Houston, come in Houston

I'm way behind on my reviews.

I haven't done the one for the US tinned beer I had up Ben A'an with two of my best mates after an afternoon of climbing. 

I haven't done the Traquihairymairy one I had when I was pished with my brother and his woman. 

I haven't done the shitey cheapo Tesco wans I had the night we played the Game of Thrones game. 

And I haven't done the Profanity Stout one I had outside Stravaigin with my mate Fulton who's leaving newspapers to emigrate to Ireland to become a novelist.

But I have done one for Houston Crystal.

First, the preamble.

Got some really fucking grim news today. But not, in the grand scale of things, that grim. I'm not dying. My family aren't dying. My friends are dying. But still, it was bad news.

So, Houston Crystal.

Houston pale ale is made and sold on or near the premises of the Fox and the Hounds pub in Houston. The beer's good, and I'm sure the pub is tiptop, but they have one of the worst brewery websites I've clicked upon in quite a while. And it's had a recent makeover, too.

Still, the beer's good, and that's what really counts, no?

It poured amber, rich and inviting, with a bold fast heavy head that lasted for about 30 seconds. The mad wee bubbles were pure radge and kept their ferocious assault going until about the halfway line. I got a bit hypnotised by them for a moment.  

Nose, I got a tang of yeast and a summery fresh aroma. Then on the taste a zesty malt flavour with a hoppy presence and a bitter finish that was rounded on the palette as it went down. Wafts of flowers/spices but neither in your face nor too light. Sweet burnt toffee coming through off the crystal malts. 

It was a good beer. Well balanced in all. A beer you could drink pints of. But, I felt, with the exception of its radge head, this beer lacked excitement. Or maybe that's just me.

Anyhow, would hoppily have again. 

Aldi anything for a beer

Selection of bottles in Aldi beer festival

Buying beer is one of my favourite things to do. So it's nice when a chain comes along and says, "Hey, do you like buying good beer? Well, we're gonna do a beer festival, just for you."

So says Aldi, yon German market with the random crazy aisle. Kicks off this Thursday and over the following five weeks beer from around 30 Scottish breweries will be on sale. And we ain't talking Carling. We're talking independents the likes of Eden Brewery, Highland Brewing Company, Houston, Oban Bay and West Beer.

Examples include:

Orkney Blast, Highland Brewing Co, 500ml bottle for £1.99
Foxy Blonde – Scottish Borders Brewery, 500ml bottle for £1.69
Red Monk of Iona – Isle of Mull brewery, 500ml bottle for £1.89
California Common – Knops Brewery, 500ml bottle for £1.99
Brockville Pale – Tryst Brewery, 500ml for £1.79
Lightness – Loch Ness Brewery, 500ml bottle for £1.89

This is Aldi's second bash at a craft beer style festival, and is a solid commitment to Scotland's independent breweries - let's hope it's rewarding to all concerned, though I wonder how long it'll be until the bigger players try to muscle in?

Beer is the News

Munro's in Glasgow. Just opened. 

In Glasgow, new bar Munro's has finally opened on Great Western Road. It's putting itself out there as a craft beer bar, so I'm greatly looking forward to getting along and sampling the cask ales they've got on offer. Their website's not doing much, but their Facebook and Twitter chat is a bit more lively. Good luck guys. 

PR super agent and micro-berwer Seb Jones of Speyside Craft Brewery got himself in the pages of The Herald AND the Forres Gazette with the news he's launching a Save the Dolphins-type ale. If you drink enough of their Bottlenose Bitter, it says on the label, you turn into some sort of James Bond meets John McClane eco-warrior. Or maybe profits to charity or something. Read about it here, here or here. 

Meanwhile, those beer nuts at Inveralmond got a bit of a write-up in The Courier for getting a six-figure funding boost from, err, oh, the article didn't say. Well, this, err, six-figure investment should afford a wee bit of expansion, both in capacity and in export markets. Great stuff.

Then there was this little ditty in The Herald about Houston hostelry Fox and the Hounds landing a deal with a major upmarket national deli chain to stock their rather drinkable Crystal beer. Aldi wants 7000 bottles of the stuff. Not bad at all. 

Finally, there's the splendid announcement that The Herald and Sunday Herald are to host a craft ale event on Sunday, March 24th. Kicks off in Citation in Glasgow at around noon, and lasts four or five hours. The do has someone speaking at it. You get lunch AND beer. You also get to tug on the beards of brewers from Alechemy, Eden, Innis & Gunn, and Loch Fyne. Tickets are £30.