Well, tomorrow is the day that vacation begins. Erin and I are headed to Scotland for a week in the Highlands. When you think of Scotland and alcohol, the first thing that comes to mind probably isn't beer, but scotch whisky. There are over 200 distilleries in Scotland, making a wide range of scotch. We will, of course, be doing some sampling of some scotch, including tours at Aberlour, The Macallan, and Glenfiddich, but I'm really interested to check Scottish beer.
The most popular beer in Scotland seems to be a lager called Tennants. My brother was in Scotland several years ago with my dad for a golf trip, and raves about it. I'm sure I'll try it, but it just seems to me to be a Scottish version of Budweiser, so I'll stick mostly to what the Brits call "Real Ale," as well as the growing craft beer scene in the British Isles. Real ale-also called cask ale-is defined by the Campaign for Real Ale as "beer brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide." Most pubs in Scotland that I've come across on the internet seem to serve lots of real ale, so I'll get a chance to sample many.
One of the more well known (at least in the States) microbreweries in Scotland is probably BrewDog. Yes, those are the guys from the show Brew Dogs. They make several beers that are widely available on this side of the pond. I've had their Hardcore IPA, a pretty good double IPA. Unfortunately, we won't be able to make it to any of their bars, as the only one we'll be near is in Aberdeen, and we're only there briefly Saturday evening and the next Saturday morning to fly in and out.
There are, however, over 70 other microbreweries in Scotland, along with the larger ones in the UK in general. Of these, we plan on visiting two of them, the Cairngorm Brewery in Aviemore (conveniently where we're staying), and the Black Isle Brewing Company in Munlochy. Both have pretty interesting looking beers available, and have public tours available. The Cairngorm Brewery has a beer called Sheepshagger's Gold. I have to try that one just for the name! Black Isle is an organic brewery with multiple award-winning beers.
In addition to those two brewery tours, I'm sure we'll be hitting up multiple pubs while we're there. Both of us ought to increase our beer lists on Untappd pretty significantly in the week we're there. We're also staying overnight in London on the way back, so there will be pubs to find and beers to drink there, as well!
If anyone has any suggestions on beers to try, pubs to visit, or anything else Scotland (or London) related, let me know!
On the homebrew front, my awesome wife conspired for my birthday with my parents and her parents to get me everything I need to start kegging beer. So, the next beer I make will be kegged! I'm torn between doing another batch of the Charge 8 Imperial IPA (all grain this time), a wheat beer of some kind, a Belgian Tripel, and a Russian Imperial Stout. The stout will probably take a while to ferment and then condition, so I can brew something else first, then brew it and let it sit for a few months. Maybe Scotland will inspire me!
The Pumpkin Spice Saison turned out really well, I think, for those who are curious. I'm going to let it bottle condition a little more while we're gone, then see how it's tasting. The pumpkin pie spice flavor is very subtle, which is what I was shooting for, with the saison flavors coming through very well. Should be a hit in the fall.
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