Harviestoun 'Wild Hop Gold'

This wasn't quite the first of the Sainsbury's 2012 Great British Beer Hunt beers that I tried but it was the first one that was both drinkable and not simply one of last year's entries that had been put back in the competition. Normally I wouldn't usually buy beer in clear glass for obvious reasons, but I fell foul of the 3 for £4 deal and the first bottle I had from the collection was light-struck; serves me right really.

Moving on to more positive things; Harviestoun's Wild Hop IPA was one of the highlights of last year's competition for me, and so I was looking forward to this one. On the nose it's really floral, bursting with elderflower and orange blossom aromas. What it really reminded me of was an Alsace Gewürztraminer; fruity and dry, but with loads of aromatic floral character with pink grapefruit and spices on the palate. I think this is a well-made beer but it's so different I found it a bit overpowering - I really think it would have been much better with food. Having said that this competition should be about trying different things, and just because it's not necessarily to my tastes doesn't mean it's not a good beer. I would definitely encourage people to give it a try, it's that bold in favour that might just be that it's one of those love it/hate it kind of beers.

I was at a wedding over the weekend and I got talking to someone about bold fruit flavours in new world wines popping up in some beers, and making people realise that beer really can be more interesting than just a bland commercial lager. The disappointing thing was I'd had Thai curry for dinner earlier; I should have had it with that, it would have been a brilliant match.

4.4% abv. It's part of Sainsbury's Great British Beer Hunt range for 2012. I found it in the seasonal food rather than the beer section, priced at 3 for £4 or (I think) £1.89.

Harviestoun 'Bitter & Twisted'

Is it the water? The weather keeping them indoors? Whatever it is that keeps the Scots making great beer and the world's finest whisky (a 16yo sherry-cask Glen Scotia provided an ideal accompaniment to this) I hope it continues for a long time - at very least until I shuffle off this mortal coil anyway. Harviestoun are currently vying with Williams in terms of being my personal favourite Scottish brewery. My review of their Wild Hop IPA* has been gobbled up with the loss of my old blog but I thought it was one of the best beers in Sainsbury's Great British Beer Hunt, along with the Williams Bros' entries (see here for Simon's review over at at CAMRGB).  Even years of working for Scottish and Newcastle wasn't enough to scare me off beers from north of the border (used to be a big fan of this on hand-pull). I've heard vague rumours that there's a brewery up near Fraserburgh somewhere, but they seem to keep really quiet. If it were me I'd try and get some more PR, get in the press and stuff, but what do I know?

So, the beer. If you've ever had a home made lemon cheesecake, with ginger nut biscuits mixed in with the digestives to make up the base, then you already know what this beer tastes like without trying it. It's got a great balance of biscuity malt and tangy citrus hops, and all at a very reasonable session strength. Much as I hate supermarkets, it does instill bit on confidence in the future of British Brewing when they're prepared to stock proper, decent beer like this. All right, it's not shouty, and it's probably not as exciting as the latest must-have hop-bomb from across the pond, but like I say, it's a proper beer. Job done.

On a side note, I'd had a few days off the beer before trying this, and I love how alive your palate gets after a few days rest. Even if the rest of your body is tired beer's great for invigorating the mind and the soul. Although I'm sure you knew that or you probably wouldn't be reading this.

4.2% abv. £1.99 (50cl) from Ocado

Tempting as it was to put Therapy?'s Potato Junkie as a music match (don't click on that if you're easily offended) my favourite electronic artist has a tune called Bitter and Twisted so it'd be rude not to post it. (Hat-tip as ever to Mark for beer and music matching!)



* Is this still about? It's not on their website.

Harviestoun 'Old Engine Oil' & 'Engineer's Reserve'

A few weeks ago I was reviewing several beers whilst trying to get my head around how beer could work in conjunction with oak. One of the best of these was Ola Dubh, a version of Harviestoun's Old Engine Oil porter aged in Highland Park whisky casks. It's great to have a bit of continuity with blog posts so it was good to get the chance to try the inspiration for the Ola Dubh, courtesy of Harviestoun, even if I did it in rather the wrong order.* As a bonus, I also got sent the special edition 'Engineer's Reserve' version of the Old Engine Oil , so I thought I'd give them a try in tandem.

First up, the original. It pours a gorgeous black, with a crema-coloured head. There are lactic notes on the nose, along with bitter chocolate and coffee, but it's really on the palate that it comes to life. It has a lovely way of moving between coffee-bitterness and a treacle-like sweetness and back again. It's full-bodied with a luxuriously sensuous mouthfeel, like melting chocolate. There's a long, lingering smoky bitterness in the finish.

The reserve is, unsurprisingly, similar, but with everything turned up a notch - for want of a better description it's kind of an 'Imperial' version of the original. The chocolate is more noticeable, it's got even more body, and the balance shifts more towards the sweetness. I got more of the spices, demerara sugar, vanilla and burnt malt than the original, and less of the dried fruit. Considering it's half as strong again as the original, it wears its alcohol really well.

Of the two, for me the original pipped the reserve to the post, although it was a close run thing (my wife preferred the reserve). If nothing else it reinforces my opinion that it's richer beers that are better candidates for oak ageing. These are certainly rich beers.

Beers of Europe retail the Old Engine Oil at £1.75 (330ml, 6.0% abv) but I'm not sure of  a price on the Engineer's Reserve (9% abv), it doesn't seem to be widely available. Thank you very much to the folks at Harviestoun for giving me the chance to try these beers, they were very much appreciated!

Edit: I've been told the Engineer's Reserve is a US exclusive, hence there being no price information for the UK.

* In the interests of 'research,' next time I order some beer I'm going to have to get myself more Ola Dubh for comparative purposes - a sacrifice I'm most definitely prepared to make.

Harviestoun 'Ola Dubh' 12

Having finally banished the cold I had I thought I'd throw myself back into my oak-aged beers.

This one's from Harviestoun, a brewer I first came across when we had their Schiehallion lager on hand pull in the pub I was working in, many years ago. I have to admit to certain preconceptions, Highland Park being a whisky I'm a fan of. I was certainly interested in seeing if any of the heathery characteristics I associate with the whisky would be transferred to the beer.

From the opening of the bottle there's a blast of Pedro Ximénez sherry and demerara rum aromas. It pours black with a tight tan-coloured head. The aromas on actually smelling it are like an Irish coffee, all cream and whisky. The initial sweet sherry aromas don't come through on the first sip, the beer (somewhat mercifully) taking over. There's lots of coffee, walnut, burnt malt, smoke, tobacco and cinnamon on the palate. Compared to something like BrewDog's Paradox Jura it retains its 'beery' character well, rather than becoming a completely different animal. It's heady without burn, but it's in the finish that the whisky really shines through, and it's there you can detect the heather of the Highland Park.

On the oak exploration front, does it need it? Possibly not, although I've not tried the Old Engine Oil porter that inspired this beer, I certainly will if I get a chance - if it's half as good as this it'll be a great beer. Does the barrel ageing help? Most definitely, it's all about the whisky rather than the oak, but I can't see how you'd get this depth of character and flavour without it. Great whisky's finish goes on for days in the depths of your mind, and this is a beer that comes close to recreating that.

8% abv. £4.25 (33cl) from The Whisky Shop

This one's called... Dubh. Deep, dark, dirty and not to everyone's taste.

Burns supper

I'm not Scottish, nor is the wife, but I do love a veggie haggis (yes, there is such a thing), malt scotch and Scottish beer, so to let Burns night slip by seems like a wasted opportunity.

The first stage was to get the haggis cooking. Macsween do an excellent haggis, really lovely texture from the oats, and lots of different flavours vying for your attention once you get into it. We have in the past served it to meat-eater types, and they've really enjoyed it. A Scottish friend of mine who I spoke to today about his hatred of meat haggis and he said he fancied giving it a go after a lifetime of avoiding Burns supper. To cook it you need to wrap it in foil and put it in the oven in a tray with 2cm of water. Obviously I took this as meaning 'water of life' so out came the Laphroaig (18yo refill hogshead, ex-bourbon) and in went a generous splash, which gives an added peaty/smoky note to the haggis.

I personally prefer to vary the textures so we went for roast potatoes rather than mash, and we didn't have any swede so that idea went out the window too. You don't have to be a stickler for tradition when you're Welsh  and preparing a Scottish dish - that's my logic anyway. For the haggis toast (and for the amazing whisky sauce, recipe here) I had some rich, warming 21yo Mortlach (1st fill sherry butt). As an accompaniment to the meal we had a choice of three, but we went for Williams brothers' Cock O' the Walk, a ruby ale with a peppery kick that worked beautifully with the spices of the haggis.

Desert kind of slipped my mind but rather fortuitously there was a Famous Grouse* liqueur-filled chocolate knocking about as a leftover from Christmas (my wife can't stand whisky) and so that was a cheeky full-stop to proceedings.

Haggis, top tatties and the all important liquid accompaniment.

Decisions, decisions...

If you do celebrate Robbie Burns' birthday then I hope you had an enjoyable evening. If you don't, then good food, good whisky and good beer is its own excuse, you should think about giving it a go next time.

Slàinte

* OK I admit it, it was a straw, but I clutched it nevertheless.

Harviestoun 'Wild Hop' IPA

Another corker from the beer hunt range, this time from Harviestoun.

Gold colour with quite a short head retention.

I wasn't sure of the ideal serving temperature, so I tried it cold then again once it had warmed up to around cellar temperature.

When cold it's a big hop head-shot, almost making your eyes water! All citrus, particularly grapefruit, and the coldness seems to take away any floral hoppiness and replace it all with bite. Seemed a less feminine IPA compared to something like Brewdog's 'Punk' IPA.

When it warmed up it mellowed a bit (although it's all relative) and some of the floral hoppiness came through. Still a hop belter though.

5.2% abv. £1.99 (50cl) from Sainsbury's.