As stated, there were several pubs close to where we stayed, so after cooking Haggis for the boys I braved the wintery conditions and went on an evening stroll.
The Barony bar is on Broughton Street, not too crowded on an early Saturday evening. The beer range included several Caledonian ales plus Black Sheep. I had a pint of Stewar Edinburgh No 3, a recreation of a classic mild.
A lovely deep copper color. A mlty beer , some spices, too – gingerbread, caramel and vanilla. Some roasted grain, too. Not over-the-top sweet, but the bitterness is certainly well hidden.
A hundred yards down the street is the Cask and Barrel, which promotes itself more actively as a real ale pub. There are about a dozen ales on tap, most of the Scottish.
Their Broughton Street is the house beer. As expected it is a very malty, sweet beer. Some hop bitterness on the tongue, a bit harsh, maybe. Not too accomplished.
The Orkney Best was a fairly standard bitter, but there was a hint of barnyard or stable in there. Appropriate in a saison, not in a british cask ale.
Smithies was next door to the pub I had visited on the previousl evening, so it was the last stop on my way back to the hotel.It was rather empty, but the clientelle seemed rowdy enough. One of them was being helped into a taxi as I arrived. I had a pint of Houston Peters Well.
Malt, a little yeast, rather lightweight. Lacks the bitter edge to make it really refresing of quaffable.
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I’m not sure I’d call No. 3 a Mild. It’s more of a Burton, really.
I think I had the beer you describe in Glasgow last year. I asked the barman if it was intended to be a revival of Younger’s No. 3 and he just gave me a weird look. He’d obviously never heard of the Younger’s beer. These young people. They know nothing.
Happy Christmas anyway.
I remember Younger’s No 3, just about, but only because I had an abnormally strong interest in beer at a young age. Nobody under about 45 can reasonably be expected to know it ever existed.
I’m pretty sure that Stewart’s No 3 is intended as an homage to the Younger’s beer, if not an exact copy. They also do an 80/– which is exceedingly popular in a certain Edinburgh that sold oceans of cask McEwan’s 80/– until it was discontinued. I’m hoping to meet the brewer in the new year and will make sure to ask about this stuff.
Their beers seem to be doing well, with a broad range available on tap and in bottles across Edinburgh.