I'm off to see my Mum in Scotland tomorrow and being the sort of chap I am, I thought I'd take advantage of the fact that my sister doesn't drink and on Wednesday, get her to drive us to somewhere with decent beer. No point in going to Glasgow in a car, so where else? I had a look at the 2010 GBG and on the Dumbarton side of the Clyde, apart from one pub in Milngavie (and I suspect that may just have Deuchars IPA), there isn't a single entry. What a beer desert.
Maybe we could go to West I suppose, even if it is Glasgow, but I wasn't that keen when me and my mate Jeff visited it a couple of years ago. It may have improved of course and at least it is an imposing place and we could have lunch, as well as on site brewed German style beer.
In view of the drought ahead, tomorrow though I might just pop into the Three Judges in Partick on the way to Dumbarton, as not only do they have good beer and it is an easy break of journey on the train, but a mate of mine works there, so I'll have someone to chat too.
Could be worse I suppose. But not much.
I must say I think their Munich Red & Dunkels are superb, the St Mungo isn't to my taste but well executed nonetheless - perhaps it was an off day when you visited because their beers travelled well to the White Horse.
ReplyDeleteSame here, not impressed when I was there a couple of years back. All beers very bland and cardboardy, not good at all.
ReplyDeleteThe beer is much better than it was a couple of years ago. Not as good as in Franconia but better than an awful lot of what you get in Munich.
ReplyDeleteThe Balloch House in Balloch was excellent on my first visit and mediocre on my second, might be worth a try if you are in that neck of the woods.
Yes, it's a desert up here.
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ReplyDeleteI've been wondering what their beers are like. Would love to compare them to some actual German examples in a blind tasting.
ReplyDeleteBased on some of the comments above, it's good to know that adherence to the Reinheitsgebot doesn't guarantee a tasty beer, no matter where you are :D
You could establish that by drinking Beck's.
ReplyDeleteOh, it's a well known fact to me, and it goes well beyond Beck's... I just thought it was funny to see a brewery in Scotland also using the gebot as a marketing tool.
ReplyDeleteThe Three Judges is also dead handy for the Scottish Brewing Archive.
ReplyDeleteDid you make it out to WEST? The brewing team changed in 2008 and since then we have been awarded 3 gold medals by the DLG so the beers have been improved somewhat. Great feedback from the White Horse LOBI event in October. Look out for us at the Rake sometime this year. Anytime you are back in WEST give us a shout.
ReplyDeleteColin J - WEST Operations Manager colin@westbeer.com
Colin, just curious, but do the DLG do beer testing in the UK (as in, do they have an office there or did you specifically send them to Germany for testing)? Interesting that you'd seek to have it tested by a German institution. :)
ReplyDeleteColin. I did go and enjoyed the dunkel very much (more of a schwarzrbier to my mind, but splendid nonetheless) and the red less so. Not sure what a Munich Red might be really.
ReplyDeleteI was disappointed that only two of your own beers were on and outraged to be charged £2 a half against a pint price of £3.Doesn't really encourage experimenting.
Overall a not bad.
Coming in late to this, but there was an article in the local paper a few weeks back about the girl...Mädchen...lass running the place. She's from a village a dozen or so miles from where we live, just north of Forchheim, and just a couple of miles from some excellent countryside breweries. She'd studied in Scotland, and her dad asked why they "can't brew any proper lager there" while he was visiting once.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's all I have to say about that.