordue, Fallen Brewing, Northern Alchemy, Tryst, Fyne Ales, Alechemy, Parisis and Arbikie Gin & Vodka.

Brilliant, huh? Oh, and it's a three-day bash. From November 24-26.

Food will come from Scoff, The Buffalo Truck and the Babu Bombay Street Kitchen. Cleaver & Keg Charcuterie Trollies will meander around the festival offering cured meats to pair with the beers available. Hmmm, maybe not one for vegans and vegetarians then ...?

But what I also like is that these guys are putting a bit of social enterprise into the mix, too. Brewgooder - who donate a share of profits to clean water projects in the majority world countries - are both sponsors and beneficiaries of the Craft Beer Revolution's charity pitch.

Clearly, this is likely to be another great addition to a busy calendar of beery events in Scotland. So I was a wee bit bemused when I read the following in the boys' press release, quoting Dan as saying:

"I recently visited America and was blown away by how popular craft beer was there. Here in Edinburgh it’s still the norm to go into a bar and order a pint of one of the big brands, so we decided to put our love of micro-brewed beer to good use and organise a festival that will introduce people to the amazing range of craft beers that are produced here on our doorstep and support the craft beer industry."

I'd like to think that ordering a pint of Big Brand isn't so much the norm nowadays, but maybe that's me and the pubs I infrequently visit and the few mates whose company I rarely get to enjoy. I also think that the brewery list is going to excite those folks who've already been introduced to craft beer. But hey, how many beer festivals have I organised? Still, the quote irked a wee bit as it suggested Scotland as a good beer-loving nation isn't that far down the road of craft. I'd suggest it is. But then I haven't been to America either.

Since moving to Edinburgh, I've been frankly blown away by how many pubs sell good beer from good breweries, and also how far Glasgow still has to go, though it's no wasteland. Having said that, my wee local in the East has a better range of beers than most of the pubs along Byres Road.

Big money is being invested in wee breweries. Expansion, rebrands, upgrades and launches are continuing. That there's another beer festival being launched just shows how turned on people are to good beer. So good on you Dan and Richard. I hope it's a big success. I'm looking forward to this one.

Tickets are a tenner though you can get them for £8 if you buy in the next couple of weeks.

See www.revolutioncraftbeer.com for tickets and more info, and see the graphic below for the breweries involved. Belter!

Beer Reviews: Wookey Jack by Firestone Walker and five other great Black IPAs

Wookey Jack by Firestone Walker

Over the past couple of decades, as folks have woken up to great beer, we've seen the emergence of new styles and flavours as innovative brewers put their own slant on old recipes, as well as the revival of very old styles.

One of the newer styles to gain popularity is the oxymoronic Black IPA.

India Pale Ales are heavily hopped light-coloured beers that date from the heyday of the British Empire. Black IPAs, however, hail from the 1990s, when craft breweries on America's East and West coasts started added heaps of their local hops to dark malty beers to create lip-smacking bittering, exciting aromas and juicy, fruity flavours.

"Black IPAs," explains Derek Hoy of specialists Hippo Beers in Glasgow, " are stunning and complex beers when done well. It can be really difficult for brewers to get the balance right but when they do, the results are incredible."

For an incredible example of the style, try Wookey Jack black rye IPA (8.3%) from California's Firestone Walker. As Derek Hoy says: "Until now Firestone Walker have been one of the many excellent American craft breweries largely out of reach of UK-based beer fans. They've won 'Best Mid-sized Brewery' four times at the Beer World Cup and rightly so; and their arrival in the UK has created a real air of excitement."

Firestone Walker's Wookey Jack is one of the best examples of the Black IPA style you will ever get your hands on. So take your time with this one. And buy two.

First off, the aroma is a pungent blast of fresh hops, caramel, orange, citrus and earthy spices. You could breathe it in and die happy.

The flavour, though, is just divine. The alcohol is there, but it's in no way distracting. Instead, you'll enjoy amazingly complex flavours of dried figs, raisins, roasted coffee, rye spices, plum, caramel and grapefruit.

But what makes this beer so great is the balance. The sweet malts and bittering and aroma hops all blend perfectly together, building up to a long, smooth and woody conclusion that closes with a long and multi-layered velvety finish. Beautiful.

Five other great Black IPAs

In the Dark We Live (7.2%)
One of the best Black IPAs around. This beautifully balanced and deliciously complex beer brings out flavours of coffee and toasted malts, citrus pine, dark berries and spices. The aroma is intense; the finish long. A triumph from the team at Tempest Brewing Co in Galashiels.

Bea black rye IPA (6%)
The sweet aroma of fresh hops and rich treacle doesn't prepare you for the black coffee bitterness of this beer from Rotterdam's Kaapse Brouwers. It's tangy with a long, salty finish with subtle tropical hop flavours easing in under the domineering malts.

Magic 8 Ball (7%)
Tropical fruits - pineapple, grapefruit and mango - abound in this dark velvety beer from Magic Rock in Huddersfield. Rich roasted malt flavours, hints of coffee and chocolate, and a juicy centre that evolves into medium bitter finish.

India Pale Ale Black (6.8%)
The big, big hops really overwhelm the dark malts in this black IPA, from Londoners Kernel, whose take on the style ramps up the juicy bitterness and grapefruit flavours.

Sanda Black IPA (5.5%)
A recent revision of Fyne Ale's recipe turned this black IPA from alright to awesome. Along with coffee-like bittering and toasted malts, it's heavily hopped using Nelson Sauvin from New Zealand, blasting out juicy-fruit flavours of gooseberry and passion fruit.

Beer Review: Loch Lomond Silkie Stout - Champion Cask Beer of Scotland

Silkie Stout by Loch Lomond Brewery

What a result for Fiona and Euan MacEachern and the team at Loch Lomond Brewery! The Alexandria-based brewery took four golds and the Champion Cask Beer of Scotland prize at last week's SIBA Scotland beer contest. 

The bash took place at in Glasgow's Drygate, and while Fiona admits to having had an underlying optimism about Silkie Stout given its consistently good feedback, in no way were she and her team prepared for such a hefty haul. Their superb Silkie Stout, which won the Champion Cask Beer of Scotland, was picked out from more than 100 beers from 36 breweries.

It’s a brilliant result for the Alexandria-based brewery, which only launched in 2011. In the four years since, they’ve built a reputation for consistently good beer that caters to both traditional drinkers (see Silkie Stout and their 80/- Kessog), and hop-lovers (try gold winners Bravehop IPA and Southern Summit). 

It’s also a huge thumbs-up from those in the trade. The 50 or so judges at the Society of Independent Brewers event included brewers, bar owners, hoteliers, bloggers and other assorted beer lovers. It was, says Fiona, “just fantastic”, to get this sort of recognition from such a large swathe of industry peers. It also gives Loch Lomond a solid platform from which to develop their “massive plans for the brewery” over the next couple of years.

Taking silver overall was Seven Peaks Mosaic IPA, brewed by Drygate’s Jake Griffin. After honing his brewing skills at Fyne Ales, he must have been delighted to have seen off their classic Jarl, a ubiquitous presence in winner’s lists at beer festivals. Jarl took bronze overall, gold in the Standard Bitters and Pale Ale round and gold in the Champion bottled beer category.

The winners of each heat go through to the UK-wide Beer X bash in Sheffield in March.

Six Gold Winning Beers

Silkie Stout by Loch Lomond Brewery (5%)

Sweet and smooth with aromas of coffee and chocolate, Scotland’s champion cask ale also has hints of dark berries, caramel and liquorice. Easy to drink it’s also sufficiently layered to please the beer geeks. The long, dry finish will have you coming back for more.

Seven Peaks Mosaic IPA by Drygate Brewery (5%)

Winner of the Strong Bitters and Pale Ales round, Seven Peaks takes its name from the jaggy roof of the Drygate building. It’s a belter of an IPA; heavy on the hops with heaps of tropical fruits – melon, peach and citrus - from the titular mosaic hops. Finishes bitter with a bit of caramel malt helping to round it off.

Jarl by Fyne Ales (3.8%)

If Jarl were a person this golden-coloured ale would surely be crushed under the weight of prizes heaped upon what is one of Scotland’s most popular beers. It’s crisp, clean and refreshing, with citrus and floral hops to the front. Its Imperial big brother Ragnorak (7.4%) won gold in the Premium Strong round.

Weizen by Windswept Brewing Co (5.2%)

Windswept’s take on the German style hefeweizen won the SIBA Speciality Beer round. Flavours of caramel malt and earthy citrus, as well as an inviting combination of banana and cloves, typical of the wheat beer style.

Pale Ale by Swannay Brewery (4.7%)

More amber than pale, Swannay’s prize-winning ale took the Gold for Premium Bitters and Pale Ales. It’s a citrus hop-forward beer, with a rich aroma that also carries pine and floral notes. Held together marvellously by a sweet biscuit-flavoured malt that leads you to a balanced bitter finish.

Fathom by Jaw Brew (4.0%)

Fathom won the Standard Mild Ales & Brown Ales, and pours the colour of coal black, with just a hint of colour coming through. Flavours of coffee, smoke, treacle and dark berries in this waxy and malt-heavy brew.

Fyne Ales Naughty and Nice ales

Fyne Ales Naughty and Nice ales 5.2% 

Fyne Ales Naughty and Nice

Christmas is a magical time for beer-lovers, with breweries up and down the country bringing out festive specials, from barley wines and spiced porters to heavily hopped golden ales that smell like a hillside of pine trees.

Fyne Ales, based a few hundred metres from the Loch Fyne oyster bar, have just released this year's festive perennial, Holly Daze, a pleasing hearty amber ale. However, it's their devilishly delicious twin releases that deserve a place in your fridge this Christmas. Fyne's Naughty and Nice black and white ales are pleasingly punchy, distinctively different, and give glad tidings of things to come as Fyne's £2m brewery expansion moves nearer to coming online.

Fyne Ales Naughty Black Ale has a sharp spicy and smoky aroma, and pours a luxurious deep black with a hint of bloody red. This is one for drinking with plum pudding. It starts with rich, sweet malts, then hits you with a rush of bitterness. Its sharpness pushes it towards whisky ales territory, though its spirited tartness isn't as pronounced as your typical whisky beers. Naughty is chewy and tarry, with a strong burnt flavour, with complex hints of winter berries, cherries, prunes and dried fruits.

The Nice White IPA couldn't be more different. The light citrus and pine aroma carries with it a hint of yeast, and it pours a lively, exciting light golden. A caramel malt sweetness tickles you at first but this is followed though by buttered popcorn then melon and apricot before giving way to a big hop blast and a long, lingering bitterness.

Both are brilliant, come in at 5.2%, and served in 330ml bottles.

A version of this review appeared on heraldscotland.com