Posts Tagged ‘Beer’
How Scotch helped Belvedere enhance vodka’s flavour
Vodka brand Belvedere took a leaf from whisky’s book to create its latest drink. Peter Ranscombe finds out why. VODKA is – if I’m feeling generous – a blank canvas on which bartenders can paint exciting pictures through cocktails. At its best, it’s neutral and unobtrusive; at its worst, it’s just plain boring. You can…
Read MoreMaking organic wine in style
NEVER judge a book by its cover – nor a wine by its label. Fortunately, the liquid inside brothers Paride and Jacapo d’Angelo’s bottles lives up to the promise of its packaging. The siblings have been making wine in Italy’s Abruzzo region for the past seven years, having learned about wine at the feet of…
Read MoreOutdoor venue for Edinburgh Craft Beer Festival
ORGANISERS have moved Edinburgh Craft Beer Festival from The Biscuit Factory to The Corn Exchange’s outside venue. The event, which is due to take place on 9 and 10 October, will feature Scottish breweries including Fierce, Vault City, 71 Brewing, and new kid on the block Newbarns. Foreign breweries sending beer to the festival include…
Read MoreBeer fans enjoy more pints with Scottish barley
SCOTLAND’S craft brewers are poised to get more access to Scottish malted barley thanks to equipment that can handle smaller bags. Crisp Malt has spent £2 million installing a packaging line at its plant in Alloa. At the moment, craft brewers that can’t buy large quantities of malt either need to buy Scottish malt that’s…
Read MoreArdbeg’s first beer supports clean water projects
ISLAY distillery Ardbeg has teamed up with social enterprise Brewgooder to create its first beer and raise money for clean water projects in Africa. All the profits from “The Shortie Smoky Porter” will support projects in Malawi. The beer – which is named after Ardbeg’s mascot, Shortie the Jack Russell – was created by flatmates…
Read MoreRound the world in 10 bank holiday rosés
With a bank holiday weekend dawning and – whisper it – decent weather forecast for Friday, Peter Ranscombe takes a whistle-stop world tour of rosé wine. FOLLOWING on from our last look at pink wines back in May, it feels like the right time to put on some rosé-tinted specs ahead of the early August bank…
Read MoreTurning beer byproducts into chairs
GRAINS left over from beer brewing and gin distilling are being turned into tables and chairs for Dundee Science Centre. Aymeric Renoud named his furniture making business after “draff”, the wet grains left behind when beer is made. Renoud adds a binder to draff from 71 Brewing in Dundee and botanicals used to make gin…
Read MoreScots prepare to head outdoors as lockdown eases
SCOTLAND’S hospitality, tourism and leisure businesses are gearing up to welcome back guests as lockdown measures continue to ease. CCW, which runs outdoor stores in Callander, Glasgow and St Andrews, is offering customers a 20% discount, which it’s encouraging them to spend in other local businesses. The company, which was launched in 1985 by husband-and-wife…
Read MoreWinemaker’s love of Scotland shines during online tasting
Peter Ranscombe enjoys three great-value South African wines while hearing what their maker would serve alongside them. THE Co-op in Melrose is perhaps the last place you’d expect to find a South African winemaker – but Alastair Rimmer has an affinity for the Borders. The cellar master at Kleine Zalze winery enjoys fishing on the…
Read MorePinot punch-up: New Zealand v Oregon
Who will come out on top in a comparative tasting between Oregon and New Zealand? Peter Ranscombe grabs his whistle to act as referee. ONE grape unites most if not all wine lovers – pinot noir. Its spiritual homeland is Burgundy in France, yet winemakers around the world use the variety to test their mettle, from…
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