We had one quick weekend break in Edinburgh recently and took in a few good pubs. The Stockbridge Tap is definitely worth a return trip - nice place and interesting selection of beers, which included Tryst Blathan and Green Jack Orange Wheat.
A trip out to our former stamping ground of Balerno proved that not much had changed at the Malleny Arms - one handpump, but the ale was off - just as we remembered it from 30 years ago. The Grey Horse Inn (http://greyhorsebalerno.com/) across the road was much better - a choice of 5 beers, albeit mostly nationals.
We had walked out to Balerno from the city and so never quite made it a bit further up the hill to check out if the Marchbank Hotel was still going or not - it had been a place we were able to go with the kids when they were young and I could get a decent pint. Lorimer 70/- was the house ale in those days.
We had dinner upstairs in The Abbotsford back in Rose St. - nice bar and a good restaurant too.
On a trip out to Leith on a beautiful Sunday, a stop at Teuchter's Landing was most welcome - a huge outdoor drinking area on the edge of the water, but a small bar led to very slow service. We moved on to the nearby Malt and Hops and who should we bump into but Stormin' himself:
We had a few pints with Norman, but it was almost dark now and we still had another 3 miles to walk to get back to our apartment, so we headed off along the Water of Leith walk at a pretty brisk pace. First stop almost an hour later was at Kay's Bar (http://www.kaysbar.co.uk/) - but a quiet Sunday evening wasn't quite the same atmosphere as a rugby weekend there.
Back in Deeside, the golf season is off and running again and it's good to get 2 ales back on in Banchory Golf Club - Brain's SA Gold and Spitfire have been the choices so far.
Next weekend, we're off to Nairn and we're hoping there's still a few beers left on Saturday at the Bandstand Beer Festival at the Braeval Hotel. According to the web site (http://www.braevalhotel.co.uk/BandstandAleList2012.pdf), there'll be 68 ales plus 6 premium lagers and 6 ciders - should be a few left for us.
On an entirely separate matter, if you missed Michael Portillo's trip round Jenning's Brewery in Cockermouth on his recent Railway Journeys series, view it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1EvR8jF_UQ&feature=youtu.be
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