Brews and Blues Beer and Smokin’ Blues

Red MacGregor

I paid another visit to Gail's Hops and Grapes this afternoon to pick up a few new beers for my sampling regimen. It's hot outside here today and Gail's had the AC pumping and the beer coolers full. It's always a huge event for me to find something to buy at Gail's because of their selection. I think I spent about 30 minutes picking out three bottles of beer to bring home with me. Maybe one of these days I'll have tasted everything they have and it won't be such an ordeal :)  Be sure to check out Gail's on FaceBook at Gail's HopsGrapes. 

My first sample from today's shopping spree is Red MacGregor from The Orkney Brewery in Quoyloo, Scotland.  Red MacGregor is my second sampling from this brewery.  My first was their Dark Island which was really good also.  Red MacGregor is a beautiful Ruby Ale with an excellent hop punch.  It also has a nice medium body with fruity characteristics that are highlighted with hints of toasted malts.  It's definitely an easy beer to drink, and although not as high in alcohol as a lot of brews, it definitely deserves a try. 

Dark Island

From the bottle:

Dark Island is an iconic beer: a standard-bearer for traditional Scottish ales. In cas, this beer has twice won CAMRA's Champion Beer of Scotland.

On the nose, this dark beer offers smooth roasted malt notes with bitter chocolate and coffee to the fore, with hints of red fruits, nuts and toffee underlying.

On the palate, the silky chocolate and coffee flavours are followed closely by figs and dried fruits, finishing with a fruity hop bitterness.

From a tasting standpoint, I can't add much to that. Their description is far more eloquent and correct than anything I could scribble here. I like this beer quite a bit.  It does have a distinct hoppiness to it, but it's not at all like you would expect from the color.  It's very smooth and doesn't have the hop bite that you might expect from its similarly-colored stout and porter brothers...