Tag: Scotland

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Modern British Brewery # 3 – SixºNorth

The final stop for this mini-dive into Modern British Beer is the town of Laurencekirk, south of Aberdeenshire and SixºNorth, per Matthew Curtis, “Lindsay and his team have channeled the influence and flavours of Belgian beers into something resolutely Scottish.”

Here are some suggestions to try…

Brevet Honey Heather Saison – “Spicy and floral Saison with a sweet nuance. All ingredients sourced from within 30 miles of our brewery in Laurencekirk, Scotland.”

Green Listed NZ Keller Pils – “A delicious Keller Pils that’s unfiltered yet clean & crisp! We’ve dry hopped with Motueka giving a delicate, floral edge.⁣⁣”

Hopclassic Begian IPA – “Hopclassic is a full-flavoured Belgian IPA. The bitterness is well integrated in true Belgian style with a pleasant kick at the end. Hopclassic is packed full of hop character and is very refreshing on the palate.”

Chapeau Triple Hop – “Chapeau is us tipping our hat to Duvel’s Tripel Hop. This special beer was dry hopped with Citra to provide a fruity yet refined flavour whilst the earthy spiciness of the Saaz & Styrian Goldings hops contribute to a long, bittersweet finish.”

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All are Welcome

It’s is always great news to see inclusiveness in beer. And the news from Scotland about the Glasgow Brewery Collective is a plan that I hope can spread far and wide.

This plan is to create “a Scottish first, a taproom and event space that is 100% accessible for people with disabilities.”

Dave Lannigan, Head Brewer and founder of Ride Brew Co. is the force behind this project. He is also “officially disabled through loss of hearing and suffers from ADHD and dyslexia.”

Through the use of large print menus, access for wheelchair user at the bar and lighting are some of the improvements being looked at.

For the project to really get off the ground they will be starting a crowdfunding campaign in the near future.

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BrewDog’s in America

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Columbus, Ohio to be specific for the brewing operations plus unknown cities for branded bar expansion of BrewDog in America.

It now looks like TV was just the opening gambit in the BrewDog attack of the U.S. craft beer market. The brash Scottish brewery will be opening a huge 40+ acre facility in Columbus which will include a brewhouse, tap room, restaurant and office space from which to manage the whole shebang plus up to (5) BrewDog bars that will be built in the US.

Of course the West Coast will be a possibility but will they head to the NW, San Francisco, San Diego or here to Los Angeles? All of the above have been visited by the TV show and presumably scouted to an extent.

If you believe in a BrewDog’ged America, you can buy into the Equity for Punks USA and buy a share.

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BrewDog Fund

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The BrewDogs are at it again.  But this time it isn’t a beer made with the bacon and bike power.  Not.  It is EMpowering new breweries to succeed.  Here is the lowdown from the “lowdown” section of their website…..

“Our mission has always been to make other people as passionate about great craft beer as we are. Not just BrewDog beer, but all great craft beer. More people brewing, serving and drinking craft beer from a range of killer breweries can only be a good thing, and that is what we try to achieve across our entire business from our brewery to our bars and our bottle shops.

With this overarching ambition in mind, we are delighted to announce the new BrewDog Development Fund. This fund will see us allocate up to £100,000 of our profits each year as well as loads of our time to help other new craft breweries start up and get established. It was only seven years ago that Martin and myself (James) set up BrewDog with some second hand tanks, a small bank loan and a big mission, and now we want to encourage others to do the same.

As well as providing capital to our new BrewDog Development Fund partners, we will also help them grow by:

·       Showcasing their beers in our bars both domestically and internationally

·       Providing advice and ongoing support (we know a little bit about growing a brewery)

·       Helping with the sourcing of ingredients and brewing materials

·       Assisting with equipment purchases

·       Offering access to our state of the art laboratory for beer analysis

·       Helping them grow sales by introducing them to our international sales network

As part of this initiative we are insanely excited to announce that our first two official partners in the BrewDog Development Fund are the phenomenal Brew by Numbers brewery based in London and CAP,  based in Stockholm, Sweden.”

This is a logical extension of what craft breweries are already doing.   Whether it is giving free advice, helping out with supplies or letting people brew with their equipment and it is one of the reasons why I am still jazzed about this business after 5+ years of writing about it.

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Some British Oak

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It is good to see more oak aged beers from Great Britain.  At least for now, until Scottish voters decide on their political fate.  And though this isn’t spelled in the 10th Doctor way, I would love to see how Tennent’s is treated by whisky oak.  Might add a whole new dimension.

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Cold Turkey

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Black Isle Brewery in Scotland got a lot of press for their Cold Turkey Breakfast beer. A whopping 2.8% ABV monster. Apparently some folks are not used to brash marketing. Wait, BrewDog has been doing it as well!

All sarcasm aside, certain beers by dint of name or marketing catch on with the Social Media hordes.  But hopefully, this will bring more attention to the other ORGANIC beers that Black Isle brews.  If it gets more people to buy the Pollinator Honey/heather beer or their pale ale then it is a job well done.

And for the record, I would sample the Cold Turkey.  Sounds refreshing for a hot day in L.A.

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Innis & Gunn Independence Day 2012

Recommending a foreign beer for the 4th. It isn’t heresy. This Scottish beer has some American history behind it.

“In 2003 we discovered the wonderful effect that American Oak bourbon barrels have on our Scottish beer and this gave rise to Innis & Gunn Original. Since then we have realized how deeply interwoven are the histories of the two countries. At the very beginning, 21 of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence had Scottish blood and two had been born in Scotland. ‘Uncle Sam’ was based on a real man, Samuel Wilson, whose parents had sailed to America from the central lowlands of Scotland. The first men on the moon claimed Scottish ancestry. Today 30m citizens trace their descent from Scotland (although Scotland itself has a population of only 5m).

In honor of this heritage-and in honor of the craft beer category that was first created here in the USA-a trend which the rest of the world is now following-we have brewed Innis & Gunn Independence Day 2012 beer.”

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Traquair 2020

Who would have thunk 20 years ago that people would be discussing craft beers that weren’t going to be released for months?

Well, here goes with a Scottish ale that arrives on our shores this month.

From the esteemed Traquair Brewery in Scotland comes 2020. Oddly named for a celebratory 2011 beer but if you have sampled their beer before, you know it will be good.

Here is the breweries description: “Traquair 2020 Ale has a deep brick-red color and an aroma of oak, caramel and toffee. Wonderful flavors suggesting plums, raisins, currants, chocolate and gently roasted malt are balanced by significant 10% ABV.”

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Abstrakt

Brewdog has something that will put high ABV to shame as a pursuit. It is beer as art according to the separate (from the main) website.

“Abstrakt is a new type of beer brand, we will only ever brew and release a beer once
Abstrakt will release a very small number of limited edition batches per year
More art than beer, Abstrakt will brew directional, boundary pushing beers: blurring distinctions and transcending categories
All Abstrakt beers are bottle-conditioned, individually numbered and known only by their release code, e.g. AB:01″

They have released and sold out of three beers already with more on the way.
VANILLA BEAN INFUSED BELGIAN QUAD 10.2%
TRIPLE DRY HOPPED IMPERIAL RED ALE 18%
IMPERIAL ALE AGED OVER 2 YEARS IN WHISKY CASKS WITH RASPBERRIES AND STRAWBERRIES 10.5%

The 03 sounds delicious. Which one would you shell out 10 or more pounds for?