8/3/2018 0 Comments #northhopabz 2018The Final FlingWith a little just over three weeks to go, Aberdeen's premier craft beer festival North Hop is nearly upon us. Dubbed "The Final Fling", because it is the last North Hop festival in its current form, this year's North Hop Aberdeen will again be held at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre on 30 and 31 March (Easter weekend). North Hop Festival Director, Michelle Russell, said: “This is our 4th Aberdeen festival and it will be our 12th festival since North Hop began in Inverness in 2014. It has been an amazing journey so far and we have worked with some awesome producers and folk from across Scotland and beyond. But the time has come to take a step back and some time out to come up with fresh ideas for the future of the North Hop brand.” Michelle continued: “We have always been at the forefront of new trends and like to keep things fresh and unique. Aberdeen has always massively supported North Hop and we love running festivals in the city and that is exactly why we have chosen Aberdeen for our final fling to send the current festivals out in style!” Having been to the festival a couple of times over the last few years, I can say from experience that festival goers are in for a great time. As always North Hop will be bringing along some of the best breweries & food vendors that the North East has to offer, with several returning from previous festival years along with some first timers. Alongside the wide range of beer, cider & street food on offer, there will be a cocktail lounge & a specially designed "North Hop Bar" that will feature five spirits from Berry Bros & Rudd (including a newly-launched London Dry Gin), natural mixers from Lamb & Watt, and the finest ice from Edinburgh Ice Co. In the cocktail lounge, there will also be a special pop-up market place featuring hand-crafted goods from local creative curated by the Aberdeen Etsy team.
On the music front, the line-up very much echoes the "support local" message with all acoustic acts and bands linked to Aberdeenshire. Sweet White headline the Friday evening session, The 101 will top the bill for the Saturday afternoon session and North Hop favourites The Harmonica Movement headline and close the festival on the Saturday evening session. As this is The Final Fling, famous bagpiper Spud the Piper has been invited to the AECC to accompany Festival MC Nicola McAlley from STV News to open and close the festival sessions. Over 2500 people are expected to descend on the AECC across the three sessions for ‘The Final Fling’ & with nearly half the tickets already sold, it really is shaping up to be one hell of a bash.
Full dates & ticketing info are as follows: NORTH HOP ABERDEEN “THE FINAL FLING” AT THE AECC Friday 30 March 2018 - Evening Session - 7pm till 12am Saturday 31 March 2018 - Afternoon Session - 12pm till 5pm Saturday 31 March 2018 - Evening Session - 7pm till 12am TICKETS: £16.00 plus Booking Fee per session. Each session lasts 5 hours, and the ticket price includes festival access on the specified days/times, a North Hop glass, festival programme and drink tasters on arrival. Available at http://northhop.co.uk/festivals/aberdeen, via Ticketmaster or locally at DogTap (Ellon), Brew Toon (Peterhead), BrewDog Aberdeen (Flagship), BrewDog Castlegate and Melt. ACCOMMODATION: North Hop has teamed with the Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express next door to the AECC to offer festival goers discounted rates for the weekend of the festival. Deals are as follows: Holiday Inn Express - £45 per night* B&B (continental breakfast) Holiday Inn - £49 per night* B&B (full cooked breakfast) *Discounted rate available for Thursday 29th, Friday 30th, and Saturday 31st March 2018. You can keep up to date with all things #northhopabz on the following channels: Website
0 Comments
28/8/2016 0 Comments Beer Review - Dirty SanchezFierce BeerFierce by name and fierce by nature. Dirty Sanchez by Aberdeen's very own Fierce Beer (brewed in Dyce) is a 6.5% ABV smoked porter. There is notes of chocolate and wood smoke present which is followed up with a warming, slight kick from the chipotle chili that has been added. The spice isn't overpowering at all and rounds off the flavour nicely. Their website recommends pairing this beer with BBQ food, I opted for chilli. They complemented each other very well - my only complaint (no fault of the beer) would be that my chilli slightly overpowered the flavours of the beer, so I couldn't properly experience the flavours until i'd finished eating. Next time i'd like to try it with some food that isn't as spicy so I can enjoy the flavours of the beer a bit more. I'm still trying to get into porter beers, but I really enjoyed Dirty Sanchez and has only made me want to try more porters. They aren't called Fierce Beer for any old reason - their beers are different, they pack a punch and i'd highly recommend that you check them out 🍻
www.fiercebeer.com/ 26/8/2016 0 Comments Westhill Service StationWesthill's Hidden Craft Beer GemRight the middle of Westhill, you will find a BP petrol station with a Spar store attached. To the naked eye - this just looks like an ordinary petrol station/shop...but take a wander inside to the alcohol section and you find a craft beer emporium! The first thing you will likely notice will be the entire stall dedicated solely to Brewdog. The selection available is fantastic - not just the headliners (Punk IPA, 5AM Saint, Dead Pony Club, Kingpin & Jet Black Heart), but they stock almost all of the latest releases. If I notice on Facebook or Instagram that Brewdog are releasing some new beers in the bar that night - 90% of the time they will be available in the Service Station on the same day! Unfortunately, I don't live 5 mins walk from a Brewdog bar, so it is great to be able to nip in to the garage and check out the latest offerings on the day they are released. Alongside Brewdog, they have also recently started stocking Aberdeen's very own Fierce Beer (Dyce) and have a great selection of their offerings. They also stock lots of other local Scottish craft breweries and have a fantastic, wide range available. You will also find a selection of international breweries - Stone Brewing from Berlin are one of the latest to be stocked alongside Pabst Brewing from USA. The chilled section boasts some of the most popular beers - which is an added bonus. I recently spoke to Chris Proctor, one of the supervisors at the store who has been dealing with Brewdog, Drygate & Stone breweries for the last while, and I had the chance to ask him some questions: I was really curious where the boom of craft beer at the garage came from? Was Darren (store manager) into craft beer and made the decision to start selling it? The variety of craft beer we offer initially sparks from either individual companies reaching out to us with a desire to work together, or it can be ourselves doing the contacting if a particular brewery catches our eye. Although our craft sales are doing better now than ever, the eclectic range you see on our shelves has been a work in progress, spanning over many years. We had a rather hefty store refurbishment back in 2013, which allowed us to expand our chilled and ambient alcohol sections. This extra space gave way not only to the usual suspects that always sell well, but to also offering new and alternative beers. I believe it was Darren’s aim to go above and beyond what most retailers like ours typically provide, and today, it certainly appears to have paid off! Is there some sort of connection with Brewdog? I find it amazing that more often than not when there is a new release at Brewdog... It's on the shelf at the garage the same day! Initially, when we started working with Brewdog, our display was very minimal - a couple different bottles or so at most. However it didn’t take long before our orders started to noticeably increase. Today, we have a separated stand dedicated to Brewdog, and this year we’ve also moved some of the top sellers into their own chilled fridge as well. There’s a Brewdog rep that visits local stores and he’s always blown away by our extensive range. Their Direct Sales Coordinator is someone I speak to pretty much every week and he does a great job to look after us and yes, hook us up with new beers to sell right on the hour they’re officially released. I can only see our relationship with Brewdog growing, and as long as they’re brewing, we’ll be selling! Do you find that there's a lot of interest in the craft beer selection you have? Absolutely! It’s hard not to acknowledge the vast amount of craft beer lovers nearby that keep our stock moving. The craft stuff really is one of Westhill Service Station’s strongpoints. I think our passion to bring new and exciting beer to the public, links very well with the simultaneous rise in people’s interests and desires to try out beers new and alternative. Most weekends that I’m in the store, it’s more common than not to see several customers filling their baskets with a mixed selection to taste test. We’ve just recently set up a Facebook page for people to follow what’s new in the shop and what we have on offer in our ever expanding fresh and hot food section. A few posts in, and we’d mentioned some new craft items and it quickly gathered a significant online reach. I believe the next day, our craft sales rocketed! Again, I can only see this interest growing as long as we continue to provide what people already love, along with new things for people to fall in love with! How do you decide which beers to stock next? For example I noticed in the last week you have started stocking Stone Brewing beers. I’d say it’s trial and error, but honestly, there’s not much we’ve had error’s with regarding what’s ordered in. Everything seems to shift well which is fantastic. Firstly, when ordering something from a new brewery, we’ll test the water with a small batch on display and then see how it goes from there. The first few weeks of a new beer on the shelf is usually always successful, but what we look for is whether that pace is sustainable overtime. The new Stone stuff we’ve just got in is a prime example of how we let our selection grow. For instance, we’ve ordered in beers with some of the lowest ABV’s that Stone offer, in order to keep the prices lower for the customer to feel happy enough to try them out. If customers start returning to the Stone beers, then we can continue to expand and look at getting in stronger (pricier) options. Another thing we are passionate about is using local suppliers. There’s an abundance of indie craft breweries kicking about in Scotland, and Aberdeen’s very own Fierce beer is one of our latest local suppliers that are doing tremendous things this year. If you haven't already visited Westhill Service Station and checked out their craft beer selection - I highly recommend doing so. There is a much better range of Craft Beer in there that you will find in most big supermarkets! 🍻
You can also follow them on Facebook @ www.facebook.com/WesthillServiceStation Westhill Service Station is located on Straik Road, Westhill, AB32 6TJ. |
|