The Ale Archive

The Brewery: “Campbells brewery was established in 2017 in Peebles by Murray Campbell. We are a team absolutely dedicated to producing the finest ales in Scotland. Our brewers, Isaac Knowles-Gruft, Mark Harrison and Craig Barrett are incredibly skilled and passionate and their mission is always to source top quality malts and hops to produce the very best cask and bottle-conditioned ales.” The Beer: “Gunner Blonde is the first beer that we have brought out on to the market and we are having so much success with this we have had to increase the number of our fermentation vessels to keep up with demand. Gunner Blonde is a lovely well balanced blonde ale brewed with German bittering hops and finished with delicious American hops creating an absolutely delicious pint.” So, a REALLY young brewery. I tell you what though, even though this is not my favourite style of ale  I really enjoyed it. Looking forward to more beers from Campbells. 4.5% A.B.V The Island View Inn , Berwick-upon-Twee...

The Brewery. There’s lots more on the website but here’s a taster: “1990 – Gary and Jonny meet, aged 9, at the Kinross after-school gulag and bond over custard creams and table football. Gary wins the football. Jonny eats most of the biscuits. Instant friends……….2010 – The boys decide to start a brewery. Jonny goes back to school, is told that he can’t repeat Primary Six a third time, so instead enrols at Heriot Watt to study Brewing and Distilling. Gary makes him his packed lunch in a Power Rangers lunch box…..2016 – Gary and Jonny officially launch Cross Borders Brewing Company in July 2016 at the Stockbridge Tap in Edinburgh. Gary works hard on the business paperwork; Jonny makes him his packed lunch in a carrier bag. He’d left the Power Rangers lunch box at work.” The Beer: “Flavours of roasted coffee & chocolate with a helping of oats make this easy drinking porter extra smooth.” Yes, it was easy drinking and yes it was extra smooth. A tasty Porter that I’d happily drink again...

The Brewery: “….Our processes create only the finest hand-crafted ales, using the traditional methods developed and handed down through time. Only the finest ingredients and purest Orcadian water can create these outstanding, full-of-flavour ales. So next time you sip one of our brews, you can be sure it was made with the best malt, hops, yeast, Orcadian water — and a long, long history of making quality ales……” The Beer: “Deep Tawny Ale- smooth and nutty…….Rich nutty malt, sweet smooth blackcurrant and lemon mousse leading to blackcurrant leaf and wood notes with a dry woody, spicy nutmeg finish” This is the second beer I got to try from Orkney on this trip and again it didn’t disappoint. A lovely mix of flavours. 4.5% A.B.V. March 2018

The Brewery: “Mordue Brewery is one of the UK’s most successful craft breweries of the last 20 years. Mordue Brewery have a history of winning national beer awards commencing with our very first ever brand, Workie Ticket, which went on to win Champion Beer of Britain shortly after we started business. We brew craft beer to the very highest standards and have done from the first day of brewing 20 years ago. We started with the express intention of brewing beer better than the beers that were available at the time. Our commitment to innovation and improvement hasn't wavered in the subsequent years - this is why we continually win awards for our new beers. This means that we are both established, yet at the cutting edge, our brewery is based just east of Newcastle and is equipped with state of the art equipment.” The Beer: “Premium strength northern ale balancing leafy hops, berry fruit and malt.” Reminded me of one of those ales that appear around Christmas time but that’s not a bad...

The Brewery: “….Our processes create only the finest hand-crafted ales, using the traditional methods developed and handed down through time. Only the finest ingredients and purest Orcadian water can create these outstanding, full-of-flavour ales. So next time you sip one of our brews, you can be sure it was made with the best malt, hops, yeast, Orcadian water — and a long, long history of making quality ales……” The Beer: “Dark Island is an iconic beer: The Orkney Brewery's flagship beer. Exhibiting a ripe fruity, chocolate nose, Dark Island is balanced by flavours of dark Chocolate, dried fruit, figs and nuts from the combination of roasted malts and rich hops. A standard-bearer for traditional Scottish ales. In cask, this beer has twice won CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Scotland.” Yeah, I like a drop of the dark stuff now and again and this didn’t disappoint. Robust at 4.6% A.B.V without being overpowering.

What they say: “We use the finest floor malted grains, fresh hops and multiple strains of fresh brewers yeast and microbes. Ingredients are chosen simply for their contribution to the product rather than the effect on bottom line. Our beer is then handled as carefully as possible with the minimum of processing to create the best beer possible. We constantly strive to improve. Looking to modern peers, ancestors and our own experimentation. Beers that evolve and change over time. Embracing new ingredients, technology and innovation.” The Beer: “Deep red colour with dominant fruit and malt aromas. Heavy late hopping with Amarillo and Citra lends a delicate orange and lemon aroma to balance the deep malt character.” Didn’t really work for me to be honest. I found the flavours a bit confusing. having had a look at their range though I’m looking forward to further ‘research’ into Dark Revolution’s product when the opportunity arises. 4.4% A.B.V. The Guildford Arms , Edinburgh. March 2018