Crikey, this is a bigee. Again all my records are subdivided into counties, so having to bring them all together.
We have travelled extensively through Scotland, most notably when it was the second half of my Lands End to John O’Groats walk, but on many other camping trips too with caravan and motorhome. I have to say that Edinburgh is one of my favourite cities anywhere, right up there amongst the best and the pubs are exceptional there. I have done Glasgow, but not recently, so we are planning a trip for sometime soon, maybe combine it with Ayrshire, which I haven’t really done at all. I walked the West Highland Way and the Great Glen Way, visiting many a pub. Had a brief sojourn in Inverness, which we liked. Done Ben Nevis, just a grind really, there are much nicer Munroe’s to have a go at. We haven’t really done any of the Islands, so still plenty to do.
Sports wise, we did go to a couple of England matches at Hampden during the Seventies, a dump if ever there was one. I think these were where I developed a real hatred of hearing bagpipes but both times I remember we had the satisfaction of 1 – 0 wins, definitely Alan Ball scored in the first one we were at, at least in those days they didn’t sing that racist dirge Flower of Scotland!
To the beer then.
I’m currently on 984 beers from Scotland, which places me in 17th place, I’m fine with that. I’m looking at pushing through 1,000 Scottish beers very soon, hopefully before the end of the year. I have had beers from 118 breweries, lagging a long way behind the leaders in that regard. My Scottish beers average 3.2, unsurprising maybe.
The Scottish Breweries I have had most beers from are –
- Brewdog, Aberdeenshire – 104
- Caledonian Brewery, Edinburgh – 82
- Williams Brothers, Clackmannanshire – 55
- Harviestoun, Stirlingshire – 39
- Belhaven, Dunbartonshire – 32
My best Breweries with highest ratings with 5 or over beers are –
- Traquair House Brewery, Peebleshire – 3.940
- Tempest Brewery, Roxburghshire – 3.552
- Overtone Brewing, Renfrewshire – 3.545
- Cromarty Brewing, Ross & Cromarty – 3.511
- Fallen Brewing, Stirlingshire – 3.492
The Beers with the highest ratings from me are –
- Orkney Dark Island Reserve – 4.5
- Tempest RyePA – 4.5
- Traquair House Ale – 4.4
- Caledonian Deuchers IPA (Bottle/Can) – 4.3, wow, a very early rate.
- Houston Black / Tan – 4.3
- Brewdog 5AM Saint – 4.3
- Tempest Mexicake – 4.3
- Isle of Skye Cuillin Beast – 4.2
- Fowlers Gothenburg Porter – 4.2
- Tempest Emanation Pale Ale – 4.3
I have reviewed 52 places in Scotland, could have been many more I suppose, my favourites are –
- Hanging Bat Beer Café, Edinburgh – 92
- Cloisters, Edinburgh – 84
- Salt horse Beer Bar, Edinburgh – 84
- Castle Tavern, Inverness – 82
- Six Degrees North, Edinburgh (Closed) – 82
- Stockbridge Tap, Edinburgh – 78
- Blackfriars, Inverness – 78
- Moulin Hotel, Moulin – 76
- Brewdog, Edinburgh – 74
- Cobbles Inn, Kelso – 74
We will certainly be going back at some point, as long as I don’t have to listen to those darned pipes.
My Rating
