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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27/6/2019 0 Comments Beer Review - Fat WhiteSonnet 43I love discovering new breweries, and that's exactly what happened with this latest beer. Browsing the shelves at Hop Shop Aberdeen, I came across a rather funky looking beer, with an even funkier name - Fat White. Brewed by a brewery that is totally new to me - Sonnet 43 (S43) from Durham. Fat White is a rather lovely sounding 6% ABV Milkshake IPA, and here's what the brewery have to say about it: "OUR MILKSHAKE ONE – What’s cool for cats, fruity, and pours creamy thick just like milk? This drink. Although milk-like, it’s not really for cats because it’s a proper New England-style IPA made for humans like you. Taking flavours and textures to the max, expect a mango tropical taste with a hint of pine that’s dry-hop heavy but makes bitterness take a backseat. If you lack toes and tolerance, we’re sorry. If not then get your paws on this. One sip and you’ll feel like the cat’s pyjamas. There’s also Carapils malt, oats, a barely named after an Otter (of all things) and aged vanilla beans to enhance the milkshake taste." Milkshake IPA's have been one of my favourite styles of late, so it's safe to say that I was looking forward to cracking this one open! Starting off with the can - because that's what attracted me to this beer in the first place. The colour scheme and the font make this one such a stand out, it is hard not to pick it up! Fat White pours from the can a hazy, dark, golden yellow colour, and in my case, leaving behind a very lively off-white head. In the nose there's bags of passion fruit, orange, citrus, along with a whack of hop resin and you can also get whiff of the thick, creamy lactose. Flavour wise - those juicy fruits are at the forefront with more passion fruit, orange and citrus, along with some mango. These all combine with more bitter, hop resin whilst being laced with creamy, oats and lactose to give this beer a silky smooth mouthfeel and a great finish. This is an absolutely lovely beer. Silky smooth, full of juicy fruit flavours and just the right amount of bitterness - everything you want in a great Milkshake IPA. I really enjoyed this beer. It's fruity, smooth, creamy flavours made it incredibly drinkable, and I would have happily drank another straight after finishing. This beer has also put S43 on the map for me, and I very much look forward to checking out more beers from these guys and if they are anything like this one, then I'm in for a real treat!
Fat White gets 4.5 out of 5 from me 🍻 |
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