In all my years of writing about booze, I never much bothered with beer beyond drinking the stuff.
My own experience reflected the way Fosters sold itself as an ice-cold amber nectar to slake the thirst. That pretty much summed it up for me until the day I discovered Scottish craft beer.
From indistinguishable pints of fizz, I embraced the diversity of those flavour-packed bottles of joy. But is this enough to want to spend the day at a beer festival? This month there are two, starting with Craft Beer Rising at Glasgow's new Drygate brewery next weekend.
Drygate crouches in the grounds of Tennent's huge Wellpark brewery, beside the Necropolis. Colin Johnston, the operations director, told me there had been some worries about the location. "We wondered if we'd have to bus people in from the west end." It turns out the reaction has been "fantastic", he says.
With a rooftop beer garden, restaurant and homebrew workshop, Drygate sees itself as more than just a brewery. Likewise, beer is not the be all and end all of Craft Beer Rising, according to festival organiser Daniel Rowntree. He's keen for it to have a broad appeal. As well as 45 local and international breweries including Tempest, Siren and the Pilot Brew Co from Leith, there will be street food and live music.
Rowntree wanted it to be different to Camra's annual Great British Beer festival, which he describes as "four days full of ageing men with beards and beer guts, and not a pretty girl in sight". He promises that Glasgow's Craft Beer Rising, the festival's first Scottish venture, will "shatter a few stereotypes".
The following Friday, the Ducks restaurant in Aberlady will host East Lothian's first Real Ale Festival. Brews on offer will include Stewart's, Broughton Ales, Thistly Cross and Barney's.
Craft Beer Rising (craftbeerrising.co.uk), Drygate Brewery, Glasgow, Sep 19-21. Tickets £20, but first 15 pairs free to Herald readers who email simon@craftbeerrising.co.uk marked: Herald Comp Tickets.
Ducks Real Ale Festival, Aberlady, Sep 26-28. Free entry and a free glass for Herald readers. Visit ducks.co.uk.
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