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A TASTE OF SCOTLAND

by John Cryne

When you follow the path, how far are you allowed to stray from orthodoxy? When it comes to drinking draught beer in the UK, it's normally very plain - cask is best. But when you turn your attention to bottled beer, the path can be a bit more blurred. Undoubtedly, real ale in a bottle, as we are now getting used to call it, does, at its best, present a depth that non-bottled conditioned beers struggle to match.

But the competition is closer, as specialist producers have looked to brew bottled beers that, while not bottle conditioned, offer the drinker some intriguing alternatives. An example of such a beer is Innis and Gunn's Original Oak Aged Beer from Edinburgh.

The beer is subject to a 77-day maturation process which includes 30 days in "lightly toasted" American white oak barrels. The barrels come from Kentucky, are used only once, and impart vanilla, citrus and toffee flavours. They are held in a "dunnage" warehouse which is a type more associated with whisky production. Traditionally they have stone walls, an earth floor, casks stacked no more than three-high and a damp atmosphere which some believe gives a better "climate" for malt production. And that's the plan for the beer.

After the oak casks there is a further 47 day maturation period spent in "marrying tuns" to marry flavours from different casks and the final beer is naturally carbonated giving it a light effervescence. After all that, the 6.6% bottled beer should probably best be served in its own style of glass. This has a long stem and a bowl and looks not too dissimilar to a bolleke used for de Koninck.

So for Burns night back in January, there came a chance to sample the beer alongside some other traditional Scottish produce. I am a great fan of smoked salmon; I a great fan of the produce of Loch Fyne from the west coast of Scotland. So Loch Fyne Bradan Orach really hits the spot.

The fish has a full, rich flavour; it is cured with sea salt and then smoked for 24 hours. The beer is pale brown in colour with amber overtones, a woody/oaky mouth feel, slightly sour with citrus and honey on the palate; dry notes on the after taste and warming in the finish. It has strong enough flavour the complement the salmon helped by the sparkling effervescence, a slight champagne-type feel. It does not drink to its 6/6% and is better when slightly warmed up from fridge temperatures when you really pick up the vanilla and toffee flavours.

Next up, albeit on another day, was to have cheese as a starter - Howgate Kintyre Brie from the Inverloch Cheese Company, Campbeltown together with some oat cakes with cracked black pepper, from Tesco's Finest range. Made from full-fat Guernsey cow's milk, the cheese has a creamy, buttery taste. The sweetness/maltiness of the beer goes well, the warm aftertaste lingered, and the fruity, oaky flavours matched the cheese. If anything this triple combination of cheese, oat cake and beer was a bigger hit than the Bradan Orach.

It is unlikely that most restaurants will be able to take bulky cask beer, so those of us of a beery persuasion have to look to them to stock high quality bottled beers to complement their food. It is a challenge we have a right to set and it is very pleasing that the good producers of Edinburgh, with Innis and Gunn, have accepted the challenge and come up with a beer that would be totally at home in a restaurant setting.

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