Guest Post: Scotland's Real Ales

Erin and I have been together for just over eleven years now.  In that time, I have successfully inspired and/or planned zero trips (we don’t need to get into the stories…. Bangor, ME is apparently not the same as Bar Harbor, ME…. Volcanic eruptions can cancel flights to the Caribbean… ).  That was, at least, until recently.  When we made plans for arriving in Amsterdam, I pushed for us to keep our rental car for an entire week so that we could take off for Belgium on our 3^rd day in Europe, mainly because I saw it as my best opportunity to try the Wesvleteren 12 (consistently one of the top ranked beers in the world).  Sure, without maps or a SIM card we drove in circles for hours with a screaming baby in the back seat, but I think all parties agreed that the lunch at Wesvleteren’s café, looking out over fields of barley, was a delicious, and dare I say successful, experience.  But I digress....

As with any of our trips, my contribution for Scotland began about a week before our departure with a few quick Google searches for “best breweries,” "best beers" and “best pubs.”  Scotland is known more for its whiskey than its beer, but it still has a lengthy list of breweries.  In the end though, I decided to mostly forgo the brewery plan, in favor of trying to experience true British beer in real local pubs.  Most Americans don’t know a whole lot about British beer.  They may have had a Fuller’s or a Bass Ale at some point, and if they know a bit more they may have heard the story of the invention of the hoppy India Pale Ale for long sea voyages to India.  For a beer-nerd like me, I was excited to taste as many “Real Ales” as possible.  Real Ales, otherwise known as Cask Ales, are beers that are stored and served out of a cask (think of a small keg). The casks carbonate naturally with the help of unfiltered yeast and they are served at cellar temperatures in the 50s ^oF.  If you’re expecting a standard American beer, you might be a bit put off by a warmer, lower-carbonated cask ale.  If they’re done right, however, a cask ale can be a very interesting and delicious beer.  In the UK, they also tend to be very sessionable (AKA low in alcohol),  which means I could have one with lunch and still be ok to drive us safely on the left side of the road!

No. 2 Baker Street Pub for our first Real Ales of the trip.

Every beer needs Jude's approval.

As our pictures will attest, I had the chance to try quite a handful of Real Ales (and a handful of other ales) during our time in Scotland.   Overall, the experience was a bit hit-or-miss.  A few of the cask ales I had were exactly what I had been hoping for – flavorful, easy-drinking, well-balanced, unique (I don't recall the beer names, but a few of the noteworthy pubs that served them were No. 2 Baker Street in Stirling and the Moulin Hotel Pub just outside of Pitlochry).  On the other hand, there were definitely some duds in there as well (fully flat, pretty bland, etc.).  That’s part of the gamble of cask ale I suppose - because it’s a living, fresh, evolving thing, there’s always a chance that you could catch it just right… or not so right.  I admittedly had a limited sample size, especially since British bars (non-eatery establishments) don’t allow anyone under 18 inside their doors (including babies).  As someone coming from Park Slope, Brooklyn I found this highly unusual and unreasonable, but kept my mouth shut so as not to seem an impolite American tourist.

The Moulin Hotel Pub

Patient travel partners.

In addition to the cask ales, I also had a chance to try some pretty decent local brews (Isle of Skye Brewing, Black Isle Brewing near Inverness), a nice English IPA (Deuchar’s, out of Edinburgh) and my first really tasty American IPA since leaving The States (the Jackhammer IPA at Brewdog in Edinburgh).  All in all, Scotland was a great trip and satisfied the beer-traveler inside me.  Even with a few weak pints, the beer was generally solid and the pub experience was a cozy one.  It was also a nice change of pace from the mostly Belgian & Pilsner line up available in most Amsterdam markets.

If you made it this far through the blog post – Congrats!  You’ve just read more about beer than any normal person should have to.  Thanks for humoring this beer-enthusiast.  I now return the writing duties to the capable fingers of my wifey.  Cheers!

Clearly, I am the spitting image of a "Punk."