Brewery: Fyne Ales
Location: Cairndow, Scotland
ABV: 4.8%
Version: Draught
Source: The Trackside, Bury

En-route to a Peter Kay warm-up gig at the Bury Met last night, Jo and I stuck our heads around the door of the Robert Peel to see what the Wetherspoons Festival had to offer. Answer: nothing that really grabbed us (there was one Belgian brew that I would have been happy with, but it would have left Jo on the Guinness draught) so we wandered around the corner to the Trackside, who can always be relied on to have at least one dark ale among their eight or nine pumps.

So, while Jo happily settled down to a very pleasant half of Acorn Darkness (an easy-drinking dark mild with a tight, stout-like head and a smooth, nutty flavour) I decided to go for a pint of Fyne Highlander. This ‘strong ale’ (is 4.8% really all that strong?) poured a bright, copper colour with a decent head and gave off a lovely whiff of hoppy oranges. Burnt-orange and caramel were the predominant flavours and the beer was quite dry on the after-taste, yet slightly sticky on the mouth-feel; hardly surprising that orange marmalade sprang instantly to mind and stayed there for the duration.

An interesting, tasty beer although not being a huge fan of marmalade myself, I did join Jo on the Acorn Darkness for a second one before we headed off to the gig. But on the strength of Highlander I’d definitely be interested in trying a few more Fyne Ales if I get the chance.