Belhaven brewery lies on the shores of the Firth of Forth in the Royal Burgh of Dunbar - about 30 miles east of Edinburgh. The brewery was originally founded by Benedictine monks around 1415 when - after being given land here, found the local water to be excellent for brewing beer.
The present brewery was built in 1719, and is one of the oldest in Britain. One family owned the brewery for more than 250 years. In the Seventies the business was sold to pub and hotel interests and was then owned by a succession of colourful 'characters' until recently when it was the subject of a management buy-out.
For many years Belhaven also acted as a maltings: germinating and kilning the barley that is widely grown in East Lothian and the Borders and supplying not only its own brewery but also whisky distilleries. Two malting kilns from 1719 are still standing.
Traditionally, Scottish beers tend toward the sweetness of the malt while English ones have leant more towards the dryness of the hop. It may be that because of the slightly cooler climate, Scots prefer a more sustaining pint. But I think it is more likely that Scotland grows a great deal of malting barley but is a long way from the hop gardens.
The Scottish 80/-, or eighty shilling ale was so named because of the duty due on each barrel for a beer of that gravity, thus we have 60/-, 70/-, 80/- and 90/- ale.
Brewery information abridged from:
http://www.belhaven.co.uk/indexintro.html
THE BEER
When poured the beer has a dark brown colouring with a white creamy head which is slow to dissolve.
This beer has a lovely aroma, treacly-sweet and much richer and maltier than expected. There is also a slight sourness.
On tasting, the sweet maltiness is nicely balanced by a bitterness, malty rather than hoppy. Chocolate malt is evident and it has a nutty, caramel, smooth character with a slight fruitiness. The beer is clean and refreshing very much in the Scottish heavy style.
Smooth in texture, Belhavens has no bitter after-taste and the second beer tastes even better than the first, and the third is.....
This is a beer best served slightly below room temperature, poured from a traditional handpump and served in a noninck pint glass. If you can't get it on draught, it's available in widget-cans and bottles.
Bar snacks are probably the most suitable food to accompany this brew - it's not really a gourmet's beer but a thirst quencher. It has a relatively low alcohol content (3.9%) and is therefore not really a sipping ale.
This is a good old fashioned Scottish heavy that lends itself perfectly to the scottish tradition of a hauf 'n' a hauf - a half pint of beer and a half (dram) of whisky.
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