The Loch Ness Brewery

Some of the best ale I enjoyed in Scotland came from two of the smallest breweries.  One of them is the The Loch Ness Brewery that is (you guessed it) on Loch Ness in the village of Drumnadrochit.  It's attached to the small hotel that we stayed at called The Benleva Hotel.  It's a pretty basic hotel with a cracking good pub in the back that prides itself in serving a nice selection of real ale including those from it's own attached brewery. 

The two Loch Ness beers they had on cask were "Red Ness" and "Hoppiness".  You can see the "Hoppiness" in the picture on the left.  The one to the right was a stout from another brewery they had on cask that I don't recall the name of but I can tell you my favorite beer of the evening was the "Red Ness".  As the name suggests its a red ale and I thought it was a very good drop as was the "Hoppiness".  I was told by a couple of locals later in the evening that the "Hoppiness" is a favorite of the locals

Each year in September the hotel also hosts the Loch Ness Beer Festival and has around 40-60 ales from all over Scotland and some from England on cask.  One of the younger locals we drank with that evening beamed with pride when he boasted that the had tried all 60 ales (or maybe it was 40) at this year's festival (it runs all week - not in one night!).  He almost said it in a way that gave me the impression he was throwing down the gauntlet and challenging me to come back and try to do the same next year.  I'm certainly willing but I doubt we'll find ourselves there next September but going to the Loch Ness Beer Festival is something I would love to do some year. 

As this was the first stop in the Highlands on our trip the first thing I noticed was that the pub was a lot more casual and gritty than what we experienced in Edinburgh.  For starters there were dogs wandering around the pub.  At first just the owners two dogs but later on some locals would bring theirs in.  This was something we would see in most of the other pubs we'd visit in the Highlands later in the week.   I also noted that it was very much a locals hangout and sitting back and quitely overhearing conversations that went something like "What a fecking %$^# so and so was and that her son is a fecking idiot too" ... and so on was quite humourous.  Anyhow it was a good night and a great place to stop along Loch Ness.  It proves that using the CAMRA Good Beer Guide is a pretty good place to start when researching where to stay in places like this.

Dorff was very happy to meet the dogs in the pub.

Sandy Bells - Edinburgh

What's better than drinking good Scottish ale from a cask?  Drinking Scottish ale from the cask while listening to live traditional Scottish music.  Sandy Bell's in Edinburgh has got plenty of both. 

My first pint was from the local Stewart Brewing Company called Edinburgh No. 3.  A smooth, malty, nutty Scottish ale that hit the spot so well I just stayed with it.  There was a group of old timers playing some tunes in the back of the pub (as you can see from the pictures) and while they were terrific they were outdone by the over a dozen harmonica players that came in after them.  I've never seen anything like it.  Harmonica players playing traditional Scottish tunes in unison.  Oddly enough, and this may have been the beer affecting my hearing, but that many harmonica's playing together in unison sounded a bit like a bagpipe.  Very cool. 

Sandy Bell's has got plenty of character.  We didn't spend nearly enough time here.

The Malt Shovel - Edinburgh

There seems to be a metric ton of great pubs in Edinburgh and I just barely scratched the surface on them.  Many have really nice choices for cask ale (or "real ale").  One such place is called the The Malt Shovel (on a side just off the Royal Mile).  For starters, what a great name for a pub.  Because, really what I want to do is shovel malt in liquid form down my throat when I visit a place like this.

They had a lovely dark mild on cask from Mighty Oak Brewing Company of Essex called Oscar Wilde which won the an award of "Supreme Champion Ale of Britian 2011" and it's not hard to see why.  It really is as delicous as it looks and highly quaffable at only 3.7% ABV.  I'd love to see this beer show up at a NERAX one of these years. 

Just one of many great pubs in this beer mecca of a city.