Brewery: Fyne Ales
Location: Cairndow, Scotland
Style: Golden Ale
ABV: 4.5%
Version: Draught
Source: The Guildford Arms, Edinburgh / MyBreweryTap.com

I’d been picking up beerblogosphere-wide hints and rumours about just how good a beer Fyne Avalanche is for quite a while, so when I saw it on draught at the Guildford Arms (during our Edinburgh trip a couple of months ago) I was in there like a shot.

A golden blonde ale (the pump-clip proclaimed that it was named the Best Golden Ale in the World not so long ago) Fyne Avalanche weighs in at a very pleasant session strength 4.5% ABV but still manages to pack a wallop in the flavour-department. There’s a tonne of tasty malt in play, neatly cut through with a razor-sharp hoppy after-bite and a very citrusy freshness that makes this one quite delightully delicious, extremely easy to drink and incredibly more-ish. It really is one of those beers you could happily sup all night, without worrying that you’d missed out on something better a little further along the bar.

What’s more, I’ve had the bottled version since (via the MyBreweryTap.com Spring 2010 Mixed Case) and for a change it just about holds up in comparison to its cask-based cousin, managing to pack in more flavour than most bottled ales could ever hope to.

What else can I say? The rumours are true: Fyne Avalanche is a fantastic golden ale. If you see it, try it.

Take the Balmoral Hotel exit from Waverley station, cross over Princes Street and you’ll find yourself in the vicinity of The Guildford Arms; surely one of the very best pubs in the whole of the pub-rich city of Edinburgh.

The outside might not be much to look at just now – the whole building is covered in scaffolding – but inside it’s a haven of ornate Victorian / Edwardian splendour. High ceilings, big windows and huge mirrors give the long, narrow saloon bar area a light, airy feel that compliments and off-sets the classic polished brass, stained glass windows and dark wood of a proper drinking establishment.

Jo and I visited the Guildford Arms a couple of times the weekend before last during a trip up to Edinburgh for a wedding, but the place was busy both times, so I didn’t feel like getting my phone out to take a snap. There are a couple of pics at www.guildfordarms.com though, with plenty to find on Flickr; well worth taking a quick look.

There’s a small restaurant upstairs that serves good quality, reasonably-priced pub food (the grilled haddock was particularly tasty). The ale selection in the downstairs bar is superbly Scottish. When we were there they were offering Fyne Avalanche, Orkney Dark Island, BrewDog The Physics (tasting notes on those three to follow), Stewart Pentland IPA, Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted and three or four other session-strength ales; all from independent Scottish breweries. They also have bottles of Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Ale, if you prefer something stronger.

Highly recommended if you’re staying in Edinburgh city-centre overnight, or even if you just have an hour to kill while you wait for a train.

Brewery: Innis & Gunn
Location: PO Box 17246, Edinburgh, Scotland EH11 1YR
ABV: 6.6%
Version: 330ml bottle

First impressions – why is this bottle so damned small? Real ale drinkers are not used to 330ml bottles – those are for lager drinkers and we feel cheated by such paltry sizes. But the glowing, golden colour of the beer draws my eye to the shelves and I find myself picking it up anyway (well that and a natural desire to support a – for me – local brewery). Glance at the back and realise it is a whopping 6.6% alcohol. Ah, smaller bottle size explained then – that’s basically like some of the Belgian beers and those too are usually offered in smaller bottles for the very good reason the more normal 500 or 550ml bottles would more than likely get you blootered before you had time to appreciate the taste.

And like some of those Belgian beers the Innis & Gunn is meant to be appreciated and that means this is a beer to be drunk slowly, not just to mitigate the strength of the alcoholic content but so you can savour it (yes, I know, all proper beers are meant to be savoured for taste and aroma, but the strong ones demand slow sipping so you may as well use the time to fully appreciate the craftsmanship which went into it). It’s a beautiful looking ale to begin with – the beer spent 30 days maturing in oak barrels, which gives it this splendid, golden colour, like warm amber. Most beers I’ve had with this hue usually are honey-coloured partly because they are in fact honey beers; not so here, as, like a fine single malt, this has picked up its distinctive colouring partly from lying in a particular barrel (an unusual maturing process for ale). I like the result and I also appreciate the extra layer of effort that this method entails, it inclines me rather positively towards it before I’ve even had a mouthful.

There’s a lovely aroma to this Edinburgh beer; it has the scent of an IPA which most ale drinkers will recognise, but the aroma is somehow softer, with hints of toffee (for once the blurb on the back is right, I could indeed smell and taste a pleasant toffee aspect to it). The drink itself is effortlessly smooth; in fact its smoother than a freshly shaved and waxed baby’s bottom. It slips over the tongue and massages the taste buds as it goes. Unusually for a real ale the bottle recommends it is served ‘well chilled’. Now we all know you can cool real ales if you want, but usually they are served at a warmer temperature than lagers. Strangely, despite being chilled, the initial taste is a warm feeling on the tongue as the golden hue would seem to promise.

Smooth and warm and fresh, the sort of drink you let linger in your mouth for a moment to delight your taste buds, again like appreciating a fine single malt. Lovely aftertaste too – you can still taste a lingering touch of it long after swallowing a mouthful and it is most pleasant. Despite the strength it comes across as very light – almost like an IPA – and I think you’d have to be careful not to be mislead by that lightness because at 6.6% drinking too much of this in an evening would leave you in that embarrassing situation Billy Connolly once called “getting drunk from the neck down”, where your head feels fine, the drink tastes lovely, you keep downing it and all seems fine until you try to stand to go to the loo and find no part of your body below your neck still works…

But that’s not a criticism – its rare for an ale this strong to look and feel so smooth and light. This is one to set yourself some quality time to enjoy – sit back, stick your feet up, pour yourself one and slowly savour it. It is exceptionally smooth, soft on the palate, made to be slowly sipped and enjoyed, as light to taste as the colour suggests yet not too sweet. And since it works so well chilled I think it may well be a great beer for real ale guzzlers like myself who, on very hot days (admittedly a rarity this summer) want the taste of a real beer but need something chilled and have to face that agonising choice of a proper beer (but warm to drink on a hot day) or resorting to chilled lagers or ciders. Now we don’t need to make the choice – keep a couple of these in the fridge, come home after a hot, busy day, pour one and let it wash away the stress…