Brewery: Belhaven Brewery Co Ltd
Origin: Dunbar, Scotland, EH42 1PE
ABV: 3.9%
Version: 500ml bottle

Colour-wise this isn’t quite as dark as some 80/- such as fellow Scottish ale Caledonian 80/-, more the warm tone of polished old wooden furniture. Very smooth to drink (a mere 1.95 units of alcohol, if you are counting, getting you under that psychological 2 points plus barrier, unlike many Scottish heavy beers), with a nice malty aftertaste lingering on the tongue after each swallow, something that I usually find characteristic of most decent 80s.

The BLB (back label blurb) informs us the beer has “subtle tones of kiwi and apple with a marriage of walnuts and creamy toffee set against a background of grain and hops”. Can’t say I noticed the apple and kiwi (and I wonder how many of us ever actually do notice these supposed inflections in taste and how much of it is just marketing blurb), but there is indeed a nice nutty-tinged toffee taste in there, which, like the malted barley, tastes good when you take a sip but also leaves a very pleasant aftertaste in the mouth once swallowed (lip-smacking to show appreciation is allowed, just don’t do a lot if it if drinking in the pub, it can be a bit off-putting to the rest of us).

I doubt it would surpass my personal favourite of Caledonian 80/-, but it’s a very palatable, nice, smooth and enjoyable pint and having had it a few times on draft too its certainly a decent pint to have in the pub too. (pic borrowed from and (c) Belhaven Brewery’s website)