I have two weeks off every Christmas and we either stay in Scotland or fly to Germany. When at home, I like to get a supply of ale to keep me going over the festive season. This often involves a trip to Aldi as they sell a good range at bargain prices. Williams Brothers beers are widely available in the stores near me and I like to support this brewery as it is the last one standing in Alloa - formerly the brewing capital of Scotland. Williams make different styles and there's something to suit every taste. Aldi don't always stock every Williams brew but there's enough variation to keep me happy. Curiously, it's actually cheaper for me to buy my bottles from the supermarket (usually £1.49) than from the brewery directly. It seems it doesn't always pay to cut out the middle man. Naturally, a retail chain has the clout to buy in bulk and negotiate a substantial discount. Given that Williams don't sell from their own premises, offering delivery by courier only, it makes little economic sense to pay extra charges for ale I can easily obtain within a 10-minute drive from my house.
Alloa lies in the neighbouring county of Clackmannanshire but I also wanted to source some Fife beer for my larder. Yes you read that right. Bottled ales - especially darker styles and bottle conditioned varieties are best served cool rather than chilled. The optimum temperature is around 11 degrees. This allows more flavour to emerge when drinking. The Limekilns Brew Shed is a one-man operation in a coastal village three miles from me. I met the owner Steven Hope at a Burns supper and his produce is readily available in a couple of local convenience stores. I wasn't aware he also manned a weekend stall at a nearby farm shop and bakery complex until we happened to drop in by chance. The beer counter had just closed when we arrived for a browse but I made a mental note to return. Fast forward a few weeks to the Christmas run-up and we stopped at the same place for a coffee. Again, I had just narrowly missed the opening slot for the beer stall so instead I headed a mile along the road to the Crossgates Village Store. This corner shop has stocked local beers for a few years and I knew I would find Brew Shed bottles here. Rather than being tucked away on a bottom shelf, I was impressed to see the shop had created a dedicated display showcasing beers from a number of breweries. I grabbed a few Limekilns ales and also reached for an 80-shilling style from Coul of Glenrothes - a new one for me. Beath Brewing (Cowdenbeath) are also featured regularly in the shop and their ales are more experimental, coming up with all sorts of fruity flavours whereas Brew Shed is a more traditional concern. Everyone has their own taste. One thing I'm struggling with is the growing popularity of craft ale in a can. Not the container itself, but the fact it tends to be overpriced (upwards of £3 to £4 is common) and you're only getting a third of a litre. I'm sure many of these beers are excellent but they're aimed squarely at the trendy market and prices are hiked accordingly. The same thing occurs at solidly middle-class organic food outlets.
I was happy with my haul and also stopped at Tesco to treat myself to a bottle of Kraken black spiced rum. I enjoy relaxing with books, magazines and films over Christmas and a pint of beer or glass of rum & coke goes nicely with these activities. What I didn't bank on was receiving a dozen examples of assorted English bottle conditioned ales from Nicole as a gift. The German side of our marriage permits us to unpack our pressies on Christmas Eve and I marvelled at this selection of quality beer from the various country shires. I should explain what is meant by the term real ale. Everyone knows the brewing process involves fermentation and - traditionally - the beer continued to mature in the cask. The yeast was still working away, creating nuances of flavour. When the cask was opened, the contents would slowly start to degrade due to the introduction of oxygen. Therefore a barrel of real ale has a shelf life of just a few days before it goes stale and eventually foul. Sometime around the 1960s, pubs began to switch mainly to pasteurised beer, which is forced into a metal keg and lasts indefinitely. A less risky proposition for publicans but there is a drawback. Pasteurising the liquid in the fermenting vessel kills the maturation process stone dead and results in a blander product. The big breweries touted this development as a "premium" ale with a consistent taste, playing upon the fact that cask ale was often unpredictable in pubs, as not every establishment gave the beer proper care and attention in the cellar.
The campaign for real ale (CAMRA) was founded in 1971 to help preserve the traditional British method of brewing and dispensing beer. Cask beer can thankfully be found in nearly all large towns and cities. Bottle conditioning is simply a miniature form of the cask process and is classed by CAMRA as real ale. The beer continues to age in the bottle with live yeast present. There is an element of the unknown. Bottle conditioned beer can occasionally be rather lively or slightly on the flat side. To a large extent, it is what it is. Most of the time it's excellent and you learn to take the rough with the smooth. A great one is unforgettable. My theory is things have more of a chance to bed down in a 10-gallon cask than in a small piece of glassware. The Limekilns ales are all bottle conditioned as are the ones from Beath Brewing. The Coul 80 shilling was pasteurised, just like the Williams range. However, small artisan breweries can still produce tasty ales which don't fit the strict CAMRA guidelines. I drank one bottle per day from my English stock (mainly traditional bitters) and savoured every last drop. My Christmas beer stash lasted until the middle of January and half of my Kraken rum remains at the time of writing. Perhaps I'll experiment with other mixers rather than the traditional cola. Rum & Dr Pepper anyone? I almost did try that but backed down on the grounds it sounded wrong. But there's only one way to find out.
Another way to enjoy real ale at home is via the 8-pint mini cask. They usually cost around £15 and function in the same way as a full size barrel. Open the air vent at the top and pour from the tap at the bottom. You have a window of 3-5 days to consume the product in prime condition. Closing the vent after serving helps slow the degradation process. I received the pictured cask in a secret Santa at work and was delighted with my gift. The bigger supermarkets sell a handful of popular beers in this form and small breweries also find it a useful method of shifting larger volumes without entering the competitive pub market. I first encountered mini casks at Perth farmers market at the Stewart Brewing stall. They are now a major player on the Scottish beer scene and frequently have their ales in city centre bars. My main memory of this Hobgoblin container is setting it up on the table outside the back door. After a hectic Christmas dinner, I relaxed on the sofa and simply popped out for a pint whenever I fancied one. I repeated the strategy on Boxing Day. I notice I'm wearing a Rush T-shirt in the picture. The band's drummer, Neil Peart, passed away last weekend at the age of 67 following a struggle with brain cancer. Long regarded as one of the greatest ever rock drummers, Neil was an intensely private man and I don't think many people outwith his immediate circle knew about the illness. Rush had a fantastic career stretching beyond 40 years. I love the 30th anniversary DVD from 2004 showcasing the excellent musicianship of the Canadian trio. Quality fare but never po-faced. Neil's drumming was fluid and he also wrote the lyrics. An erudite man. Following Neil's death, Classic Rock magazine posted a 2017 in-depth interview on their Facebook page. Asked about the line from the 1981 song Limelight - I can't pretend a stranger is a long-awaited friend - and whether he is still the same person who wrote these words, Neil replied thus: "Entirely so. And, honestly, I've never had to retract it. My ability to express myself has grown and evolved over the years. When I listen to early songs, I might cringe technically, but never psychologically or emotionally. I still mean every word of Limelight, however crudely it may have been said"
I'll leave you with that.
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