T ay Ale ‘let’s keep it flowing’ FREE Newsletter from the CAMRA Tayside Branch Winter 2014/15 Pitlochry Brechin Aberfeldy Forfar Blairgowrie Arbroath Dundee Perth Crieff Kinross Inside Issue 14 Tayside Pub & Brewery News Tayside Pub List Festival Reports Real Cider & Perry Early Brewing in Scotland CAMRA News Membership Benefits Real Ale Cycle Trails And as always much, much more…. 44 MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR READERS WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 2 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 43 Tay Ale Pub Quiz 4 Answers A warm welcome to the latest issue of Tay Ale 1. Counting House (Dundee); Stags Head (Carnoustie); Lochlands (Arbroath); View from the Chair Clova Hotel (Glen Clova); Craigvrack (Pitlochry). th 2014 represented the 40 anniversary of CAMRA in 2. Mor; Loch Ness; Tryst; Eden. Scotland, and a special 44-page booklet has been produced to celebrate the milestone. Copies of the 3. The George Orwell. booklet, which is free, can be found in many of our real 4. The Cyprus (Bridge of Earn). ale pubs around Tayside; copies also get taken to various 5. Memus; Kirriemuir; Guildtown; Dunning; Muthill; Crieff. beer festivals. 6. Williams Brothers (Alloa); Strathbraan (Amulree); Strathaven. There are a lot of genuinely interesting articles about what ale-drinking life was like in the 1970s (challenging!); in most cases these are written by CAMRA stalwarts who have been supporting the cause for all those years. The particular article about Tayside is from the pen of Forbes Browne, and includes a rare photograph of a long-gone pub called The Windmill, which served real ale on the Hilltown, Dundee. If you can’t find a copy of this booklet, drop me an email ([email protected]) and I’ll post one to you. Real Ale Pubs throughout Scotland www.glasgowcamra.org.uk If you are travelling around the country (list of outlets by sub-area) --- and looking for real ale pubs, the Highlands & Western Isles The reduction in the legal limit for driving is another trying development for websites of all the Scottish CAMRA our rural pubs, the experience of this limit in Ireland being that people do branches have full listings, as indicated www.highlandcamra.org.uk actually observe it. But pub & small hotel owners are resourceful people these below. (all pubs named from map) days, offering good food, good ale, and (often) good music. These attractions Kingdom of Fife make it worth the effort for travellers to go by bus or train, or to team up in a Aberdeen Grampian & Northern Isles car with a designated driver. We’ll all have to make some adjustments, but the www.kingdomoffifecamra.org.uk rewards are worth it. www.aberdeencamra.co.uk (listing by town/village) --- (list by sub-area, with short notes on each) Renfrewshire It may have passed many reader’s notice but CAMRA also campaigns for ‘real’ Ayrshire & Wigtonshire www.renfrewshirecamra.org.uk cider and perry. In this and future issues of Tay Ale, we aim to raise awareness www.ayrshireandwigtownshirecamra.org.uk (listing by town/village, with beer notes) of ‘real’ cider and perry in the hope that more people will also give them a try and discover how deliciously mellow, aromatic and intoxicating the flavours can (list of pubs, by sub-area, with beers Tayside stocked) be.. www.taysidecamra.co.uk Dumfries & Stewartry Alan Lawson Tayside Branch Chairman (listing within sub-areas, with photos, beer- www.dumfriescamra.org.uk notes and descriptions) This issue of the Tay Ale is the second to be produced with colour (list of outlets by sub-area) throughout, on top-quality paper, and we hope that readers and our valued Edinburgh & South-East Scotland advertisers continue to appreciate the improvements. www.edinburghcamra.org.uk (list of outlets by sub-area) Forth Valley www.camra-forth-valley.co.uk (listing by town/village, with photos & notes) Glasgow & West of Scotland WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 42 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 3 TAYSIDE REAL ALE PUB NEWS A Good Excuse ….For a Bike Ride ANGUS In the early days of Tay Ale we featured a number of walks in the vicinity of real ale pubs. In future issues we intend to follow up the ‘healthy lifestyle’ by introducing some Kinloch Arms, Carnoustie: Recently re-opened under new management following an cycling real ale trails in the Tayside area. Of course we are not condoning ‘cycling under extensive refurbishment. Three handpulls dispensing a variety of ales. the influence’ but rather we are hoping to encourage an alternative way of getting to and Kirkton of Glenisla, Glenisla Hotel: The Glenisla Hotel is under New Management and supporting some of our more rural real ale outlets. We are fortunate that across Tayside was taken over in March 2014 by Husband and Wife Team , Alan and Clare Bell. Two there is a wide range of pubs and hotels located in breath-taking scenery, providing handpulls currently on the bar. accommodation, good food and most importantly serving real ale. The Clova Hotel in Angus is one example, Glen Isla Hotel another, as are the Loch Tummel Inn and the Strathardle DUNDEE & District Inn in Perthshire., and there are many others. Kingsway Farm: Recently opened pub eatery under the Farmhouse Inns brand. Back in September I decided that rather than driving up Glen Clova to deliver the 2015 Located on Kingscross Road, Good Beer publicity pack to the Clova Hotel (a regular Campbeltown Bar: Hawkhill bar now dispensing real ale from two handpulls. GBG entry), I would drive through to Forfar and then cycle up Glen Clova and on the return leg call in at the PERTHSHIRE Drovers at Memus. This turned out to be a round trip The Quaich, Crieff: A complete refurbishment (and new name) took place in summer of 39 miles on rather undulating and twisting although 2014 for this establishment on Crieff’s main street; 1 handpull currently on the bar, good roads. The scenery (including stunning views serving local ales. eastwards across Clova to the corries above Loch Brandy and Loch Wharral) and good weather (although The Murraypark Hotel, Crieff: The one handpull in the bar has long served Deuchars a strong westerly) made it all worthwhile. As did the IPA, but the management are now broadening things out and encouraging patrons to live a half-pint ‘energy’ drinks (Timothy Taylor Landlord & little more adventurously! Loch Ness ales have been seen, and others are to be tried Orkney Corncrake) I sampled at both stopping points! soon. Although I started Taybank Hotel, Dunkeld: New local owners Lucy Davidson & Roddy Hand have taken Looking north up Glen Clova my trip in Forfar over the famous (but somewhat run down) Taybank, and recognise that there is much to be done… notices on the wall declare that it is “a work in progress”. On the bar there are (follow signs now 2 handpulls; four had been used in the past, but they feel that standards of ale will northwards for The Glens & then Glen Clova), Angus be better with just the two… usually from the local Strathbraan brewery. And folk music Council (www.angusahead.com/cycling) provides a will continue to be an important feature at the Taybank. detailed route card (Route 3) starting and finishing at Cherrybank Inn, Perth: There are now 6 handpulls in operation at this busy Dykehead which is passed through on the way up from establishment, where weekly real ale consumption is at impressive levels. Outdoor decking Forfar. On return to Dykehead, head eastwards is being planned, so outdoor drinking may be possible next summer. through Cortachy and then on to Memus (approx. 3 Mackay’s, Pitlochry: Apologies to this establishment on the main street of Pitlochry miles). The Drovers is located just on the southern that they had not been included in our previous Newsletters. Three handpulls dispense a edge of Memus. The return to Forfar (approx. 7 miles) is signposted from variety of ales. Clova Hotel below Ben Reid Memus. ————- If you have any news about developments at your local or other real ale pubs in Tayside By Martin Fox we would like to hear from you. Please contact us at: [email protected] Look out for more real ale cycle trails in future issues of Tay Ale. Drovers Inn WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 4 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 41 13 Wellmeadow, Blairgowrie, PH10 6ND 01250 872469 [email protected] Tayside’s Premier Real Ale Pub Six beers on hand pump plus real cider. Multiple Award Winner. Supporting Small Brewers. Proud to be Independent. Nothing Corporate Here! drinkers’ rights since 1971 and membership is currently approaching a huge 170,000. Without CAMRA, real ale would probably be non-existent today, as might be the hundreds of small new breweries which have been founded since the 1970s. As a member, you can claim your place in keeping alive the centuries-old traditions of ale brewing and cider-making, along with preservation of the traditional Scottish pub in which they are served. By Richard Barnes Tayside CAMRA Membership Secretary WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 40 WWW.TAYSIDECAMRA.CO.UK 5 Some Thoughts on Early Brewing in Scotland CAMRA has an online Real Ale pub guide The Bank Bar called WhatPub. Members score the real Despite the belief that whisky is and always has been Scotland’s national drink, this is ales they drink in nearly all of Britain’s real probably true only of the highlands and northwest. The east, lowlands and northern isles 7/9 Union Street ale pubs, and these scores are used to all seem to have traditions of ale drinking, though not ale as we know it! As all CAMRA select the best pubs for the Good Beer DUNDEE members are aware, the term originally meant beer brewed without hops, became inter- Guide.