Brewery: Craigmill Brewery
Origin: Strathaven, Scotland, ML10 6PB
ABV: 5.2%
Version: draught

Having enjoyed the Clydesdale IPA and Old Mortality I’d picked up I thought next time we were in the area it would be a good idea to seek out the Craigmill Brewery, home to Strathaven Ales, to pick up some more of the beers this small, independent Scottish brewer has to offer. And what a lovely day for a brewery visit – its in a scenic, rural location in an old mill building by the River Avon, close by a pair of arched stone bridges spanning the flowing water and golden hued autumn trees around the old stone buildings. An hour before it had been horrible showers, now it cleared magically to bathe the scene in soft, golden sunlight and beautiful blue skies; perfect.

When we arrived there were several folks in the brewery shop who turned out to be from CAMRA, up for both a visit and to bestow the certificate of award to the brewery – their Duchess Anne light ale (which I’ll review later) had won at a beer festival (stupidly I didn’t make a note of which festival). After picking up several bottles of some of their ales I hadn’t tried yet, and being given a bite of some beer-flavoured fudge (yes, really!) the staff invited us to go downstairs where they have a small bar. We could see they had the CAMRA folks on a visit and didn’t want to intrude, but they insisted and the CAMRA folks did too, so down we went and very glad I am that we did.

The lower floor still has some of the mighty metal cogs and wheels and shafts which would have operated machinery driven by the water wheel (although next to that now is an enclosed trout farm hatchery, so obviously it doesn’t turn now), in a stone walled space with a small bar at one end with a few taps. I was delighted to accept an offer of a pint of Aleberry Damson Beer, a brand new beer, which hasn’t even made it to the local pubs yet, so only a few folks have had the pleasure. In fact it wasn’t quite as clear as they hoped for yet and they told me they were planning to do a little more to take care of that.

(pic taken by me at the brewery, the larger version can be seen on the Woolamaloo Flickr stream)

But on the actual drinking side there was no problem at all – as you can see from the pic I snapped it’s a lovely colour, like the old horse brasses in a country pub catching the firelight. There’s a lovely fruity aroma, but it is restrained and light, not as overpowering as some continental fruit beers can be. Similarly the actual taste delivers a touch of the Damson (locally grown a stone’s throw from the brewery), but not too much, its pretty well balanced, imparting some lovely flavouring without insisting on itself or overpowering the beer. The ale itself is lovely and smooth, going down very easily – perhaps too easily given it’s a 5.2% beer, you could happily sip away several pints before realising oops, may have overdone it!

There’s a very pleasing mix of bitterness from the ale mixed with a gentle sweetness from the Damson, although again it is fairly restrained, which I appreciated. After swallowing the Damson was a little more noticeable, as the bitterness of the beer faded to a nice, gentle sweetness. This would make a nice, refreshing beer on a late summer afternoon or early evening, but equally I could imagine sitting with a pint of Aleberry by the fireside in the pub on a cold winter’s night too. They guys tell me that once they are happier with the clarity they will see about getting it into kegs for the pubs (I was happy to find out they regularly deal with pubs in Edinburgh where I live, including well known real ale pubs like the Guildford Arms, the Abbotsford and the wee Halfway House) and probably bottling for general sale at some point too. At which point I think I will want to get hold of some more… Oh and on a related note of interest it turns out that the Craigmill Brewery was previously home to another Scottish indy brewer of interesting ales, the Williams Brothers who Ed and I have been enjoying recently.