– notes of campfire smoke, apple crumble and blackberry jam.
Simple Things say “Sometimes a new beer is simply a familiar beer that’s been reworked slightly. In fact let’s be honest, that’s the case most of the time. This is not one of those beers. “A smoky Brown Ale, that’s pretty unusual right? “A peat-smokey Brown Ale? ‘Huh! That is a new one. ‘And yet.. and this is a big part of the reason we do ALL of this… it works! It works really, really well. It’s not just “what can we add peat to?”, it’s a beautiful new (surely?) way to augment all the things we love about a good Brown Ale. “I should make clear at this point that we didn’t do this alone. We’re good, but genius moves like this require external input and here that appeared in the form of Jeanette and Jack from Croft 3, a very special restaurant on the Isle of Mull. Google it, and be ready to get ferry tickets booked. In the off-season Jeanette makes haggis, and creating a beer pairing worthy of that haggis was the jumping off point here. Something that puts another layer on that distinctly Scottish flavour, drawing out and highlighting the savoury-spicy notes, doing what a whisky sauce might do. And at the same time, if it’s not too pretentious to say, attempting to evoke some of the terrior of the Hebrides. OK, that was very pretentious. “But true! This is a Scottish beer. It’s not an 80. Or anything else you’ve had before. Like the Hebrides themselves, it is recognisably Scottish, but very much its own thing. “So, what’s it like? “Imagine… It’s Sunday afternoon and you’re lucky enough to have found yourself in a cosy pub with a tap serving Fuller’s 1845, Old Peculiar or Jennings Sneck Lifter (RIP). But you’re not in Yorkshire, you’re not sat by the Thames or resting your weary legs after conquering Striding Edge. You’re on an island in the Atlantic ocean. You have the equivalent beer in your hand, but the one that’s from THIS place. It’s dark (not as dark as it looks in the photo above) with ruby highlights. Aroma is a similar intensity to an IPA, but it’s not hops. It’s sweet smoke, fruit, caramel, malt. It’s clean and crisp on the palate. Yes, sweet. Not even close to being too sweet. But loads of body. Some light citric acidity and a touch of biterness. Well balanced – the crux. Rounded. A great beer. Why hasn’t this been done before? Maybe it has. It doesn’t matter. It’s been done now. You’ll like it.”