Brewery: Craigmill Brewery
Location: Strathaven, Scotland, ML10 6PB
ABV: 3.9%
Version: 500ml bottle

Continuing my little mini beer odyssey through the beers of the Craigmill Brewery this is a companion to the previously reviewed Aleberry Damson Beer, Old Mortality and Clydesdale IPA. As it says in the name, it’s a light ale and you might wonder why a small brewery which already produces a fine IPA needs a light ale too. Well the answer is that this is created from a fifty mix of wheat and lager malts – the result is a very pale, straw coloured beer which resembles a lager without the flow of bubbles. The taste is clear without being too strong or intrusive, nice and smooth (which seems to be a hallmark of the brewery), bitter with a nice aftertaste, which seems to improve as the pint progresses.

According to the blurb the combination of wheat and lager malts is to offer the real ale drinker a decent choice for a light, refreshing beer during the summer months. Obviously since I picked it up during an autumn brewery visit I can’t say I’ve tested it under ‘actual combat conditions’ (then again, given the weather we had even if I had it in the summer it wouldn’t have been a real test!), but I can see a potential in this as a nice warm weather pint – we all get that problem, after all, on the occasional hot day when our taste buds wants ale but want something cool like a lager and its good to see some alternatives (and several others seem to be doing the same for the beer drinker too these days, Innis & Gunn spring to mind, saving us from the usually disappointing temptation of Guinness Cold on a summer day).

As an experiment I chilled one bottle in the fridge and had one just stored in the more usual cool spot; both went down very well and although it doesn’t say it should be served chilled I think come next summer it would make quite a refreshing drink if given just a little time in the fridge; meantime it makes a very nice, light beer for a lunchtime refreshment or afternoon pint.

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.