8/5/2020 1 Comment Supporting Local BreweriesGet your Beer Fix By Supporting LocalWe may be going through some pretty tough times at the moment, but for some of us, getting our beer fix is still pretty important. With the rise of quality craft beer available in more and more supermarkets, it's becoming all too easy to grab a few, whilst on your weekly shop and stock up for the weekend. I'm as guilty as anyone for that, it's so handy! Having an equally tough time of it, or probably tougher in some cases, is the independent local breweries and bottle shops that are still working super hard to make awesome craft beer available to us, despite everything that's going on. With lock-down set to be rightfully extended further (certainly here in Scotland), I wanted to put together this post to highlight some awesome breweries and bottle shops that we can support through these tough times - and you get your hands on some tasty beer at the end of it. Note, that whilst I'm sure there are loads of places deserving of your support, I'm using this post to highlight places that I love, and have been supporting recently. Feel free to add others in the post comments or re-share and tag them. Brew ToonI'm sure you all know how much I love Brew Toon - they have featured in many posts on this blog, and that hasn't changed. They have some amazing beers to choose from, with the incredible M'Ango Unchained, an all time favourite of mine, along with others such as Sour To The People, Mayday and Loose Cannon. I ordered from them last week; I placed an order at around lunch time, and it came before 5pm the very same day - incredible service! They have also recently launched 5L mini-kegs, which have been super popular. I got myself a keg of M'Ango Unchained last weekend, and it went down a treat! Find out more at: https://www.brewtoon.com/ Reids GoldNow, whilst I haven't specifically ordered from Reids gold during lockdown, they are a great small brewery, making great beer, and absolutely deserving of your support. With beers such as Raspberry Sun, North Sea Haar and the award winning Green Monkey Wheat, they have plenty to choose from. They are also currently taking pre orders on 5L mini kegs. Find out more at: https://www.reidsgold.com/ Dog Falls BrewingNow, this is a relatively new brewery to me - I only found out about them last week, but I have already since placed an order. Based up near Inverness, these guys have an awesome looking selection of 440ml cans available, something which is pretty rare for a relatively small outfit, in my opinion. Offering free local delivery within a 10mile radius or courier delivery at a very reasonable price for further afar - they are definitely worth checking out. Find out more at: https://dogfallsbrewingcoltd.selz.com/ Six Degrees NorthAgain, another brewery that I haven't specifically ordered from throughout lockdown, but they are definitely a local favourite of mine. They have such a great selection of beer, and are offering up a great variety of mixed cased at very reasonable prices, with all orders posted next day via DHL. Find out more at: https://www.sixdnorth.co.uk/ Overtone BrewingNow, whilst these guys may not be local to the North East of Scotland, they are an awesome Scottish brewery - in fact, I think they might very well be my favourite brewery around at the moment. They make such high quality beer on such a consistent basis, they are absolutely a brewery that you need in your life. I've banged on about them so much over on my Instagram, and I can't wait to see what they brew up next. They have a very decent selection of beer available on their online shop, with free mainland delivery available for orders over £35. Find out more at: https://www.sixdnorth.co.uk/ Hop Shop AberdeenPotentially of of my favourite shops in the whole world, and the place where I but 99% of my beer - Hop Shop Aberdeen (also known as Westhill Service Station) are easily the best bottle shop in Aberdeen, and probably one of the top throughout the UK. Stocking such a HUGE range of craft beer, including two rotating taps that can be used for growler fills, along with merch, snacks and glassware - you can get just about anything you need to satisfy your craft beer needs here. They offer free mainland delivery for orders over £50. Find out more at: https://hopshopaberdeen.com/ You may have noticed there are a couple of big omissions from this list - BrewDog & Fierce beer. BrewDog are one of the biggest craft beer companies in the world - I don't think they need highlighting. Fierce, whilst not on the same level as BrewDog, are probably one of the biggest craft breweries in the UK, and certainly need no introduction from me - we all know how good they are! I've also recently ordered from, and received excellent service from two breweries slightly further afar - Pomona Island from Salford & S43 from Country Durham. I've yet to try the Pomona Island beers at the time of writing, but I've read so much about how good they are. S43, for me are making some of the UK's best beer this year, and whilst my latest order has yet to arrive - I'm buzzing to get my hands on them. Find out more at: https://www.pomonaislandbrew.co.uk/ https://s43brewery.com/ So there you have it, my picks to help support local, independent breweries and bottle shops. Any suggestions? Leave them in the comments below, or re-share this post and tag them.
Now, put down those £3 supermarket cans and go help out the little guys! 🍻
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13/1/2019 0 Comments Beer Review - Liberty APAReids Gold BrewingI'd like to kick this post off by saying Happy New Year, and wishing you all the very best for 2019! For my first review of the year, I'd like to start by keeping things local - I like to try my best and show as much local beer on this blog as I can. So, featuring for the first time on this blog is Reids Gold Brewing, from Stonehaven (they really should have appeared before now, but I never got my hands on any of their beers until just before Xmas - my fault!). Liberty APA is a 4.5% ABV american style pale ale, that has been brewed with grapefruit. The first thing that springs to mind here for me is Elvis Juice. Now I highly doubt that this beer has been brewed as an imitation of Elvis Juice, but if it's at all in anyway similar - then I'm sure I'll like it. Here's the official line from Reids Gold: "Liberty APA 4.5% ABV: (American hopped pale ale with pink grapefruit) This beer is an American pale ale. It only has hops added that are grown in America, these are Amarillo, Mosaic and Sorachi ace and it is not as highly hopped as an IPA so it has a more malty character. This all American bad boy is a smooth, easy drinking session ale, it has some pink grapefruit added to give it a fresh twist and something different that seems to work well with this beer. This beer is suitable for most foods and is a good all rounder, this would work well with most meat dishes, seafood and deserts." I was looking forward to this beer. I love trying new beer from local breweries, and the Sonehaven Fireballs Beer had wet my appetite for more. When Reids Gold first appeared on my radar, their branding was completely different - but ever since their re-brand, the beers all have a distinct, clean and modern look - they really do stand out. Liberty APA pours from the bottle a hazy, dark amber colour, leaving behind a lively off-white head - so lively in fact, that when I popped the cap I had to deal with some beer escaping from the bottle! Near disaster over...initial aromas are citrus grapefruit, biscuit malts and toffee - so far, so good. Flavours are slight bitterness up front from the grapefruit, with a hint of citrus. These then combine with some floral notes and some slight toffee flavours to round everything off quite nicely - an easy drinking beer overall, with quite a decent amount of carbonation. Overall, I found this to be a pretty enjoyable beer and along with the Stonehaven Fireballs Beer - it has good me quite excited about what's to come from Reids Gold. Whilst it didn't blow me away - it was easy drinking, and full of flavour. Do the right thing and support this local brewery by checking out some of their beers!
Liberty APA gets 3.5 out of 5 from me 🍻 |
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