Peat Smoked Ale (5.4%) by Loch Lomond Brewery

Loch Lomond Brewery have gone from strength to strength since launching with just three beers in 2011. Now they've a range of about a dozen beers, as well as a glut of plaudits to hang on the walls of their Alexandria brewery. Their Southern Summit golden ale and Bravehop Amber IPA are particular favourites.

Their newest bottled beer is a special edition release of their perennial Meg's Tail, a moody, broody peaty ale available on cask every January for Burn's night.

With the name Peat Smoked Ale, there's no prizes for guessing the dominant aroma in Loch Lomond's latest beer. The peat is tarry, the smoke black, but you don't have to hunt far to find a balancing honeyed sweetness there too. It pours a clear, medium amber, while the texture is lively and cleansing.

This beer takes you on a bit of a journey. Despite the phenolic aroma, it kicks off fairly mild with a malt base of sweet caramel biscuit. You then experience a brief sour rush before being slapped with a big peaty hit. This soon settles into a soft, dry lingering finish that maintains those medicinal notes reminiscent of an Islay malt, leaving you with a long-lasting smokey bitterness at the back of your mouth, like the reek of your clothes the morning after a night round the campfire on Machir Bay.