Stout, sadness, and utter panic

STOUT:
I recently had what I consider to be, perhaps, the best Stout I have ever tasted and it came from an unexpected source. Having written an article on the history of Scotland's Belhaven Brewery for Zymurgy magazine some years ago, obviously I have a personal attachment to this brewery and to its head brewer, George Howell. Having visited what is perhaps Scotland's most historic brewery and having been given a lengthy, personal tour by none other than George himself, I hold this brewery quite dear in my beer allegiances. Here in Austin, Texas, Belhaven beers are the only stable Scottish beers on offer and while I enjoy them immensely, I have to say that I was totally blown away by Belhaven Scottish Stout, which just became available here. This is an absolutely wonderful creation based on a very old Scottish recipe overseen by George himself.

I contacted George via email to give my personal accolades and thanks to him for such a great beer and through this correspondence I found out how fortunate we are, for the time being, here in America (for a change!) as this beer is currently not available in the U.K. George assured me it soon will be but what a boon for the U.S.! This stout has an incredibly smooth, creamy finish with a wonderful balance of the flavors of chocolate and roasted barley but not as dry as an Irish stout. What surprised me most knowing George as I do is the alcohol content. George told me during my tour and my subsequent interview with him that he actually prefers a 3%-ish ale to higher alcohol beers. This might explain why Belhaven 60/-, that I waxed so lyrically about in my article, has so much character. This baby, however, clocks in at around 7% but trust me, you'd never know it. There's little hint of this alcohol content in the flavor. A truly great Stout experience and I encourage everyone to get ahold of a bottle or two right away.

SADNESS:
A week ago Friday, what I consider to be THE best sports network on the planet went bankrupt. Setanta Sports got into serious financial difficulty and couldn't make its payments to the Scottish Premier League or, far worse for them, the English Premier League, and subsequently not only folded in Britain with the loss of some 200 jobs but lost their rights to the games from both leagues. Apparently, none other than the U.S.'s ESPN bought Setanta's rights for some 46 or so English Premier League games. Very depressing news for all sports fans in the U.K.

UTTER PANIC:
While the loss of Setanta in the U.K. is horrible, I went into utter panic when I heard the news. Personally, I could care less about the English Premier League games and rights as I see it squeezing out more important coverage such as Magner's League Rugby, Guinness Premiership Rugby and all the U.K. and European rugby matches as well as my beloved Glasgow Celtic and all the other Scottish Premier League clubs' coverage on Setanta here in the U.S. My first thought was, "I might as well drop DirecTV and sell all my DLP and LCD TVs without Setanta". Thankfully, at least according to Setanta's U.S. website, the Irish and "International" businesses are still profitable and Setanta's coverage will continue in the U.S. including EPL coverage. I cannot say how relieved I am, for now. I only hope Setanta finds a solid financial foundation to keep the U.S. broadcasts well and truly intact.

Yours Aye!
Neil

Madness, The 'Duke, beer, the hoose, and the disturbing...

Has it really been since mid-April that I've posted anything? Now that I think about it, it comes as little surprise. This seemingly never ending saga with the hoose has nearly done me in. Fear not, my son, all will be well soon (or so I'm told).

For early summer I have a short musical commentary as well as - you guessed it - a wee beer note. First, I have to say that once again thanks to both Tom Morton and Vic Galloway, those two highly underrated, world renowned, first class broadcasters for BBC Radio Scotland (among their many other talents), I've picked up some quite enjoyable new music. I've always been a fan of Madness but I have to say their newest is perhaps their best. What a great work. Being a huge Biffy Clyro fan, naturally I was very intrigued having heard Vic play a tune from Biffy side project Marmaduke Duke a few weeks ago. I picked up The 'Duke's newest and to little surprise like it immensely. Also, not related to either of their shows, out of curiosity I picked up Steve Earle's newest "Townes", a tribute to local Central Texas music legend Townes Van Zandt who is sadly no longer with us. This is a great piece of Central Texas Americana, for certain. Well worth checking out.

On the beer front. It seems that nearly every summer I wind up with some major home DIY project and usually find a "beer that built..." for each project. Saint Arnold's "Lawnmower" built my deck a couple of year ago and this year, for all the recent hoose renovation, the "beer that built..." is none other than Oskar Blues' "Mamma's Little Yella Pils". I think I've already extolled the name of the tiny Colorado brewery who makes perhaps the best beer ever produced in a can - "Dale's Pale Ale". "Mamma's" is also canned - perfect for summer, especially in the Texas heat which is pushing 100F every day already, mind you. I wouldn't personally classify it as a Pilsener beer in the truest sense as it is a bit sweet, not overly hoppy (which is a big surprise considering "Dale's") and bears little resemblance to anything from Pilzen. Nonetheless, it is a great tasting, very drinkable golden beer. Highly recommended.

On the hoose front, uh, no further comment at this time.

Now for the truly disturbing. Check out Vic Galloway and Jim Gellatly's "wedding" at the Rockness music festival near Inverness last weekend. Vic, Jim, I still love you...

Yours Aye!
Neil

Julie Fowlis AND Jenna Reid, I've died and gone to heaven!

After what has shaped up to be one of the worst weeks of my entire 40+ years on this planet, a wee gig at the tiny Cactus Cafe in Austin, Texas - via South Uist and Shetland - made it all go away in less than a second.

Yes, mere moments into the first tune I was nearly in tears - quite literally. I never dreamed I'd get to see Julie Fowlis on these shores let alone in my own city and in such a perfect venue. I have been a huge fan of Julie since hearing her on Archie Fisher's BBC Radio Scotland Show "Travelling Folk" prior to the release of her first CD. What an amazing voice and musical talent! And then, to top it all off, there's Jenna Reid, Shetland fiddler extraordinaire, in the band. I really thought I was in heaven. The band played a fantastic two sets culminating in an encore with Julie playing the Pipes, much to the annoyance of the Dublin-based bouzouki player, who is world-class, I might add. And what a beautiful sound from such a wee lass playing the scurl!

Even though all the songs were in Scottish Gaelic it did not matter. What a beautiful language for music. The band's version of the Beatles "Blackbird" in Gaelic was absolutely amazing but far from the highlight of the evening. In fact, I can't pick a highlight. It was just a fantastic show from an incredibly talented band of musicians and I am completely honored that I could attend such a performance.

All is right with the world again so thanks Julie, Jenna... You're wonderful!

Yours Aye!
Neil

The Hoose Is Flooded!

Hello from the La Quinta Hotel in South Austin, Texas! And, be forewarned, this has nothing, well, next to nothing to do with beer.

Yes, it is quite sad, but true, yesterday the entire lower floor of my hoose (Scots for "house") was flooded by a burst braided hose attached to the sink in the half bath. The only recently installed (2-3 years ago, I can't remember exactly) bamboo hardwood floors are destroyed as well as untold other things residing on this floor. (BTW, Tony, your favorite sofa - and mine - seems to have survived, thankfully). The recovery people pumped over 100 U.S. gallons of water out the house and that doesn't include the amount of water that flowed out of the hoose and down the street.

However, despite this hick-up and the fact that I am more stressed-out about my day-job than at any time in the nearly twenty years that I have worked in said occupation for said firm, a couple of much more significant things occupy my mind at present.

One, a man at my said firm died unexpectedly of a heart attack on Friday last, only soon to turn 49 years of age. He had four children and although I didn't know him personally and can't quite place him, he worked in the same building and floor as myself and also attended the church that I presently attend. The church had a Memorial service for him today, his name was Mr. Ron Spence. What I can't come to grips with is the anguish his wife and children must be going through right now and for far longer than they care to think about to come.

Additionally, I sent an email to Tom Morton this morning describing my water plight in a combined informational/sympathy-seeking mentality. So, as usual I tuned in the to show via the internet at 8AM my time to either hear mention of the email or just listen to the show to ease thinking about the mess. However, Tom wasn't on at that hour and instead BBC Radio Scotland was broadcasting live from Aberdeen at a Memorial service for the, in total, 17 men killed as a result of a helicopter accident related to the off-shore oil industry. What struck me most was that here was I, waiting for my normal Tom Morton show only to be pre-empted by a service consisting of a number of all too familiar hymns and scripture readings from both Protestant and Catholic faiths. Why would this strike me strange, you might ask? Well, in today's America, this would never, ever happen, in my opinion. I won't say any more but I sincerely applaud the BBC for halting their normal broadcasting - even if it is my beloved Tom Morton Show - to remind everyone that everyday people matter and that these types of tragedies are important to be not only aware of but empathetic too. We're all people and sorrows like this affect us all in one way or another; directly or in familiarity.

My heart, thoughts and prayers go out to all the families involved in both of these tragic events.

So, no, I haven't got around to any more to do with SXSW primarily due to my aforementioned stress with the job. Tape-out is approaching so hopefully things will improve come end of May!

Until the next time, All The Best!

Yours Aye!
Neil

SXSW 2009 Part 1

Well, another South-By-Southwest Music Festival has come and gone in Austin, Texas. For the fourth year in a row I managed to make it to the Showcasing Scotland show hosted by the one and only Vic Galloway from BBC Radio Scotland. Vic was a busy man as always at this, his seventh consecutive SXSW! He also hosted a sold out show Friday evening at La Zona Rosa that I managed to somehow get into without a wrist band (and graciously, Vic had me covered by putting me on the guest list, just in case). I managed to grab Vic between sets for this quick photo. As always, he did an outstanding job as Emcee.

Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to process the band pictures but I'll be following up with a quick summary of the Showcasing Scotland gig with pictures of the performing bands. I'll have a wee note or two on the La Zona Rosa show as well.

Yours Aye!
Neil

Been Awhile, I Know.

Yes, I'm painfully aware that it has, indeed, been awhile since I've posted anything. Brewed anything too, for that matter. The reason for the latter is twofold. One, I simply have not had the time. My "day job" has become quite hectic and important as of late. For the first time in many years, I'm working on a product that truly changes lives, and it is exciting but incredibly challenging. Hence, I've had to devote quite a number of weekends to it and will continue to do so for the next couple of months. I must add that this extra time is obviously (or not so obviously) not paid, as I'm on salary, but I really, really believe in this product and in my twenty years in the high-tech semiconductor industry, never have I wanted a product to be more perfect, on time, or successful as this one. Second, it has been incredibly pleasant, weather wise, here in Austin since the turn of the year; meaning, I'm set up for it to be HOT! and it hasn't been. Therefore, I can cool things for fermentation quite easily, keeping the ferment warm enough is not something I've done very successfully over the years (mostly because I rarely have to).

But, on the beer subject, I must enter this. I've just had the pleasure of trying two products from the London brewery, "Meantime", and I am somewhat in awe. Here in Austin, Texas, I can only get their "London Porter" and "India Pale Ale". I've tried both in the last week and I am, quite frankly, flabbergasted! The London Porter is dead-on for what I would expect if I had a time machine and could travel to Victorian era London. The IPA was an even bigger surprise. What an EXQUISITE beer! If this is really what IPA tasted like in the day, no wonder it was SO popular! The brewer, Alastair Hook, has really outdone himself here. What an incredible balance of malty sweetness and hop profile. Traditional British just oozes from this beer! If you can find it, try it. If you don't like it, you obviously don't know what a traditional IPA should taste like. Need I remind everyone, IPA is a British style, not American, despite recent history leading one to believe otherwise.

Case in point of the above. I love Widmer Brothers Brewery in the US Northwest. Their Wheat bier is absolutely my favorite outside of Germany and many of their others are very good. However, and I'll be honest, despite my being a bit of a hop-head, this is totally down to preference, but I recently purchased their "Original Drifter Pale Ale" and, if I'm right, the Amarillo hops are just overwhelming! This is so indicative of American brewers - and drinkers - right now. For me, it is just too over-the-top and lacking balance. I love hops, although I admit an aversion to Cascade and Amarillo, but this one is nothing but grapefruit to my taste buds.

OK, it is Spring Break week here in Texas, and also the obligatory South-By-Southwest Music Festival. So, on Friday, I'm off to it to try and run into my old "pal" Vic Galloway of BBC Radio Scotland. So, the next posting will hopefully be after a great day/night of Scottish music!

Until then, Yours Aye!

Cheers!
Neil

The Lengths We'll Go To For Real Ale!

A Very Happy New Year to everyone! Yes, I know it's well after Jan. 1st but better late than never.

I received an email last week through the website from a CAMRA man in, I believe, Lancashire, England, about getting in touch with one David Orr of the An Teallach brewery way up in the Highlands of Scotland. He had tried without luck to get in touch with the brewery in order to line up a cask or two of their ale for a trip he and his CAMRA mates were taking north of the border for a hill walking excursion just north and west of Inverness. They had had An Teallach ale (as have I at my beloved Three Judges in Glasgow) on an earlier occasion and were very eager to procure some for their visit. Anyway, the Scottish real ale brewing industry being what it is, I got in touch with my most helpful contacts and, sure enough, I managed to get a mobile number for one Davey and pass it on to the CAMRA crew. I hope it all works out for them.

My many, many thanks first to Angus MacRuary, founder/owner of the Isle of Skye Brewery for getting me the phone number. But I would also be remiss not to mention the very kind help of my old friend Douglas Ross of Traditional Scottish Ales (founder of Bridge of Allan Brewery and impetus behind the Scotland's Real Ale Trail), Tuggy Delap of Fyne Ales, and my great friends John McGarva and John Muir of Tryst Brewery for passing on information as well. Cheers all and I wish you all the best for 2009!

It really is a small world. Proof that we real ale enthusiasts can stick together and help one another regardless of proximity!

Oh, and just a wee mention for my other friends across the water. My sincere condolences go out to my friend Ali Wilson, infamous semi-professional drummer and frequent Tom Morton Show commenter, who lost a good deal of equipment in a fire in Edinburgh. And, it must be said, sympathies for the sad end (temporarily, perhaps?) of Tom Morton's Radiocroft on Shetland, let down but the failures of technology. All we listeners bid a hopefully temporary farewell to the beloved croft but are all eternally grateful that you and the show go on, Tom, despite your traveling inconvenience once again. All the best for 2009 to you both and your families!

(Did I mention how good the Old Speckled Hen is tasting tonight?). :)

Yours Aye!
Neil