Once it was seen as the preserve of bearded men in big woolly sweaters stretched over beer-bellies the size of medicine balls, propping up dated bars and talking of strange concepts such as “hops” and “malt” and “International Bitterness Units”.
GIVEN the political climate, I think it is worth a quick reminder that the purpose of this diary is to make the case for legal voluntary assisted suicide in Scotland.
Music and beer have always gone together, though very few breweries can say they put music at the heart of what they brew.
Over the past 12 months or so this column has highlighted some cracking breweries and beautiful beers from Scotland and further afield.
Scotland now boasts more than 100 breweries; many producing world-class beers that are smashing national and international awards. But a few decades back the landscape was very different. In the Dark Ages of the late 20th century, barely a dozen breweries existed, among them the famous Caledonian Brewery in Edinburgh.
It was brilliant to see Scotland's breweries dominate the high-profile SIBAX beer awards in Sheffield a couple of weeks back.
The Celt Experience Brewery might have one eye on Welsh mythology, but they’ve also got a clear vision of where they want to go.
With the frail grip of winter hopefully letting go and spring making its presence felt, attention surely turns to those beers brewed to enjoy on a warm spring evening.
Fair play BrewDog. They’ve just shaken up the beer world, again. Last week, the Aberdeenshire brewery published the recipes for more than 200 of their beers.
