What can you say about a city that has it all: architecture, whiskey, music, art, history, a stunning, rocky landscape, world class restaurants of every flavour, real ale pubs, fabulous museums and a population that is fashionable, well educated and absolutely friendly and helpful? Incredible! That is Edinburgh!
It was a beautiful sunny morning as I arrived at the airport on my early flight. The bus to the city centre was right outside and took about 30 minutes. I dropped my bags at the hotel and was out and about before the pubs were open, so I did the touristy things: a big Scottish breakfast, the Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile walk and then found the Scottish Whiskey Experience, a multi-media tour through the history and process of malt whiskey making. It was actually very interesting. More so for the 3,500 bottles of whiskey on display (largest in captivity) and the amazing malts available at the bar at the end of the tour. I tried an 18 year old Smokehead from Islay (from an undisclosed distillery) that was absolutely fabulous – peaty, malty, with large hints of salt sea spray. Wow!
The CAMRA Good Beer Guide lists many great pubs in or near the city centre, but it does not take much to find some great spots, just a bit of an adventurous spirit, no fear of wandering up or down the many staired ‘closes’ running off the main streets and a willingness to engage the locals.
My first stop was the Halfway House on Fleshmarket Close, a tiny little pub on a tiny little side alley. I was immediately engaged by a couple of regulars, after I ordered a good local brew, Pentlands IPA (3.9%) from Stewart Brewing, a white foamed perfectly balanced golden coloured session ale, thick, slow falling lace, light on the palate, with a subtle bitterness tickling the tongue, fresh malt all the way through to a wonderfully dry finish. We talked about the Scottish micro scene and landlord Steve joined in describing some of the difficulties to overcome in running a free house in this day and age. He must be doing something right - the Halfway House was CAMRA's Pub of the Year for Edinburgh for 2009. I next tried Kelburn Red Smiddy (4.1%), SIBA's (Society of Independent Brewers) 2010 Best Regional Beer Gold Medal Winner, beautiful copper/red bitter, fruity malt aroma, citrus tones balanced against a good malt base, smooth mouthfeel, lovely, loose staying lace, malt accented finish, with enough hops to dry it out properly. I also met Robert Knops of the very new Knops Beer Co., only 6 months old. He was delivering casks that would not be ready to serve until the weekend, unfortunately for me. He said he did have some bottled versions of his beer in a couple of bottle shops around town, so i vowed to see if I could find them. Everyone recommended a few other places, so I wished them well and wandered on my way.
My next stop was the classic Abbotsford Bar & Restaurant on Rose Street, famous since 1902 for it's beautiful central dark mahogany bar, surrounded by long, sharing tables against the outside walls, a very historical pub. It has a intricately detailed high art deco-ish ceiling and is a popular lunch time spot. I ordered the 'Haggis, Neeps and Tatties' and Hurricane Jack (4.4%) from Fyne, a blond ale with a slightly fruity nose, well balanced hop versus malt ratio, very smooth palate and a nice dry finish. One of the very knowledgeable bartenders, Asten, noticed my note taking and we starting talking about beer. She explained the 'tall founts' system, where the beer is served by pushing it up with air pressure and a 'water engine' (hydraulics) as opposed to the English method of suction by pump. Once common, now only rarely used, the Abbotsford serves 6 real ales, all but one using the traditional Scottish ‘tall founts’ taps. Next up was Trappledouser (4.7%), a gold/amber, hop infused bitter, well balanced and smooth with a long and evenly dry finish. The Atlas Nimbus Strong Pale Ale (5%) displayed a fruity nose, a pale gold colour, a wonderfully malty backbone, with some sweet maltiness running through an evenly bitter palate, hints of apple, and light abstract lacing follows the beer to the bottom of the glass. Before she left, Asten recommended a new pub not far away, the Conan Doyle.
The Conan Doyle is a just refurbished upscale pub, part of the Nicholson's chain of historic pubs, specializing in Scottish food, cask ales and malt whiskey. They have 7 real ales on, I went for Brew Dog's Punk IPA. Pale gold in colour, hoppier and stronger than any other IPA I've tried, definitive floral nose, hop bitter palate held up by a solid malt base, the thick head leaves lovely, light rings of lace after each sip, high hop values, with an astringent, dry finish. I had been wanting to try Harvieston's Bitter and Twisted, recommended by everyone I talked to, but once again I was told that they had just run out. So, I went for the cask version of Brains SA instead. Interestingly, I was not as impressed with this beer as a cask real ale, as I was with the bottled version I tried in Wales. Then it dawned on me, something Lukas had told me in the Czech Republic. Different beers are designed for different purposes, and a beer destined to be bottled may not be the same when presented unfiltered in a cask. Very true in this case. Also, Wales was a long way for a real ale to travel.
After a spicy chipotle infused Mexican dinner (my palate needed a break), I finished the evening at the Blue Blazer, not far from my hotel. The ubiquitous Deuchar’s IPA (3.8%) is a gold hued, mildly hopped pale ale, creamy white head that leaves multiple ‘rings of Saturn’ lacing, smooth, well balanced malt-hop relationship and silky mouthfeel, with the bitterness ascending for a deliciously dry finish. My night cap was Old Mortality 80/ (4.2%) from Strathaven, a lovely garnet brown traditional Scottish ale. It starts with a dried fruit laden nose, has a toasted malt palate with hints of molasses, roasted malt, brown sugar and chocolate. It finishes long and even, smooth and caramelly.
It was a great first day in the Scotland's capital city.