Gadzooks! Who would have thought that it would be so difficult to find a few minutes each day to transcribe a few words about a bottle of beer? But it is – especially as we enter the party season and my evenings are filled with festivities.
The good news is, I have three excellent beers to report on; the first two of which are from breweries that I’ve already “visited” during this advent calendar.
Tuesday’s beer was Bitter & Twisted, from the Harviestoun Brewery (c.f. Schiehallion on day three). At 4.2% ABV it’s a little lighter than Schiehallion, but it’s equally delicious – very fresh, sharp and hoppy, it was voted Champion Bottled Ale 2004. Mmmmm.
Wednesday I came back closer to home for a second beer from the Hambleton Ales microbrewery in Thirsk – this time it was Festive Filly (ABV 4.5%), which is presumably a seasonal ale, and damn nice it is too. Another good winter warming beer.
Finally, today I enjoyed Nessie’s Monster Mash, a 4.4% “premium beer” from the Cairngorm Brewery Company. Very pleasant, plenty of flavour – I’d be interested in trying the cask version of this for comparison.
So there we have it, a trio of mighty fine ales from northern Britain, any one of which I’d love to have for a second time. Aaah, this beer advent calendar was *such* a good idea…