Since my last blog posting, I've been to Brechin (no ale in golf club there), St. Andrews (Whey Pat as excellent as ever) and, last weekend, Slaley Hall, Northumberland, which was also a real ale desert this year. Last year, this DeVere hotel at least had handpumps in both their upstairs bar and the golfers bar downstairs, albeit the ale wasn't kept in great nick - this year, they've removed them completely, replacing them with more carbonated, mostly yellow, fizz.
A few of us staying at Slaley Hall did form an escape committee again on Sunday and made the short trip to the Travellers Rest, as this was sure to provide us with something interesting - this was what greeted us there:
Unfortunately, the Wagtail Ale from Allendale had just gone off, but the Black Sheep was good, although not as popular with our group as Cast Iron from Consett.
Locally, the best ale I've had in recent weeks in Banchory has been the Burnett, the house ale produced by Rob at Deeside for the Burnett Arms. I'm also happy to say that the hotel appears to be looking after it OK as well - and it's the cheapest beer by far in the village (can we still call Banchory a village?).
It took a little time, but I got another response last week to the Community Pubs Minister question from Richard Baker, MSP:
Kenny Macaskill's response was one you'd expect from an experienced politician:
(Click on images to enlarge).
Cheers,
Ian
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