There seems to be no doubt spring is in the air this week.
The first sightings of that huge ball of flame in the sky and indeed the first sightings of climate-inappropriate clothing in Glasgow city centre with both shoulders and preposterously pale torsos bared at the first hint of sunshine. In better news it’s now still light when leaving work in the evening, which has lightened my mood immeasurably.
And so what style has been sending people into raptures? Light and refreshing pales? Juicy IPAs? Perhaps something tart and tropical? No, it seems to have been all about huge, thick, syrupy Imperial Stouts. What is going on with people? I mean, I can’t deny the chilli charms of the barrel-aged Mexicakes from Tempest, or the other undoubtedly delicious offerings from Siren and Wiper & True but in the Glaswegian taps aff spirit I’ve chosen to seize the opportunity to focus on some selections slightly more suitable for sunny days.
Wild Weather Curse of the Threepwood (£3.00/5.0%/330ml)
I think it may be the can – resplendent in an illustration of monkeys dressed as pirates – that has sold so many of this so far, but for me it was the magic word rhubarb. I have enjoyed most of the beers from the new brewery so far, although I’ve found them to be a little sweetie-ish on occasion. This one is much more balanced though, with plenty of that rhubarb, more jammy fruits and a little floral note on the nose. There’s still plenty of fruit in the flavour, with both the slightly bitter vegetal note of fresh rhubarb balanced by the sweetness you would find in the stewed version.
Redchurch Pillar of Salt (£2.70/4.5%/330ml)
I tried this on keg recently and was disappointed to discover a slightly salty lager where a gose should have been. Fortunately the bottled version seems to have improved things immeasurably. The classic hit of coriander is there, backed up by pithy orange and zesty lemon on the nose. There’s plenty of that tart character that was lacking in the kegged version, crisp, dry and zesty with a lovely salt lick on the palate and more of that coriander that lasts in a nice long finish.
Tempest Long White Cloud (£6.10/5.6%/660ml)
Tempest have started to repackage some of their beers into formats that they think best suit the contents, so as well as their 330s we’ll apparently be seeing various other bottle – and perhaps even can – sizes this year. 1 bottle of Long White Cloud was never enough, so I think moving to bomber size makes perfect sense. There’s no change to the recipe so it’s retains all those quaffable qualities of citrus, tropical fruit and a slightly resinous sweetness balanced by dry refreshment on the palate, there’s just more of it to enjoy now.
Andechs Weissbier Hell (£3.20/5.5%/500ml)
For me this is the perfect wheat beer, and I’ve already enjoyed a couple of glasses in the sunshine even if I had to keep my scarf on whilst I did. Just sweet enough, with the classic banana aroma and hints of orange zest and pear. More of the same in the flavour, with a little clove and cardamom for good measure, medium bodied and incredibly refreshing. I can’t recommend this enough.
Gallus Brewing/Dead End Brew Machine Ragin’ (£3.20/6.5%/330ml)
A collaboration between two of the best new brewers in Glasgow was always going to be worth keeping an eye out for, and to be honest there may actually be none left in the shop by the time you’re reading this such is the excitement that this generated. A well hopped amber, using a super fruity yeast blend that makes for a whole fruit salad of flavour with more dark fruit in the malty backbone balancing out the hoppy bite. I’ll be ragin’ if they don’t brew it again.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here