How Did That Happen?

One minute it's 1993, I'm in Ballymena's Tullyglass nightclub on my 18th birthday, downing pints of snakebite (half Harp/half Strongbow, yes really) with my mates and before I can say "education, career, marriage, mortgage and kids" - it's 2015 and I'm turning 40.  How the heck did that happen?

Thankfully I've discovered better tasting beer in the past 22 years.  Though it wouldn't really have been difficult would it?  The folly of youth and all that.

Last weekend my very secretive yet fantastic wife organised a surprise 40th birthday party with a few guests and this quick blog post is merely a thank you to the clever folk who brought some beer. Good beer at that, too.

A massive thank you to Isle of Skye Brewery's head brewster Pam and former owner Angus for not only supplying (as a present) and personalising labels on a copious amount of Skye Gold and Ardmore Beast but then making the long journey over to Northern Ireland to attend the party!  
With an additional ingredient of in-house milled porridge oats, the sessionable 4.3% ABV Gold has a faint grassy aroma and is light and slightly bitter on the tongue.  It came 3rd in the 2014 Belfast Beer and Cider Festival and is the perfect beer to appeal to a barbecue crowd.

In complete contrast to that however is the 7% ABV Ardmore Beast.  I love this but I'm already a big fan of finely brewed ales that have matured in Scottish whisky casks.  With its distinctive Scotch whisky aroma and taste it's a winner for me - Pam and Angus already knew it was one of my favourites hence them bringing it over.  This beer is the result of maturing Skye's Cuillin Beast for two months in Ardmore Whisky quarter casks, resulting in a full-bodied red ale with a smooth and not overbearing smokiness.

And to top it all off they brought a quality selection of brews from their colleagues at Loch Ness Brewery near Inverness. Slàinte mhath guys!

Also big thanks to the two Pauls and Phil for their present "40 Beers for 40 Years" - two boxes of beer ranging from the legendary and far-too-easily-downed Brewdog Punk IPA to selections from Weird Beard, Williams Bros and Jack Cody.

Honourable mentions also go to Mark and Elaine for the bottles of Glenrothes and Jura whiskies. 

A bit different from a pint of snakebite in 1993, eh?

Your First Tasty Beer Moment?

The journey to discovering craft beer and real ale (let's band them together and use the term 'tasty beer') is long and winding for some.  Less so others.  I'm in the 'some' category.

My earliest memories of beer in the early 1980s are of an uncle drinking cans of Carlsberg Special Brew and my Dad having the occasional Satzenbrau in the rugby club.  Fast forward ten years to the early 90s and I discover the world of 0.5% Shandy Bass - please don't laugh - followed by pints of snakebite or purple nasties on a Saturday night while grooving in a club to the likes of The Shamen and Utah Saints.  Remember them? 

The lager-with-flavouring phase naturally led onto the lager-with-no-flavouring phase.  Literally.  No flavour.  Yellow bland fizzy beer-water that's guzzled by the million (or so) pint load every weekend across Northern Ireland.  With this country being a real ale desert, especially in the 90s, there was little or no choice for young folk to develop a taste for something different from the usual Harp-Tennents-Bud etc.  Belfast may have had one or two choices but in every town, choice was zero.  I studied in Scotland but even in the town where I lived there was little choice.  I recall feeling like death after a night of drinking Bass and said I'd never touch the stuff again - although maybe the bottle of Blue Curacao I also had that night was to blame?  Perhaps.

It was the desire for choice, as well as a developing palate and badgering by my brother, that eventually led me to drinking Guinness.   It wasn't yellow or fizzy.  The black stuff just about sufficed for a few years but I wanted more.  I wanted ... different.  Then it happened.  

The May Day weekend of 2009.

That's when I took part in a charity motorcycle ride from Northern Ireland to the Isle of Skye.  The first night we stopped into the enchanting Drover's Inn near Loch Lomond where I discovered Deuchars IPA and the legendary Monster Burger.  The burger comes with its own defibrilator. 

That was followed the next night on Skye, by the Isle of Skye Brewing's Hebridean Gold (now called Skye Gold) and Williams' Fraoch Heather Ale.  Manna from heaven!  Another bike tour of Devon and Cornwall happened later that summer and the rest, as they say, is history.  

So when you're buying your next bottle or pint of 'tasty beer' be thankful for the choice and that it's not 1992.  I don't think I could re-live Billy Ray Cyrus' Achy Breaky Heart.

An Independent Scottish Hike?

I love Scotland.  I studied in Fife in the mid 1990s.  I have Scottish friends.   I've made numerous motorbike trips to the outer (and inner) wilds of Scotland to experience its cracking roads, stunningly beautiful countryside and enjoy a bit of craic with friendly natives from the Cairngorms, Argyll, Hebrides, Inverness and everywhere in between.  And what's the best plan after riding a couple of hundred miles through the stunning Highlands to your accommodation?  Why, let me think... is the answer... heading to the local pub for a well deserved couple of jars of local beer?  Damn right it is, give that man a gold star!  Whether it's small breweries like Moulin (Pitlochrie) or Colonsay (Isle of Colonsay) or a more familiar name such as Williams Brothers (Alloa) or Fyne Ales (Argyll), I'd rather have a Scottish beer while in Scotland.  Makes sense.  

Eilean Donan Castle (used for Highlander film)

I also enjoy many Scottish brews at home and in selected pubs in the greater Belfast area.  But with the Scottish Independence vote looming, what would happen if there's a breakup of the union?  As Scotland would no longer be part of the EU, what would this mean for pricing of Scottish beers?  I recently read a motorbike magazine article asking valid questions about border control, insurance premiums etc so what would happen to the beer world?   And lets get this correct from the outset - this is a non-political question not about the whys and wherefores of the UK.  It's a straight up, genuine concern that if Scotland was to break from the UK, would that make life worse for us as UK drinkers?

Speaking to brewer Angus MacRuary of Isle of Skye Brewing Company (creators of the very tasty Skye Gold - made with porridge oats), he's hopeful that if it did happen, little would change regards exporting of Scottish beers to the UK.

"Importing beer from Scotland would be the same as importing from any other country, the only difference being the paperwork required between the EU and the rest of the world.  It may be that the admin cost of this will add slightly to the price but the paperwork is not arduous so I wouldn't anticipate that."  Angus added the 'Yes Scotland' campaign said they would look into the issue but have yet to get back to him.  

I also contacted 'Yes Scotland' and 'Better Together' but haven't had any reply. Political types, huh?  

Williams Brothers Brewing, makers of big sellers in NI such as Fraoch Heather Ale, Joker IPA and Grozet, say it's hard to predict what will happen to prices. "Economic factors would suggest prices would stay comparable with UK. An independent Scotland would want to keep as much trade and sales links in the UK as possible."

So maybe there's not that much to be worried about?  Perhaps my fear should be turned towards having to deal with potential fare hikes when my bike and I board the ferry in anticipation of another rip-roaring blast along the A82 through Glencoe?