By Stuart Whytcross

Scotland has a rich beer history with evidence of brewing dating back to 3000 years ago. The Celtic tradition of using bittering herbs remained in Scotland longer than the rest of Europe, and although they soon followed the rest of the brewing world, a recent revival of bittering with herbs is re-emerging amongst many brewers in Scotland.

Traditionally in Scotland, brewing was done by the “broustaris”, or alewives, and monasteries. Records show that in 1509 Aberdeen had over 150 brewers – all women!

By the mid 19th century Edinburgh had forty breweries and was “acknowledged as one of the foremost brewing centres in the world“, the success of Scotland’s brewing industry was partly due to the fact that Tax on beer was held at a lower amount than the rest of the United Kingdom, there was no tax on malt in Scotland…and I’m guessing their beers must have tasted alright as well!

Beer Styles

I’ve brewed quite a few Scottish style beers. Although before this trip, I hadn’t actually tasted any commercial styles, so I was qreally looking forward to trying beers from all of the 5 BJCP Scottish styles.

• Strong Scotch ale-A style resurrected during the 1930s by a demand for strong beers in Russia.

The shilling categories were based on prices charged per hogshead barrel during the 19th century, with the stronger or better quality beers costing more.

(“/-” is read as “shilling” or “bob” as in “a pint of eighty-bob, please”)

• Scottish Light (60/-) was under 3.5% abv
• Scottish Heavy (70/-) was between 3.5% and 4.0% abv
• Scottish Export (80/-) was between 4.0% and 5.5% abv
• Wee heavy (90/-) was over 6.0% abv

Breweries

Like most other countries, Scotland’s beer sales continue to be dominated by a few big players.

• Scottish Courage (the UK’s leading brewer and the name behind McEwan’s and Younger’s),
• Tennent Caledonian (of Tennents Lager)-Brewing since 1556 Tennents was the first brewery to make a draught lager in 1924 and the first canned lager in 1935.
• Caledonian Brewing-Established in 1869, it’s the only brewery to still use direct-fired open coppers – a unique feature to which Caledonian attributes its remarkable success.

However the microbrewery industry is making quite an impact. One of the most exciting things I noticed whilst travelling through Scotland was the amount of small micro breweries I stumbled upon that I hadn’t found whilst researching previously. One of these breweries was Fyne Ales.

The Fyne Ales brewery has been in operation since 2001, brewing in an old milking palour in the traditional farm buildings at Achadunan, Cairndow a few hundred meters from Loch Fyne.

 
Loading Dock of Fyne Ale Brewery

 
Loch Fyne
 

Malcolm the brewer was more than happy to show us around and take me through the brewery.

 
Precious cascade hops
 

One thing I will always remember from this brewery visit was the “warm room”, a cool room which housed the fermenters, but with heaters running inside to get the temperature warm enough for fermentation!

 
 The Warm Room
 

Coincidentally there were 2 bottles of commercial beers sitting on Malcolm’s desk, both Australian! One of them a bottle of Knappstien Reserve Lager which had inspired him to import and experiment with some Nelson Sauvin hops from NZ. Even more coincidental was a bottle of Red Angus Pilsener by DeBortoli’s that was also on his desk. (DeBortoli’s Winery is a few Kilometres down the road from my house.)

 
Fyne Ales has an impressive selection of well crafted
beers that have won plenty of awards.
 

One that you must try is the Highlander, a “Traditional Dark Strong Ale”:

Pours a bright sparkling dark golden, very thin but dense white head. Aroma of sweet orange marmalade, caramel and roasted toffee with slight fresh citrus evident. Crisp and dry with plenty of toffee malt, marmalade jam and light caramel. Again slight hops evident, but slightly overpowered by the depth and complexity of malt. A good lengthy soft bitterness and low carbonation. I’m still struggling to work out what style this beer actually is, bottle says it’s 4.8% dark strong ale? Whatever style it is it’s definitely quite tasty and worth the drive from Edinburgh to investigate it yourself.

Pubs

Scotland has stacks of pubs with great atmosphere, loads of character, and plenty of hand pumped cask beers. A fantastic pub and a ‘must stop’ in Edinburgh is the Greyfriars Bobby’s Bar. Named after the infamous John Grey’s skye terrier ‘Bobby’. A great story for those unfamiliar with it.

 
 Hosting a wide selection of real cask ales and some of the cheapest cask
pints I found in Britain. Superb food, relaxed, laid back atmosphere,
very friendly staff and plenty of relics and memorabilia on the walls.
 

 
The steak and ale pie went down a treat with the Deuchars IPA in Grey Friars Bobby Bar.
 

The Jolly Judge is another top little pub -low beamed ceilings, log fire and a warm atmosphere with a good range of real ales on tap. Just off the Royal Mile it’s worth stopping by to defrost beside the fire with a pint or two.

 
 

If you visit Stirling, you must drop by and see Declan at The Settle Inn. The Settle Inn is Stirling’s oldest alehouse serving traditional real Scottish ales since the 1700’s.

 
 

You will find it on the hill walking up to Stirling Castle. They have a small but well chosen range of real ales, most of them guest taps of seasonal specialities from local microbreweries. I got to taste all their offerings here with the Holly Daze Christmas Beer by Atlas worthy of a mention:

Pours a rich red/deep copper with an average white head with exceptional lacing. Aromas of oak, wood and whiskey with slight vanilla and rich roasted toffee. Flavours of subtle dark toffee, caramel and rich fruitcake. Medium to full bodied, finishing much drier then expected.

Distilleries

I guess it would be a bit rude to finish this article without any mention of malt whisky tastings or distillery tours. I can’t say I’m the biggest scotch whisky fan, however I did thoroughly enjoy most of the distillery tours, with Oban being the pick of them.

Situated between the steep cliff that overlooks Oban and the sea side, Oban Distillery is one of Scotland’s oldest sources of single malt scotch whisky. It has been distilling there since 1794, when it was the only building in the town!

 
Grain mill at Oban distillery
 

 
The tasting room/cellar in Oban
 

If your in Oban definitely check out the distillery, even if scotch isn’t your thing, there are plenty of nice shiny copper mash tuns to admire. Whilst in Oban I also urge you to visit Ee-Usk. Situated right on the waters edge in the very heart of the village, this restaurant was awarded the prestigious UK seafood restaurant of the year award. The seafood here was the best I have tasted.

 
 

 Next month Kolsch bier in Cologne.