Mine's a Pint

Master Black asked me what my favourite beer was last weekend and, despite my inability to enjoy the stuff for the next couple or three years, I thought I'd blog about my favourite tipple for your delectation.


I started tasting beer when I was a small boy, tasting it from Dad's pewter mug at parties. As most small boys will attest this experience is rarely enjoyable because their taste buds have not developed a taste for much, let alone beer, and certainly not for a pewter mug. Metallic beer.... ! At the age of 15 or 16 I started going to pubs (sorry parents) with my pals, usually before the football at Tyncastle so that the smell of beer had departed before the half hour train journey took me home to Stoneyburn. It's amazing what 3 or 4 pints will do to a 16 year old when downed in an hour, but, whilst the social aspect was enjoyable, the beer still wasn't. We used to meet at the Auld Hoose in Williams Street, Edinburgh (now a Bert's Bar) because the bar maid (Yvonne I seem to recall...amazing how I remember) served us without asking any questions. The pub was made out inside with a hug fake tree that we used to sit in the branches of. You had to be there. I can't remember the mass produced rubbish I drank back then but I remember hating the stuff. As my teenage years progressed we would start going to parties at the club next to the Playhouse and drink Grolsch. I hated that too but the bottles came with a cool flip-top so I gritted my teeth and drank it. I eventually started drinking whiskey and ginger because it didn't give me the dry boke every time I tried it. Next came university in Liverpool where we were fed watered-down beer, a new one on me. This time it was Tetley Bitter or Guiness. I couldn't stand the bitter at that point in my life and especially not watered down, so I pretty stuch stuck to Guinness. The Incredible Mr Frost and I would occasionally mix Creme de Menthe with it and we had minty Guinness. Our favourite haunt was Flanagan's Apple in the same street as the infamous Cavern Club. This was an Irish pub on 3 levels that had folk music in the basement and 2 other floors of bar area. The Guinness there was great.


It wasn't until my late 20's that I started to like beer in it's own right. I remember being in an Asda in Liverpool where they had a deal; 4 bottles of beer for the price of 3, so I picked 4 I had never heard of before and took them back to Tracey's parents and drank them all during a relaxing evening.


Fast forward to our home in Glasgow and the off-licences nearby, Peckhams and Odbins where you could buy bottled beers from all over the world. I discovered Australian beers, American beers, beers from Germany and Belgium and a variety of Scottish and English beers from microbreweries (breweries that produce up to 15,000 barrels a year). Microbreweries have become more popular in recent years as drinkers searched for different beers from different styles that actually tasted of something more than the mass produced fizzy pop that the big breweries have been producing for years.


So here's a list of beers that I have enjoyed and still enjoy in Canada today. You may recognise some of them, but they are in no particular order:

- Innes and Gunn, Oak Aged Beer http://www.innesandgunn.com/ this stuff is aged in oak casks that used to be used in the whiskey trade and you can definitely taste whiskey, but only if you drink this from a glass and give the oxygen enough time to get to the beer. Don't try drinking this out of the glass or you won't taste it.

- Little Creatures, Pale Ale http://www.littlecreatures.com.au/ the brewery building used to be a crocodile farm in Western Australia and now produces a number of ales. I've only ever tasted the Pale Ale as that was all that was available in Glasgow. I've never seen it in Canada or the US but hope springs eternal (assuming i ever get back to drinking it, that is).

- Sierra Nevada, Pale Ale www.sierranevada.com this is another beer that I found in Glasgow but have now tasted the draught version in San Diego. Not sure whether I have seen it in Canada yet.

- Unibroue, Trois Pistoles www.unibroue.com this beer is sold in large bottles in the liquor stores in BC and it packs a punch at 9% ABV. I used to enjoy a bottle of this on a Friday afternoon when I got home from work. It certainly relaxes you after a hard week at work.

- Cairngorm Brewery, Trade Winds www.cairngormbrewery.com this beer isn't brewed all year round so if you see it in the shops in Scotland or on draught in the pubs you should give it a go.

- Badger Brewery, Golden Glory www.hall-woodhouse.co.uk this is a light beer brewed with peach blossom and you can taste the subtle hint of peach when you drink it. Hall and Woodhouse is an independent brewery in Dorset.

- Lewis Richards', Home Brew I'm sorry but this brewery is way too small for a web-site but if you ever have the opportunity to taste his IPA, take it. Very nice fella.

- Granville Island Brewery, Kitsilano Male Cream Ale www.gib.ca Granville Island is a fun place to visit for the day whether you live in Vancouver or are just visiting. This beer is my favourite, but their others are great too. We've been on the tour (very short - very small brewery) and you have the chance to taste their beers afterwards in their taproom. A tip - sign up when there are fewer visitors because they give you a small tasting glass but bring the beer in pitchers so the fewer the guests, the more beer you get.

- New Belgium, Fat Tire www.newbelguim.com this is a very refreshing beer in California where it tends to be warmer than anywhere else.

- Timothy Taylor, Landlord www.timothy-taylor.co.uk I've never been one for listening to what Madonna has to say but I heard her recommend this beer and decided to try it in Glasgow. Very nice.

If you're really interested in learning more about beers I would recommend the following web-sites

- www.beeradvocate.com
- www.beerhunter.com

Beer Hunter was either started by or inspired by Michael Jackson (the beer journalist, not the occasional singer) but now that he has died I suppose it has been carried on by others. Michael wrote a number of books on the subject, the best of which is Ultimate Beer, a review of over 600 beers. Tick them off as you taste them. I used to do that. Hey ho.