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ISLAY- Divide your drinking between whisky and Real Ale
The beautiful Isle of Islay, lying off the west coast of Kintyre, is the most southerly of the Hebrides. Although legendary for its 8 malt whisky distilleries, it is now worth visiting for real ale, thanks in no small way to its new microbrewery, Islay Ales, founded in 2003 by two Englishmen and a German. Paul Hathaway worked for Rolls Royce, Paul Capper is a retired fireman and the German is Walter Schobert, a retired museum curator. Their first brew was on March 22nd, 2004.
Situated in Bridgend on the road to Port Askaig, the brewery can be found in the outbuildings of Islay House in what was formerly the tractor shed of the Georgian Estate owned by Lord Margadale, who was descended from the Campbells. It is a two room operation - a shop and sample room and the brew plant. The brewery is a four barrel plant and they can brew three times a week. They have three fermenters and hope to obtain two more. All of the equipment is new and was built by David Porter of Stockport, a prolific supplier of microbrewery plant.
They began brewing three beers as follows: Finlaggan Ale (ABV 3.7%), a light, pale coloured fruity ale named after the ancient seat of the Lord of the Isles; Black Rock Ale (4.2%) which is darker as it is made from roasted barley; and Saligo Ale (4.4%), named after a local beach. They also produce all of their beers in bottle-conditioned form and recently sent 700 bottles to the Stockholm Beer Festival. They can fill 75 bottles in 12 minutes. Saligo will be replaced by a new porter called Dun Hogs Head (4.4% ABV) which is a black, dry stout with a roasted flavour and a long dry finish. They may continue to brew Saligo for bottling.
Apart from a few casks (and hundreds of bottles) going to beer festivals, all of their beer is sold on Islay. Local pubs are approaching them for their beer and it is heartening to report that almost every single licensed premises on Islay sells their beer in bottles including the four which also supply it on draught, which we shall now describe.
The doyen of Islay real ale outlets is the seaside, whitewashed Port Charlotte Hotel and Restaurant, Port Charlotte. Built around the 1830s as a house and two shops, it became a hotel about 60 years ago. There are three handpumps in the lounge bar, two of which supply Islay Ales beers on a rotating basis. The third supplies Black Sheep Bitter from Masham in North Yorkshire. As fans of this fine beer, we are astonished to learn that barrels of it sneak past our Glasgow home every week!
Thankfully, the temperance hotel days of the Lochside Hotel, Shore Street, Bowmore, are now behind it and it is now owned by a retired road haulier. You must have seen vans emblazoned with "Duffies of Islay" in your travels. Last year, Duffie himself took over the disused shop next door and turned it into a locals' bar named … Duffies. One handpump selling an Islay Ales beer is located in the lounge bar, where there is an impressive display of Islay and Jura malt whiskies.
In Port Ellen, the public bar of the Ardview Inn also sells one Islay Ales beer from a handpump. The bar has a truly authentic feel to it, and you can just imagine generations of Ileachs regaling each other with tales of the high seas. There is a contrastingly modern lounge bar.
An Tigh Seinnse, virtually at the end of the road in Portnahaven, is the last of our draught quartet, though it is proposing to remove the real ale for the duration of the Winter months. It is undergoing renovation at the time of writing and we would recommend that you phone ahead if visiting (starting next Spring, of course) to find out if draught beer is available. It will always have bottles of Islay Ales beer, though. The name means "house of (ex)change" because, many years ago, fishermen and seamen used to bring goods from foreign parts to barter with. The bar counter is known locally as "The Pulpit" because it is small, narrow and the floor on the staff side is about 15 inches higher than on the customer side!
Contrary to some web sites, The Ballygrant Inn, Ballygrant, is no longer selling Islay Ales on draught, but continues to sell them in bottles.
We recommend a comprehensive travel brochure produced by Argyll and Bute Council listing all transport links to Islay and Jura including air, the Citylink 926 connecting coach service to Campbeltown which serves the Kennacraig ferry terminal on the mainland, the ferries themselves to Port Ellen and Port Askaig and Islay's three internal bus routes which all meet in Bowmore. Call them on 01546 604360 or email them at public.transport@argyll-bute.gov.uk.
Slàinte.
Ellen McSwiggan & Kenny Gillies Glasgow CAMRA
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