BrewDog Glasgow

Finally had a proper, adventurous and flavour-filled craft beer experience in Scotland - we visited the BrewDog pub in Glasgow.  BrewDog is brewed further North, but they now own a handful of their own pubs in both Scotland and England, so that you have a good setting (with very knowledgeable and passionate staff) in which to sample BrewDog's wares.

To this point I hadn't sampled much BrewDog beer, primarily because it's quite expensive in Vancouver, and there are thankfully plenty of good options in the lower mainland's well-stocked private stores.  I wasn't sure what I would think - were the punk theme and the extreme beers a gimmick, or would I encounter some great craft beer?  Definitely the latter.  On the surface, I'd call them a newer, smaller, Scottish Stone Brewing - the rhetoric and attitude are similar.

They had a nice tap list of their own beer to choose from, as well as a couple of guest taps and a huge bottle list featuring many well-known names in aggressive/exotic craft beer.  (But no Canadian bottles that I could see.)

Let the games begin!

We managed to sample everything on the chalkboard except the 5AM Saint, and only had a taste of the Chris from Stone Stout.

The pub is cozy and comfortable despite being utilitarian.  And it provides board games to play in addition to a nice library of classic beer/brewing books to browse.

We even got to hear some live hipster rock-a-billy music - which is apparently the correct soundtrack for chess.

The quick and dirty run-down:

• Barrel Aged 7.7 Lager: apparently aged in FRESH oak barrels.  I expected to be run over by sappy, green oak flavours, but this was spot-on - gentle woodsy/honey flavours instead.
• Punk IPA: delicious, big but not overweight.  I had two full pints as palette cleansers between other beers.
• Zeitgeist: a very nice schwarzbier, richer than usual
• Libertine Black Ale: a Cascadian Dark Ale made with 100% Simcoe hops. I've really missed Simcoe on this trip (it caused flashbacks featuring Red Racer IPA) so I enjoyed this beer, even though there was a surprising lack of roasty/chocolately malt flavours.  It was a hop showcase; ironically tasted much like a pale ale.
• Chris from Stone's Stout: a collaboration beer, a strong sweet & roasty stout.  Great stuff - until you taste the Paradox Jura.
• Hardcore IPA: a remarkably drinkable and not-overly-sweet Imperial IPA.  (Maybe a "Double IPA"?)
• Paradox Jura: the star of the evening, hands down.  This was a massive, very sweet but very roasty and well-balanced stout, aged in Jura scotch whisky barrels.  The barrels imparted a firm smokey, peaty character that married perfectly with the beer.  Simply sublime.  Like drinking a fine port... um... er... with a peat cigar?  (Terrible analogy and totally incorrect, my apologies.)  Why do so many North American brewers continue to wood-age stouts almost exclusively in bourbon barrels?  (Availability? Trend?)  All too often the bourbon barrel flavours do not marry well with the beer, and they go beyond adding some vanilla and caramel, creating sappy, woody flavours that are terribly out of place.  The soft, smokey, peaty scotch flavours in this beer were amazing.
• Tactical Nuclear Penguin: my vote for best beer name ever.  You'd be excused for thinking this was a gimmick beer, given that they ice distill a stout until it reaches 32% ABV.  But I thought it was a complex, interesting beverage when served in a snifter (1 oz) and slowly sipped. 
• Sink The Bismark: similar to the Penguin, but this one is made by ice distilling a double IPA until it reaches 42% ABV.  Still interesting, but a bit of a miss for me.  I think something this strong needs the complexity of concentrated malt and/or yeast flavours, but the distillation process makes this beer overwhelmingly bitter, which kind of stuns your palette.  If you're a fan of big, hoppy IPAs, it's worth trying an ounce since it's pretty much the furthest you can conceivably push an Imperial IPA.

First up: Libertine Black Ale and Barrel Aged 7.7 Lager

I heartily endorse this Jura barrel-aged stout

Extreme closeup of Tactical Nuclear Penguin.  Nice Legs.

Closeup of Sink The Bismark.  Seems innocent enough.

I would say you can't leave Scotland without a visit to a Brewdog venue.  Especially if, like me, your next stop is Turkey or some other equally-devoid-of-craft-beer destination.  (Must hold on... until... judging the... National Homebrewers Competition... in June... ack...)

Oban, Beer and Breweries

We decided last-minute to hit Scotland in our travels, and semi-randomly picked Oban as a destination since I knew there was a distillery there and it was the last stop on a branch of the scenic West Highland Railway.

I hadn't really thought much about beer in Scotland, other than the fact I could finally try a lighter Scottish ale on tap (which I did at the bar below our room: a McEwan's 70/-).

Then during one of my regular trips to Tesco, I discovered some interesting Scottish craft beer.  Who knew?  I suppose I should have.

Now what goes best with the neeps and tatties?

OK, the Caledonian might not be "craft", but it was good, a classic.  That is, until I tried the Black Isle Organic Red Kite Ale - slightly hoppier, but a definite step up in flavour and balance; it was the standout.  The Dark Island - from the Orkney Islands - was also a winner, with a nice smokiness from barrel aging.  The Island of Arran Sunset was the most local, being brewed on Arran Island a wee bit south of Oban - it was pecuiliarly sweet for a light pale ale, but it worked well & was refreshing.  (Arran Island is in Scotland - not to be confused with the Aran Islands in Ireland.)

And for those of you wishing more craft brewers in the Cascadia/Pacific Northwest region made lower-alcohol beers, this area would be right up your alley - most craft beers are well below 5%, and a Scottish Light (60/-) is one of the lowest-alcohol beers around.  If that still isn't good enough, Tesco can up the ante for you with something like this:

Yep, 2.8% alcohol.  No, I didn't purchase a Mighty Atom.  (Sounds like the name of a 1950s "better living through science" home nuclear reactor kit.)

On a day trip to Ellenbaich (tiny, TINY village near Oban), we ran across this sweet-looking little brewpub, which was unfortunately closed for the exact period of time we were in town.  Drat.

Some locals told us there was actually a brewpub in Oban, that was even bottling its beer and selling it locally.  Oban Bay Brewing is situated in the back room of the Cuan Mor restaurant and bar, which is right around the corner from the distillery in the middle of "downtown" Oban.  We grabbed dinner there on our last night in town & had a few samples.  All were low-alcohol thirst-quenchers, and passable if not mind-blowing.  I thought the 3.9% ABV Kilt Lifter was a zesty summer thirst quencher, though the light touch of hops and the almost complete absence of malt flavours, body and alcohol make calling it an "IPA Ale"[sic] questionable.

The next morning, the head waitress was nice enough to give us a tour as the brewmaster (one of the restaurant owners, self-taught since the last brewmaster left) wasn't in.  This is probably the smallest commercial-production brewery I've seen, apart from the (unbelievably good) Hess nanobrewery in San Diego.  Everything was in one room (except bottling equipment) - wood-covered vessels, malt storage, hop fridge, etc.

The whole brewery

The hot tub... whoops, I mean mash tun

We had aborted our plans for a day trip to the Isle of Mull, which we regretted when we later discovered it is home to Isle of Mull beer.  But it turns out that Oban Bay and Isle of Mull are owned by the same company (Argyll Brewing or some such thing), so we didn't feel too disappointed.

We ran out of time to see another craft brewer in the area, whose bottles appeared in several pubs - Fyne Ales.  They are situated roughly 30 minutes from Oban on a working farm and produce shop that is open to the public, and tours are available.  Apparently they feed their spent grain to their cattle, whose beef you can purchase on-site!

If there's any lesson here, it's that some advanced planning/research is pretty essential if you want to find and gain access to non-mainstream beers/breweries when travelling.  I'm sure I'll return to Scotland (because it's fun and the people are wonderful), and I will have a better knowledge of my craft beer travel options before the next trip.

If you're visiting Oban, I would target Fyne Ales and Arran Island Brewing for local tour/sampling destinations, based on what I've heard/tasted.