Hey!
Firstly, thanks a lot for clicking through and showing an interest in what I have to say. These blogs will be pretty short and easy going, so stick around and look out for the following posts. You may have noticed that I’ve named the blog series as a ‘conversational’. I’ve done this for a reason. I’d like it to be more of a two-way conversational flow, rather than me endlessly banging on about myself, so please do feel free to leave a comment at the bottom.
So, I've been tasked to write a blog series with free rein on the topic. For those of you who may know me, you'll be unsurprised that I've chosen to discuss bevy; namely Scottish craft beer. It's something, again as many of you will know, I enjoy regularly and have a real interest in, particularly those from local breweries, so it’s probably the topic of which I’ll have most to talk about (I’m not an alcoholic).
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| Selection of Craft Beers |
For this blog series, I've chosen to sample and talk about 5 Scottish beers which I either like or simply find interesting. In twice-weekly posts, I'll talk a little about the beer itself & it's brewery, sample & discuss tasting notes and explain the rationale behind choosing that particular beer as well as my association with it. If you're a craft beer enthusiast, like me, you're in for a treat. If you aren't, nae luck, but I hope to at least keep you interested with the stories of my personal experiences.
Arran Blonde
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| Arran Blonde |
Anyways, beer no. 1 is the Arran Blonde from, you guessed it, The Isle of Arran Brewery. The brewery itself is situated within the scenic surroundings of the island, just off the west coast of Scotland. At the foot of Goatfell, this provides an ideal location to enjoy a cold one (if you’re lucky with the weather).
I have enjoyed many of these over the years, having spent a period of a year living and working on the beautiful island. During my time there I done the brewery tour with my good friend Tim, which was great fun (& value) as, for £6 the tour included the sampling of eight different beers that the brewery produced, from light blondes to a black IPA. The tour was made even better considering that Tim and I were the only people on it due to us visiting the brewery outwith the tourist season, so of course, we tanned all 8 between us.
On to the tasting... (Side note: I love how this uni assignment requires me to drink beer.)
Tasting Notes
Appearance: A light golden colour.
Aroma: Well-defined floral and light hop notes.
Taste: Subtle yet present hop flavours and a smooth feel, as expected in a blonde. Sweet, yet malty aftertaste.
Comments: One negative comment I must make is that I’m not overly impressed with the carbonation levels. I’ve experienced this on a few occasions and it really lets this beer down. Otherwise, a really refreshing beer, and at £1.65 in Tesco, great value too.
Rating: A fair and accurate 3.1/5 on ratebeer.com
This award-winning beer is available in Tesco, Co-op & Asda. The Arran Brewery also do a few other fantastic beers including the ‘Arran Sunset’ amber summer ale and the ‘Brewery Dug’ American-style IPA. I presume this is their comical take on Brew Dog’s Punk IPA.
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| Arran Blonde |
If you got this far, thanks for reading and I hope as a result, I’ve made you fancy a beer. If so, go get one, you probably deserve it. If you enjoyed it, please do subscribe and keep an eye out for the next addition to the blog in a few days, beer no. 2; ‘Joker IPA’.
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