North of the Border

We've just got back from a lovely trip to the west coast of Scotland:  Oban, to be precise.  We go by train because - well, why wouldn't you?

For people who love beer as much as we do, I guess rural/coastal Scotland might seem to be an odd choice for a holiday - but we do also love scenery, walking, the odd hill, water and wildlife.

We knew, in our hearts, that we would have to manage our own beer hopes and aspirations - and that's fine.

We went north in two legs - stopping at Glasgow, but when you know you have to change trains at Euston it would be rude not to slip into the Euston Tap for a cheeky one en route.  So, we left Eastbourne on an earlier train, giving ourselves just long enough to enjoy a pint (and a non-train loo).  Needless to say, the beers we had (a Harbour IPA and something by Moor, I believe) were in tip-top condition, and the act of stopping itself means you don't feel the drag of travelling quite so much.

We arrive in Glasgow at 6.30pm on a Saturday evening and, like most cities, that makes it a bit of a noisy time to be looking for good beer and food.  Nevertheless we reacquainted ourselves with both "Cafe Gandolfi" for dinner and "Blackfriars" for post food beer.  Gandolfi was a bit lacking on beer (if only it were, it might well be the best place in the world) - So we had a local draught keg beer and a bottle of Arran blonde.  Both were fine but didn't quite hit the mark  Mind you, the best Finnan Haddock makes up for the beery shortcomings and we left perfectly satisfied with our choices.  Then we crossed the road to Blackfriars - it was heaving but we did manage to find a table at the back and enjoyed a couple of pints (to my shame, I have no idea what other than my first was a Citra-based beer which was black...) before the noise got to us and we called it a night. 

On Saturday we picked up a train for Oban and by 3.30pm we were there.  All lovely sunshine and fish restaurants.

The pubs we tried in the town were all pretty much fine but none of them offered much variety in terms of beer.  Mostly we drank Fyne ales (Jarl, Avalanche and Vital Spark) in pretty good condition and very good beers they are too - it was just a shame that there wasn't more choice.  In the Cuan Mor we couldn't have any of their own beer so we had a "craft" IPA which was nice enough but not good enough to go back to.

We did do a few little excursions - to Mull (the Craignure Inn having only bottled beers - although they were good); to Easedale (the utterly delightful Puffer Bar having good bottled beer which came as a surprise) and to Connell (the Oyster Inn having well-kept but fairly dull Deuchars IPA) but all in all, our fears about lack of great Real Ale were largely well-founded.  If this sounds overly-critical, it's not meant to be.  The tide of real/craft (or whatever) beer hasn't reached here yet and maybe it won't.  The town probably knows its audience (a lot of people passing through and the town is in a stunningly beautiful location) and maybe varied and exciting beer perhaps doesn't need to be a part of that offering.  It's a shame though.  We did ask ourselves, several times during the week, how well a micropub would be received...it's a thought that will keep repeating, I reckon.

Actually our highlight in beer was on the journey back, yesterday.  We couldn't buy a straight-through train ticket so we thought we'd build a bit of resilience into our plans by allowing a couple of hours between train changes in Glasgow.  It did allow us to go to somewhere we'd noticed on the way through the week before:  The Shilling Brewery.  From the moment we got inside we got the feeling we'd like the place.  Despite only having one beer on cask, the place was an utter treat - we could have chosen from a wide variety of kegged guest beers but we stuck with trying five of their own beers which were very good.  So good, in fact, that we actually considered buying an upgraded train ticket to stay longer.  Next time you're in Glasgow - give them a try.  We certainly shall.

Keeping it Local.

I'm not all that sociable - never have been - I find the rigours of sociability to be really hard work and so I have a tendancy to avoid.  A lot.  The household engineer is quite similar in this respect.

Sometimes, though, the right person suggests the right sort of social activity and we agree to it.  We both frequently regret it in the moments leading up to the start of the event but almost always enjoy it.

Anyhow, this is all leading up to a beer story, naturally.

A couple of weeks ago our friend and colleague said a brewery visit to the very local (ie about 5 miles from my desk as I sit and type this) Longman Brewery was in the offing - arranged by some "extended" colleagues at the local co-working space and would we like to join in?

At this point I should declare that Longman beers, whilst perfectly nice, are not my favourite local beers.  You know, you're happy enough that they're on the bar but they might not be my very first choice.

So we got in a minibus with a dozen other folk and popped to the farm-based brewery.  On arrival we were greeted by the head brewer and the sales and marketing chap.  They were cheery and welcoming and had a pin of beer on an outside table ready to serve.  What's not to like?

Then came the first revelation of the evening - their new "Wild Man" beer is definitely the best beer of theirs I've ever tasted.  Now, it was pretty strong (over 5%) and packed a good hoppy punch but it was really well balanced and drinkable and it would be something I could drink all evening (at that ABV it might be a short evening for me, but who's counting, eh?).  The engineer and I agreed that if we'd got that in our Bristol local we'd have been very happy indeed.

We were given an introductory chat by Tom about the history of the brewery and then we left the chill of the evening air and were led inside the brewery where it was toasty warm.  What followed was a  fascinating chat from the brewer, Jamie, not just about the brewing process but how the brewery uses local ingredients (ie, from the farm the brewery is based on) and water, local staff and how the waste products - spent hops and barley and the water that isn't turned into beer - is reused on the farm.

They seem to combine senstivity and pragmatism perfectly as an organization.  So, unashamedly using their distribution contacts (one of the directors is also associated with a local wholesaler) but trying to have as little negative impact on the village as possible whilst offering 15 jobs in a place that probably has few other direct employers.

Both guys seemed to relish chatting with us and happily answering questions and debating things like fining.  Remember, these chaps had been at work all day - and were doing this for the love.  You can't help but like and respect that.

Far from the usual "the malt goes in here and the beer comes out there" brewery tour this was a two-way discussion of the product, the industry and what being a local employer means.

Though we could probably have stayed all evening and talked (and probably drunk) beer - we needed to let them get off home so we walked the 200 metres or so down the road to their nearest pub - The Plough and Harrow -  which is usually a "Walk over the Downs" destination for us.  Here we drank a great pint of Longman APA which, until last night, was my favoured Longman beer and were enthusiastically greeted by the pub landlord, Glenn, who keeps a really good pint.

We all had a couple of pints and a snack and our bus driver was suddenly in the pub to pick us up.  It had all gone too quickly.

Best evening out I've had for a good while - it had all the elements you need:  good people, stuff to make you think and good stuff to make you drunk.

I think I'll be drinking (even) more Longman in future.

Thanks everyone!