Beer Review: Space Frontier by To Øl and Brew Fist

Humanity's Final Frontier might be Up There, but breweries down here are still pushing barriers when it comes to making beer. Collaborations, wacky ingredients, new strains of hops and ageing methods are being used by the next generation of enterprising brewers to explore new styles and seek out new tastes, boldly brewing where no brewery has gone before. (Sorry.)

Space Frontier is a bold, newish collaboration between To Øl of Denmark and Brew Fist from Italy. One of its ingredients is grape must, a product from wine production comprising grape juice, the skin and seeds. It's something more and more Italian brewers are using as they look to distinguish their country's craft beer culture from a busy and vibrant global marketplace.  

Space Frontier (6.5%) is a strong, bitter (70 IBU) heavy-hopped pale ale that will particularly appeal to the geek in you. Like sci-fi? You'll love the label.

The aroma is sweet, floral hops, soft fruits like peach and light maltiness, as if you were close to, but upwind, of a brewery.

It poured a light straw golden, hazy an opaque, the colour of autumnal heat haze, with a lively dose of carbonation and a healthy head.

It's got a big taste this - the citra and mosaic hops really make their mark. The bitterness grabs you at the back of the throat first, then woos you with notions of grapefruit and lime citrus, a sweetness of dates and juicy fruit gums, and all as if you were standing in the middle of a pine forest ... though still upwind from that nearby brewery.

Each drink wipes clean your palate for a long, stretched-out and slightly sour finish that leaves your mouth tingling. The texture is both lively and smooth. And even with the big-hitting bitterness, the fruity, gloopy syrupy sweetness remains, balancing well with a light biscuit malt backbone and the dry aftertaste at the back of your mouth.

Beer Review: Hefe wheat beer by Stewart Brewing

 

Stewart Brewing in Edinburgh are one of the champions of Scotland's breweries. Beers like Radical Road and Edinburgh Gold have become established classics, while their Craft Beer Kitchen has opened the brewery to new generations of homebrewers. The beer kitchen also, crucially, lets them experiment and develop new beers. Carrot and coriander anyone?

This time around they've revamped their traditional German-style hefeweizen beer, a style common on the continent but less so here in Scotland, where detractors are turned off by the style's distinctive phenolic and estery flavours. It also, to be fair, has its legions of fans.

Wheat beers are traditionally heavily carbonated and Stewart's Hefe (5.4%) is no different. It pours very lively indeed giving a thick foamy head. Hefe beers are bottled-conditioned so as well as a naturally cloudy glass you're going to get some yeast sediment.

Fittingly, this hefe (it means yeast by the way) opens with an aroma of phenol and esters - that pungent yeast smell typical of wheat beers. So, expect a good hit of cloves and tart citrus, as if you were sniffing a grapefruit while sitting in a dentist's waiting room. There's banana and an ozone freshness loitering there too.

An initial sour hit is briskly followed by a medium bitter and crisp finish, and long distinctively yeasty aftertaste. The clove/grapefruit combo is there, joined by a mild sweetness coming off the malt, bringing balance to the bitterness and helping to retain a graceful texture despite the carbonation - no gaseous belches like you get with some lagers. As the glass goes down, the character of the beer remains fairly constant, with the clove and banana ever-present and the citrus opening up to give you a touch of clementine and hard apricot.

Beer Review: Orkney Porter Arran Bere Whisky Cask Edition by Highland Brewing Company

 

Whisky beers were quite the thing last year, with even the mighty Tennent's getting in on the act and taking their whisky oak-aged beer global to follow in the footsteps of trailblazers such as Innis & Gunn and Harviestoun. The latter's Ola Dubh is one of the best examples of this style.

It's a difficult drink to get right. The beer - generally a Big Beer - is left to mature in whisky casks for anything up to six months, and in some cases much, much longer. The spirit in the cask infuses with the beer, giving off distinctive whisky characteristics typical of the region. The flavours don't always balance, however, and just because you're a massive whisky buff doesn't necessarily mean you'll like a beer aged in the butt cask of your number one expression.

But you will like the latest creation from Orkney-based Highland Brewery Company. Their Orkney Porter Arran Bere Whisky Cask Edition (10.5%) is truly something special, and it's not without reason that head brewer Rob Hill has such a solid reputation among his peers.

Highland Brewery's whisky beer is a twist on their Orkney Porter. It's been aged for a whopping 18 months in casks that contained Isle of Arran malt whisky, made from bere barley that the distillery sourced from Orkney.

It pours a dark, dark brown with a burnt tan head. The aroma's rich, with smokey chocolate malt aroma, vanilla and rum and raisin ice cream all thrown into the whisky-infused mix.

There's a burst of sensations on that first taste. You can't help but notice the strong alcoholic hit, but there are sweet and peppery flavours there too. The notes present in the aroma carry through, but are richer and more vibrant. The whisky, less its fiery edge, is a constant presence throughout, and towards the end a tart grapefruit joins a finely tuned medley of spices, black cherry and chocolate sweet malts to progress into a long, velvet-smooth, hop-laden bitter finish.

This is a rich, well balanced and deeply complex beer, one that opens up and evolves as you sup your way through it. Savour it, and enjoy with a decent after-dinner dram.

Beer Review: Blood Revenge rye stout by Black Metal Brewery

Black Metal Brewery make strong beer. At 6%, their Will-o'-the-Wisp juniper smoked ale is the weakest of their mighty brood. Their bottles are a sight to behold, too; distinctive, mostly black, think Cthulhu rather than hipster. And when you look at their website, you'll see this isn't some piece of quirky branding; for the two metalheads behind the brewery, the beer and the look are clearly an expression and extension of their own identity. Not many breweries can say that.

They only launched in August last year but already Black Metal Brewery are bashing themselves out a solid reputation. It's early days for them - they're dossing down with Top Out Brewery in Edinburgh at the moment - but over the past six months they've quickly expanded the list of shops, real and online, where you can buy their beers. Late night drinking dens and rock music venues such as Classic Grand, Audio Glasgow and Studio 24 Edinburgh stock them, and they're also appearing at the Great Scottish Beer Celebration in Glasgow on March 12 and 13.

They make three beers at present: Will-o'-the-Wisp, Yggdrasil pale ale and Blood Revenge rye stout (the latter two come in at 6.6%). Of the three, Blood Revenge is the youngest, and what a beast it is. The aroma is a power blast of sweet malt, treacle and spices, with a freshness, like snow falling at night-time, sneaking through. Pour this slowly for a thick, creamy head the colour of sand with the deep, deep black of nothingness below.

With such a hefty malt aroma, you'd expect a foot-stomper of a stout, but Blood Revenge is surprisingly lighter than you'd imagine. A brief tart hit, like the bitterness of unripe plums nicked from your neighbour's tree, then a sweet malt character - vanilla, rich chocolate and toffee apple - before finishing long, dry and bitter. Heaps of hops and a smooth sweetness are held together in its deep, rich, and brooding body. Blood Revenge is a belter of a beer, far more flavoursome and fruity than many more mainstream stouts. Obviously, it's best served cold.

Beer Review: De Mons Belgian abbey beer by Inveralmond Brewery

 

In the dark dregs of last year, Inveralmond Brewery in Perth brought a bit of winter warmth with the launch of De Mon, the second in their Inspiration series of world beers. While Inspiration No 1 - Sunburst - paid homage to the Czech pilsner, head brewer Ken Duncan looked to the Belgian abbey-style beer for Inspiration No 2.

And whereas Sunburst, with its gentle bittering, floral aroma and crisp finish was ideal for summer drinking, De Mons (6.0%) is one for long nights and smouldering fires, a seat by a big window with seaside views where you can watch the last of the autumn sun kissing the tops of the waves.

De Mons pours straw golden with a malty aroma that carries a light hoppy touch. Initially, there's a sudden sourness and that distinctive estery flavour typical of Belgian and Dutch beers that comes from the type of yeast commonly used throughout the Low Countries. Then you get a big complex rush of sweet flavours - raisins, red grapes, ginger, malt loaf and cloves - before a long medium dry and bitter finish. This might be a Belgian abbey beer, but De Mons does retain a Scottish feel to it, perhaps from the soft Perthshire water.

In the years since they launched in 1997, Inveralmond have built up a solid core range and a solid reputation, with Lia Fail, Ossian and Thrappledouser winning plaudits and prizes. Will De Mons match their success? Who knows. One thing's for sure: Inspiration No 3 has a couple of tough acts to follow.

Scotland's vegan-friendly breweries

The past four beer reviews have focused on vegan beers. Below is a list of breweries in Scotland that can call themselves vegan-friendly; breweries that don't use isinglass during their beer-production process. Isinglass is derived from fish bladder, usually from sturgeon, and is used to help filter the yeast suspended in the beer following fermentation and thereby give drinkers a clearer pint.

While a lot of breweries use alternatives or don't use finings at all, many breweries do use isinglass, so vegans need to be savvy about where they get their beer from.

The reasons for not using isinglass are varied. Some breweries are staffed or owned by vegetarians. Others use finings derived from natural, organic materials. Others prefer bottle-conditioned, unfiltered beer for greater flavour and depth (though some drinkers find the sediment a turn-off). Some breweries declare their vegan-friendly credentials on their labels; others declare it unfiltered purely to warn barstaff and drinkers of potentially hazy pints. Others don't think it worth mentioning.

So, here's a list of the Scottish breweries that have all confirmed their bottled beer is vegan-friendly. Thankfully, it's a great list and vegan drinkers should never feel they're missing out, with many of these breweries' beers available on the high street and the supermarket - though if you can you should always try to support your local independent beer shop!

Ayr Brewing Company
Barney's Beer
Black Isle Brewery
Black Metal Brewery
BrewDog
Burnside Brewery
Cairngorm Brewery
Elixir Brewing Company
Fallen Brewing Company
Innis & Gunn
Islay Ales
Lerwick Brewery
Loch Ness Brewery
Luckie Ales
Mor Brewing
Pilot
Plockton Brewing
Six Degrees North
St Andrews Brewing
Thistly Cross Cider
Top Out Brewery
WEST Beer
Windswept Brewing Company
Wooha

Wee disclaimer: Such is the ever-changing nature of the brewing world this list does not claim to be definitive, but it's close. This was written early 2015 and is crying out for an update ... 

Beer Review: Kiwheat fruit beer by Cromarty Brewing

 

In the three years since launching with their delightful Happy Chappy session pale ale, Cromarty Brewing Company have built a solid reputation for producing an accessible yet flavour-packed range of beers (their Rogue Wave pale ale is a particular favourite). Although the majority of their beers are made using isinglass, Cromarty are planning to phase this out. When they do, vegan beer fans should make bottles of Cromarty a regular presence in their fridge.

New Zealand hops feature heavily among their beers, bringing big tropical and citrus notes and heaps of bittering. With such a focus of new world hops, it's hardly surprising the Black Isle-based brewery now produce a beer using kiwi fruit.

Unlike their core range, Cromarty's Kiwheat kiwi wheat fruit beer (5.2%) isn't made with isinglass, and is a must-try for all beer fans, vegan or not. It pours a warm, hazy amber, with a gentle fizz and heaps of citrus character and bitterness coming from the Waimea and Riwaka hops.

First off, it has a tart fruity hit that develops into a playful sweet and sour dance that's like a mouthful of sherbert lemons, wine gums and royal gala apples. But it's not all sharp fruit flavours (you'll find grapefruit there, too), there's an easygoing, slight biscuit, wafer feel from the wheat malts, giving the beer depth and backbone before settling into a long, slightly sour and refreshingly clean and bitter finish.

India India by Pilot brewing

The third review of the year is another big-hitter, a double IPA from Pilot, one of Scotland's newest breweries and a product of the boom in craft beers and ales.

Pilot of Leith, Edinburgh, began brewing in November 2013 with the ambition to make beers that were different yet drinkable, off-the-wall rather than out-and-out wacky. They launched with a Vienna Pale Ale, a fairly tame precursor of what has since followed. These past 12 months Pilot's adventures in brewing have seen them brew beer with parma violets, seaweed and cocoa nibs.

With their latest brew, Pilot used ingredients including jaggery sugar and fenugreek, putting the India back into IPA and making an educated nod to the history of this style.

The aroma is warm spice and tropical fruit, and these carry through to the taste, which is surprisingly sweet, delicate and welcoming, with washes of passion fruit, liquorice and toffee, before suddenly moving to a medium dry bitterness that lasts and lasts.

You can certainly taste its 8.5% strength, though it's far from harsh or over-powering. Texture-wise, it's lovely. Think mango juice.

India India is complex and sophisticated, a beast of a beer with big flavours, a solid body and a potent hit. It comes in hefty 660ml bottles, making it ideal for sharing.

Easy IPA by Flying Dog Brewery

Easy IPA (4.7%) by FLying Dog Brewery

Continuing January's vegan theme, attentions switch Stateside to the town of Frederick, Maryland and the magnificent Flying Dog Brewery.

Flying Dog celebrate their quarter century this year, and since their maiden flight in 1990 they've brewed a steady series of craft ales, winning over beer lovers in the States and on this side of the Atlantic. Their international acclaim and reputation for good beers was no doubt aided by renegade journalist Dr Hunter S Thompson and his artist chum Ralph Steadman who helped with their branding. It was Thompson who coined their slogan, Good People Drink Good Beer, and it's the indefatigable Steadman whose distinctive artwork adorns their labels. (Thompson was a neighbour of founder George Stranahan - they shared a love of explosives apparently - and introduced him to Steadman.)

Flying Dog's Easy India Pale Ale, packaged in cans, is relative newcomer to these shores. Its aroma is a hefty hit of pine resin along with more delicate notes of spices, apricot, clementine and soft summer berries. It pours straw pale gold with a thick creamy head and light lacing down the glass.

First off, this IPA has a gentle malt flavour - think oat biscuits rather than anything more caramel - and the sweet stone, spices and soft fruit flavours remain as the drink progresses through to a long, dry bitterness that'll have your lips smacking loudly for more, but leave your palate intact.

The canned Easy IPA is a fine beer, and worth trying out if you see it, but it's their Imperial Porter Gonzo (named in honour of Thompson) that you really, really, really must try out. Complex, potent, rich, delicious. It's truly a great. At 9.2%, Gonzo is a beer for savouring rather than swallying. The Easy IPA on the other hand is a session-friendly 4.7%.

With a couple of exceptions - the Black Honey IPA and Pearl Necklace oyster stout - all of Flying Dog's products are vegan.

Vestan West Coast IPA by Heidrun Brewing Co/Drygate

Vestan West Coast IPA 6% by Heidrun Brewing Co.

Rather than having a Dry- or a Tryanuary I've gone vegan for a month.

Beer-wise, having a Veganuary means being a little bit more discerning about what you fill your glass with. Beers that use isinglass, or finings, are out. (Isinglass is derived from dried fish bladder and is used to help filter out the small particles of dead yeast left over from the fermentation process.) Bottle-conditioned craft beers are a fairly safe bet for vegans; mass-produced beers and cask ales less so.

Vestan West Coast IPA is one such vegan-friendly beer, and hails from the Drygate Brewery in Glasgow under the Heidrun label. Bottle conditioned, this powerful IPA proclaims its vegan, unfiltered status on its lo-fi branding, something more breweries ought to consider.

The aroma on Vestan carries a big resin and pineapple hit, thanks to the hefty helpings of Simcoe and Amarillo hops, both hugely popular in American IPAs.

Unlike many IPAs though, Vestan West Coast IPA pours very cloudy and has little carbonation, much like a cask ale. The first taste is a headrush of pine and pineapple, grapefruit, tangerine and new leather, and there is a long, long-lasting bitterness that carries with it hints of pepperiness. At 6%, Vestan is a big, bold and brooding pint, one that's more suited for sharing than for sessions.

Atom Beers Camomile XP

Atom Beers Camomile XP 4.2%

The guys and gal at Atom Beers like their science. You can see it on their bottle labels and hear it in their chat. For them, and many other brewers these days, the disciplines of chemistry, biology and engineering are as important to the craft of brewing as is a passion for making beautiful beers. Their brewery tours, for example, aren't an add-on to drive sales; they open themselves up to college and school visits, with a view to passing on their passion for science to the next generation. They've got plans for an educational brewery tour bus, too, something like a UPS van with a brewing kit in the back. It hits the road in 2015. Let's hope the Hull-based brewers bring it to Scotland.

Atom kicked off at the start if the year, with their range of interesting and quirky beers quickly making their way north. Although based in Hull, Scotland, they say, feels like a home market for them: co-founders Allan Rice and Sarah Thackray are veterans of Glasgow and Edinburgh universities. Allan also worked for Tempest Brewing Company in Kelso and Edinburgh's Stewart Brewing.

Atom's beers are familiar, yet different. They do a pale ale, an IPA and porter of course, but it's the oddball Camomile XP that offers a light alternative to the hop bombs and dark heavy hitters so common at Christmas. Its aroma is floral and friendly, with hints of vanilla and lager malts. Think gentle breeze across a field in late summer; as far as you be on a grim winter's day in Glasgow.

Any gentleness quickly fades when you take a drink though. It has a surprising and lip-smacking bitter hit which fades to a long vanilla and camomile aftertaste reminiscent of childhood sweeties. There are hints of grapefruit, caramel and honeyed oats, giving it a character that has a refreshing depth.

A version of this appeared on heraldscotland.com

Local Motive session IPA by Fallen Brewery

Local Motive session IPA 3.9%

Fallen Brewery has been around for a good few years now, but they've only relatively recently started brewing at their Kippen base, following the conversion of the village's former railway station into a brewery.

Their shiny new brewkit gives much more control over the brewing and bottling process, meaning bigger flavours in bigger bottles making their way out of this beautiful Stirlingshire village.

Alongside Fallen's tried and tested staple, the brewery's been releasing a steady stream of railway-themed brews, of which Local Motive Session IPA is one of the latest. This beer has a fresh citrus and stone-fruit aroma that is light and cheerful, and it pours a slightly cloudy, dark golden to amber with a luxuriously thick, creamy head.

Local Motive is a beer that's neither heavy nor overpowering, with a gentle bitterness that is as surprising as it is welcome, and fits in with the relaxed personality of this beer. Its aroma hit comes from the dry-hopped mosaic, which pushes the nose towards fruity rather than floral. Think grapefruit, plum and tangerine.

This is an easy-drinking beer, for relaxed Saturday afternoons. At 3.9%, it packs a bit less punch than the big-hitting IPAs, but the flavours work hard all the same, and you can enjoy a few without fear of the hops knocking out your tastebuds

A version of this first appeared on heraldscotland.com

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

Hmmmmm dinnae really like this one.

Freigeist Abraxas

Smoked Lichtenhainer Weisse 6%

Some German Austrian White beer brewed in accordance with the Ye Olde purity laws that dictate a lot about ingredients but not about taste. Thought it tasted like sour watery Savlon. Still drank it though. Bit more than that going on, to be fair. Apricot sweetness, soft bitterness. Bit of smoke though less than I was expecting given the name. But I couldn't get past the Savlon. 

Honey Spice IPA by Sharp's Brewery

Honey Spice IPA

Honey Spice IPA by Sharp's Brewery (6.5%)

 

Bit unusual this one, but worth seeking out. 

 

The honey isn't too overpowering, and tags along nicely with the big hitting hops. Somewheer there's a warm spicy hint but you'd be forgiven for not noticing as there's already a lot going on, including a rather zesty bitterness. Full bodied and rich, with a rounded finish. 

 

Rough Justice by Anarchy Brew Co

Rough Justice

Rough Justice bitter amber rye ale from Anarchy Brew Co

Dry, sweet malts with a big treacle hit. Lovely caramel biscuity aroma, and a long first taste that stretched out to a medium bitter finish, with pine and citrus and a sweet caramel kick-back.

Would hoppily have again.

Brilliant bitter

 

Had this one too

Cracking wee scotch ale-alike. Sweet, strong, and a touch of treacle. 

Kaapse Brouwers - Karel American Bitter

Brilliantly bitter IPA. Very lively. Sweet resin aroma and long caramel taste. Delicious. Shame it comes in 330ml bottles. Got from those Beer 52 dudes. 

Some Newport Brewery - The Full Nelson

Lovely beer this. Had it the night of the big vote.