 |
| |
| |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
The Caledonian Brewery, 42 Slateford Road (from city centre, just after junction with Harrison Road), EH11 1PH, Edinburgh, Scotland, tel 0131 337 1286, A Marvellous Brewery with Superb Outlets for its Great Beers, in a World-Class City
This Web page is based on a visit to Edinburgh and its Caledonian Brewery (The Caledonian Brewing Company Limited, or Caley for short), by the British Guild of Beer Writers (www.beerwriters.co.uk), in May, 2004. It by no means deals with every aspect of this brewery, which is fully covered in its excellent website (www.caledonian-brewery.co.uk); the White Beer Travels page features the visit itself and places where Caledonian beers can be sampled. A brief mention is also made of the city's world-class tourist attractions and events, see below. What became clear from the visit, was that Edinburgh is one of the finest of places to enjoy top class beer, in top class places. The Caledonian Brewery puts a wonderful stamp on the city, their wonderful beers being available in a large number of very contrasting places. I urge you to visit the city as soon as possible. Michael Jackson (1942-), the world's most famous beer writer, declares that "There's no finer spot for a pub crawl"; click here for a Web page of his on Edinburgh that is headed by this quote. I will certainly be running White Beer Travels group visits to Edinburgh, which will feature the brewery and its outlets, in the near future. The award winning Caledonian Brewery brews some of the UK's best and most respected Real Ales (Cask Ales). The brewery itself is a treasure; it has marvellous old, direct-fired Coppers, see above, the only ones still in use in Britain; they use whole hop flowers; and there are open, square Fermenters, all these emphasising the brewery's traditional approach to producing top quality beers of distinction. Its portfolio of draught beers include Golden Promise Organic Ale (5%), Caledonian 80/- (4.1%), monthly seasonal beers, and Deuchars IPA (3.8%) (www.deuchars.com), which was voted the Champion Beer of Britain (CBOB) at the 2002 Great British Beer Festival (GBBF), run by the UK's premier beer consumers' organisation, CAMRA (www.camra.org.uk). Roger Protz (1939-), who was on this May, 2004 visit, see below, took part in the blind tasting that produced this very important and much deserved result for the brewery. Russell Sharp, who led the management buy out of Caledonian, in 1987, came up with the recipe for Deuchars, which is pronounced "Due Kers", in 1990, his inspiration being Campbell, Hope and King's Golden Ale, Mclauchlans Heavy and Timothy Taylor Landlord. In 2001, Russell's son, Dougal, Caledonian's head brewer at that time, adjusted the Deuchars recipe, and quickly struck gold at CAMRA's GBBF, see the previous paragraph. Russell is now a partner in the Edinburgh Brewing Company (www.edinburghbrewing.co.uk), which has a number of outlets in Edinburgh and beyond for its excellent Edinburgh Pale Ale (EPA) (3.4%). EPA is brewed under licence at the Belhaven Brewery (www.belhaven.co.uk), in Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland, whose own beers can also be found in Edinburgh and elsewhere. After leaving Caledonian, Dougal Sharp became the Managing Director and Brewmaster at Innis & Gunn, www.innisandgunn.com, which produces the excellent Oak Aged Beer, a bottled beer that is available in selected bars in Scotland, and in supermarkets throughout England. In 2004, Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) closed their historic Fountain Brewery, in Edinburgh. Initially, some of its brands, such as McEwan's 80/-, were brewed by Caley, but S&N axed the McEwan beers in January, 2007. S&N's brewing arm, Scottish Courage (ScotCo) have a 30% stake in the Caledonian Brewing Company. Of course, this has meant that Caledonian beers are more readily available, although, even prior to the S&N involvement, Deuchars IPA had already become a national brand, without any compromise on the quality that won it the CBOB title in 2002. Note that S&N no longer brew in Newcastle, so many are now calling them the Ampersand Brewing Company, as they no longer brew in Scotland or Newcastle! Of course, now that their Newcastle Brown Ale is brewed in Gateshead, it has not been renamed Gateshead Brown Ale! Indeed, over two years after it was no longer brewed in Newcastle, Newcastle Brown Ale was still one of four UK beers having the UK equivalent of the French Appellation Contrôlée, i.e. it had "Protected Geographical Indication" (PGI) status, along with: Kentish Ale; Kentish Strong Ale; and Rutland Bitter. Click here to see a full list of such products (source, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) website, www.defra.gov.uk). Somewhat amazingly, S&N successfully applied to have Newcastle Brown Ale's PGI status rescinded, to pave the way for its brewing in Russia and the USA! Trip attendees, in addition to yours truly, who is on the Guild's committee, included: Roger Protz (www.beer-pages.com), GBG editor and one of the Guild's Beer Writers of the Year and recipient of the Guild's Lifetime Achievement Award; two more of the Guild's Beer Writers of the Year (Brian Glover and Alastair Gilmour (Alastair was declared the Beer Writer of the Year for the third time, in 2005)); Adrian Tierney-Jones (www.beeralewhatever.com) (freelance journalist and writer, his books includeThe Big Book of Beer (2005, CAMRA Books, ISBN 1-85249-212-0)); Chris Marchbanks (brewing and beer technologist); Tim Hampson (beer correspondent); and Steve Sharples (freelance photographer and writer, www.fotobrew.com). Caley hosts were the MD, Stephen Crawley, and Denis Critchley-Salmonson, the Corporate Development Director. People seen at the brewery included Dr Bob Burton, the Director of Production/Head Brewer. The Tour Guide was Mike Connoboy. Accommodation was at the Menzies Belford Hotel (www.bookmenzies.com), which, of course, has Caledonian beers in its Granary Bar. The trip was organised by Jeff Evans for the Guild and Natalie Taylor, the brewery's PR and Sponsorship Manager. Jeff, another of the Guild's Beer Writers of the Year, unfortunately was unable to attend. A number of pubs are, of course, featured in this Web page. I denote whether they appear in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide (GBG), e.g. GBG 2007 means that the place in question appears in the 2007 edition (published in September, 2006). Note that, should a place not appear in the GBG, it could, but does not necessarily mean that it does not serve Real Ale, or that there are problems with its Real Ale; in Edinburgh, the choice of pubs competing for entry is so great that a number of places serving Real Ale in tip-top condition are, for space reasons, excluded. Also, if, for example, a pub is in the 2006 guide, but not the 2007 one, it can by, no means, be assumed that its beer quality has deteriorated. Note that the GBG contains truly excellent descriptions of the best of Edinburgh's Real Ale pubs. The Edinbugh pubs appear in The Lothians section of the GBG, The Lothians being the surrounding Counties of East Lothian, Midlothian and West Lothian. For all the pubs featured, I quote their post code; plugging this into www.streetmap.co.uk provides a location map, as does the more versatile maps.google.co.uk. Note that Edinburgh's city centre is divided into two areas called the Old Town (www.edinburgholdtown.org.uk) and the New town, the latter not being that new, i.e. it contains some of the finest Georgian architecture in the UK. Click here for a map denoting the Old Town and the New Town.
Caledonian does not own any pubs, but has large number of outlets in Edinburgh and elsewhere, York, in England, being another truly excellent city in its own right and, fittingly, the place with the brewery's second biggest number of outlets, most of which are listed on the place's website. These include the Tap & Spile (GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 269), in Grimsby (Garth Lane, DN31 3AF) where I live, where the Deuchars is always really on song. A good proportion of the bars serving Caledonian beers in Edinburgh are true gems, many of which were visited on the trip, included the three just featured above.
After lunch in The Canny Man's, there was a busy schedule of more bar visits, followed by a brewery visit, then a freshen up in the hotel, before returning to the brewery for the evening meal just mentioned, this being followed by more pub visits. The photo above left shows Craig (Shakey) Steven, the brewery's Production Manager, piping the group into the brewery, with his boss, Bob Burton, inside waiting to greet everyone. Shakey gets out his pipes for a number of Caledonian promotional events in the city. The photo above right features another great Scottish tradition: Haggis, Neaps and Tatties (Haggis with Potatoes and Turnip), which is Scotland's most famous dish. This was one of the courses at the evening meal; it had an "aged Whisky drizzle", according to the menu card. The meal was accompanied by a tasting of four Caledonian beers that were described by Bob Burton.
The photo above left is of The Golf Tavern, this most historic of places being mentioned above. Click on it to see a larger, higher resolution version. In the photo on the right, Steve Sharples and Brian Glover are in conversation in front of the famous golf links that are across from The Golf Tavern, these being covered above.
A feature of all the pubs visited was that they had exteriors that were as equally impressive as their interiors, the above being two good examples, i.e. Bennet's Bar and Thomson's Bar, see above. Another feature that was clear was that those pubs that had a good selection of Real Ales, also had a good selection of the equivalent in quality in the world of Whisky: Single Malts. It was pointed out to us that if an establishment had only lagers or other pasteurised and filtered draught beers that it was very likely to only offer blended Whiskies and moderate White Spirits and the usual concoctions that are partaken of straight from the bottle.
Also visited was a top class example of one of Mitchells & Butlers' All Bar One chain (www.mbplc.com/allbarone), which, like many of the impressive bars on the city's George Street (the heart of the New Town), is housed in a former bank. This All Bar One is at 29 George Street, EH2 2PA (tel 0131 226 9971). Caledonian's biggest volume outlet is The Standing Order, at 62-66 George Street, EH2 2LR (tel 0131 225 4460), which proved to be one of the very best pubs in the J D Wetherspoon (www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk) chain that I have visited. (Should you arrive in Edinburgh by plane, it is worth noting that there is a Wetherspoon's in the airport (www.edinburghairport.com), on both Airside (tel 0131 344 3032) and Landside (tel 0131 344 3030)). Click here for a White Beer Travels Web page that features a pub called The Moon Under Water, this being George Orwell's favourite pub, and the name of the first Wetherspoon's pub. On the same street as Wetherspoon's The Standing Order, at number 14 (EH2 2PF), is another splendid pub, The Dome, (tel 0131 624 8624), "The Dome" being its absolutely superb vaulted cupola. The itinerary for the pubs visited was produced by Stephen Crawley. The ones visited were truly the business, so the others that Stephen had on the list, but time constraints prevented visiting, will, I am sure, also be special: The Cambridge Bar, 20 Young Street, EH2 4JB (tel 0131 225 4266, www.thecambridgebar.co.uk) (GBG 2006 page 644); The Indigo Yard, 7 Charlotte Lane, EH2 4QZ (tel 0131 220 5603, www.indigoyardedinburgh.co.uk), a place that is renowned for its pub food; the Cask & Barrel, 115 Broughton Street, EH1 3RZ (tel 0131 556 3132) (GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 644); and The Opal Lounge, 51 George Street, EH2 2HT (tel 0131 226 2275, www.opallounge.co.uk), a bar/night club for the young, with bottled Caledonian beers. Other Caledonian outlets include: Leslie's Bar (John Leslie), CAMRA National Inventory entry, at 45 Ratcliffe Terrace, EH9 1SU (tel 0131 667 7205 (GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 644); The Oxford Bar (The Ox), another marvellous, CAMRA National Inventory entry and Category B listed place, that is on the opposite end of the same street as The Cambridge Bar, at 8 Young Street, EH2 4JB, (tel 0131 225 4266, www.oxfordbar.com) (GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 645); The Cumberland Bar (1-3 Cumberland Street, EH3 6RT, tel 0131 558 3134, www.cumberlandbar.co.uk) (GBG 2005, GBG 2006 page 644); and The Blue Blazer (2 Spittal Street, EH3 9DX, tel 0131 229 5030) (GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 643). Jamie Sempill, the brewery's Director of Marketing, recommended a visit to the Port of Leith, an Edinburgh suburb on the Firth of Forth. Jamie said that it had some excellent pubs, many of them being nook-type bars, such as Malt & Hops, 45 The Shore, EH6 6QU (tel 0131 555 0083) (GBG 2005, GBG 2006 page 645, which dates from 1749. Close by is one of Edinburgh's best restaurants, the Michelin-starred Martin Wishart, 54 The Shore, EH6 6RA (tel 0131 553 3557, www.martin-wishart.co.uk). Not content with one Michelin-starred Restaurant, Leith also has The Kitchin, 78 Commercial Quay, EH6 6LX (tel 0131 555 1755, www.thekitchin.com). Leith's main tourist attraction is the Royal Yacht Britannia (www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk). Leith Riverside, like the brewery, is readily reached by bus from the city centre, see www.lothianbuses.co.uk. Numbers 4, 28, 31 and 44 get one to the brewery. The other Edinburgh restaurant to get a star in the 2004 Michelin Guide, see below, is called "Number One", this being within the luxurious Balmoral Hotel (1 Princes Street, EH2 2EQ, tel 0131 556 2414, www.thebalmoralhotel.com). This Edwardian railway hotel is a city landmark.
Day two of the visit commenced with a presentation from Caledonian's Managing Director, Stephen Crawley, in the brewery, see the photo, above left. Before departing, it was Beer and Sandwiches in the brewery's sample bar. The photo, above right shows the Director of Production/Head Brewer, Dr Bob Burton, and four handpumps: two for Deuchars; one for Caledonian 80/-; and one for Flying Scotsman, the beer of the month for May. After giving a brief history of the brewery, from is foundation in 1869, as Lorimer & Clark, Stephen's main theme was that, despite the financial involvement now of Scottish & Newcastle, that the recipes and production methods for the beers would stay the same, for at least the next thirteen years. He mentioned his own significant financial involvement and that of two local business men (Sandy Orr and Donald MacDonald), who were passionate about Edinburgh and the retention of the Caledonian Brewery and what it stood for: Quality Beer that is readily available throughout Edinburgh, but also as an Ambassador in other parts of the UK (Glasgow and York were cited as being their best places for sales, after Edinburgh). Should things such a boiler need replacing, then S&N would pay, but they would not for example, be able to say: "Replace the open fermenters with cylindro-conical ones to up production)." Deuchars presently (May, 2004) represented 65% of Caledonian brand sales, but this figure was expected to rise to 80%. Stephen pointed out that many critics said that he would never get a 3.8% beer into the Guest Beer circuit, something that has been proved to be incorrect, as the impressive list of outlets listed on the brewery's website testifies. In fact, it is more than a Guest Beer in most of the places listed, in that it is permanently available.
Successful test brews of McEwans beers (60/-, 70/- and 80/-) had been carried out at the time of the Guild's visit, Caledonian's version of 80/- subsequently being put on sale. There is certainly capacity available, since the present brewery can brew 100,000 barrels per year, only 50% of which (May, 2004) is used. The bottleneck to going above 100,000 barrels is fermentation capacity. Despite this, a stated above, the brewing of McEwans beers by Caledonian was abandoned in January, 2007. I sincerely hope that Deuchars and the other Caledonian beers remain the same top class ones that they are immediately following the start of the arrangement with S&N. There are too many examples of once great Real Ales that have now become designer Real Ales, this generally following takeover. They are available everywhere, but they are quite simply not worth drinking. In February, 2006, it was announced that the Harviestoun Brewery, in Alva, Clackmannanshire, Scotland had been purchased by Caledonian. Such takeovers are normally bad news for the consumer, but in this case, it is the opposite. Harviestoun will be expanded and will operate independently, and thus continue to produce its award-winning Real Ales, such as Bitter & Twisted (3.8%), which was CAMRA's Champion Beer of Britain, in 2003. An excellent, regular outlet for Bitter & Twisted is the Halfway House, 24 Fleshmarket Close, EH1 1BX, tel 0131 225 7101 (GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 644). This genuine freehouse was the 2005 CAMRA regional Pub of the Year. It is up the steps opposite Waverley Station's Market Street entrance.
En route back to Edinburgh's main railway station, Waverley, for the journey back to Grimsby, I had a McEwans 80/- (Heavy) (£2.20 in May, 2004) in what was then its biggest outlet, the renowned The Diggers (Athletic Arms), 1 Angle Park Terrace (corner Henderson Terrace), EH11 2JX (tel 0131 337 3832). The 80/- and Deuchars were delivered by very old looking Aitken air dispense fonts, although an old photo on the wall revealed that it once had handpumps. Then, after passing the Fountain Brewery, which closes at the end of 2004, I had a Deuchars (£2.30 in May, 2004) in a legendary bar near the station, the superbly ornate Café Royal, a CAMRA National Inventory entry, at 17 West Register Street, EH2 2AA, (tel 0131 556 1884) (see above), and, finally, it was an Orkney Dark Island, in the Guildford Arms (GBG 2005, GBG 2006 page 645), on the same street, at number 1 (EH2 2AA) (tel 0131 556 4312), just off the start of Princes Street, alongside the Northern side of Waverley station. The Guildford Arms has great decor and a truly excellent selection of Real Ales, including Deuchars, of course. There are many other pubs worthy of a visit in Edinburgh. Barony Bar, which is to the North of Waverley Railway Station, on the Eastern edge of the New Town, at 81-83 Broughton Street, EH1 3RJ (tel 0131 557 0546, GBG 2006, GBG 2007 page 643). As well as Deuchars and some guest Real Ales, this splendid pub has a selection of Belgian Beers, all served in the right glass. Food is served until 10pm (7pm on Sunday. Another place with Belgian Beers and other foreign Speciality/Specialty/Craft Beers in bottle, along with Deuchars on draught, is Centraal, a basement bar at 32a West Nicolson Street (South off the High Street section of The Royal Mile), EH8 9DD, tel 0131 667 7355. Negociants, across from the University Campus, at 45-47 Lothian Street, EH1 1HB, tel 0131 225 6313, also has a good selection of Belgian Beers. The Abbotsford Bar and Restaurant, 3 Rose Street, EH2 2PR (tel 0131 557 0546, GBG 2006 page 643) is a magnificent Grade B place, listed in CAMRA's National Inventory of pubs with interiors of outstanding historic interest. This has Broughton Greenmantle IPA, Abbotsford Ale (Atlas Three Sisters rebadged) and Guest Beers on handpump. The island servery and gantry was installed in 1902, but it was not new; it had been rescued from a nearby pub that had closed down. The restaurant upstairs does not have handpumps, but these are served upstairs with meals. Rose Street is just to the North of the West end of Princes Street (A8), in the New Town. A very good source of outline information on pubs in Edinburgh is www.edinburgh-pubs.co.uk. This is operated by the same people that run the website for Scotland's biggest tourist attraction, Edinburgh Castle, see below. The Scottish Literary Tour Trust organises the Edinburgh Literary Pub Tour, a pub crawl, hosted by actors, of famous pubs with literary connections, www.edinburghliterarypubtour.co.uk. The pubs covered, all of which have Real Ale, are typically four of the following: The Beehive, 18-20 Grassmarket, EH1 2JU; The Ensign Ewart, 521 Lawnmarket, EH1 2PE, www.ensignewart.demon.co.uk; Deacon Brodie's Tavern, 435 Lawnmarket, EH1 2NT; The Jolly Judge, 7 James Court, Lawnmarket, EH1 2PB, www.jollyjudge.co.uk; and Milne's Bar (The Poets' Pub), 21 Rose Street/35 Hanover Street, EH2 2PJ. Edinburgh's Tourist Attractions
The official tourist site for Edinburgh and The Lothians is www.edinburgh.org. Note that atop the Museum of Scotland (www.nms.ac.uk/scotland), the Tower Restaurant (www.tower-restaurant.com) is regarded as one of the city's best places to eat. For "What's On" see www.theoracle.co.uk. Events covered include one that takes place (or did take place, in the past) in the Caledonian Brewery - certain Blues events for the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival (www.jazzmusic.co.uk) (this runs from the 30th of July to the 8th of August each year). The latter is part of a truly world-class event, the Edinburgh Festival, which is a generic term used to describe a group of top class events that place, in August of each year, including the Michelin three-starred Edinburgh International Festival (performing arts) (www.eif.co.uk), the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (performing arts) (www.edfringe.com) and the Edinburgh Military Tattoo (www.edintattoo.co.uk). All the festivals that take place in Edinburgh are covered by www.edinburghfestivals.co.uk. Note that another annual event that used to take place in the Caledonian Brewery was the The Caledonian Brewery Beer Festival. In 2004, it was held on Friday, the 4th and Saturday, the 5th of June. It was expected to be held at an equivalent time in 2005, but it was cancelled for some reason, for this year and in future years: influence of the & Brewing Company? Companion White Beer Travels Web Pages/Guides for the UK and elsewhere There is a companion White Beer Travels Web page covering Liverpool, in Merseyside, England, which can be reached by clicking here. On the White Beer Travels Downloads page, eighty-three page notes on London pubs can be downloaded, along with a number of other guides. There are White Beer Travels Web pages covering other places, in Europe, the USA and beyond. These are amongst the pages that are listed on the site's Contents page (Site Map), which provides hyperlinks to all these pages. Edinburgh Web Ring Below is a Web Ring of sites featuring Edinburgh, including this White Beer Travels Web page. John White (1945-), |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
