UK

United Kingdom

Some great UK pubs. The pub on the top left is at Applecross in the north west of Scotland and the pub on the right is at Strawberry Bank in the English Lake District. Below left is in Bursledon, Hampshire. Good grief they have great pubs in the UK.

Name	Country	% alc	Rating	Comments
Belhaven St Andrews Ale	Scotland	4.6		One of the better Scottish "heavy" as it is known in that part of the world.
Belhaven Wee Heavy	Scotland	6.5		Full bodied ale - very good.
Belhaven Best	Scotland	3.2		Mid strength Scottis ale - average.
Belhaven World's End	Scotland	4.2		Brewed by Belhaven Brewery in Dunbar for the World's End pub in the Royal Mile, Edinburgh. It is an ordinary Scottish ale with no outstanding features.
McEwan's Export IPA	Scotland	4.5		An average Scottish style ale with some decent hop flavour. In my days in Edinburgh this was where the beer was brewed - Heineken have since taken over and it is now brewed in Bedfordshire.
McEwan's 70/-	Scotland	3.7		Another fairly average Scottish beer.
McEwan's 80/-	Scotland	4.2		Now owned by Wells and Young - is nothing sacred. Who will own next year is anybody's guess. Nothing special.
Younger's Tartan Special	Scotland	3.7		Again another Scottish ale now brewed in Bedfordshire. Not to worry it was always fairly average stuff anyway.
Traquair House Ale	Scotland	7.2		Good tasting traditional Scottish style ale with maltiness and fruit flavours. Brewed in the oldest continuously inhabited house in Scotland.
Kestrel Super Premium Lager	Scotland	9.0		Quite a complex lager this one. Malt, fruit, spice, toffee, bitterness hit you all at once.
Cairngorm Brewery Blessed Thistle Ale	Scotland	4.5		A good ale with decent hops (UK Goldings) flavour. www.cairngormbrewery.co.uk
Cairngorm Brewery Cairngorm Gold	Scotland	4.5		Almost a Pilsner style beer. The brewing conditions for Pilsner style ales are ideal in this part of the world. www.cairngormbrewery.co.uk
Cairngorm Brewery Trade Winds	Scotland	4.3		A wheat style beer with a hint of citrus - another attempt at a Hoegaarden style ale - not too bad.
Cairngorm Brewery Highland IPA	Scotland	5.0		A really hoppy beer and well worth trying now that it at a sensible strength compared to the 3.6% ABV I originally had.
Cairngorm Brewery Sheepshaggers Gold	Scotland	4.5		Another excellent ale from this Aviemore based brewery.
McEwan's Scotch Ale	Scotland	8.0		Known as "Wee Heavy" in Scotland. Best mixed with a normal strength beer I think.
Orkney Brewery Red MacGreogor	Scotland	5.0		A very hoppy beer from this small boutique brewery. www.orkneybrewery.co.uk
Orkney Brewery Dark Island	Scotland	4.6		Pleasant dark Scottish ale quite malty and good aroma. www.orkneybrewery.co.uk
Caledonian Deuchars Ale	Scotland	4.4		A fairly average Scottish style ale.
Caledonian Summer Valley American Pale Ale	Scotland	4.1		A good pale ale with pleanty of hop flavours imparting citrus flavours.
Orkney Brewery Raven Ale	Scotland	3.8		Quite a fruity light beer. www.orkneybrewery.co.uk
Orkney Brewery Skull Splitter	Scotland	8.5		A rich, reddish beer which is full of taste. www.orkneybrewery.co.uk
Black Isle Brewery Scotch Ale	Scotland	4.5		A malty, ruby beer which is quite pleasant. www.blackislebrewery.com
Black Isle Brewery Wheat Beer	Scotland	4.5		A very good wheat beer with some citrus taste not unlike Hoegaarden. www.blackislebrewery.com
Black Isle Brewery Blonde	Scotland	4.5		Quite a pleasant lager with a nice hoppy taste. www.blackislebrewery.com
Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted Blond Beer	Scotland	4.2		I quite enjoyed this hoppy ale. www.harviestoun.com
Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted Blond Beer (Keg)	Scotland	4.2		A hoppy/fruty ale and, of course, better on tap. www.harviestoun.com
Harviestoun Schiehallion Lager	Scotland	4.8		An very good lager to enjoy on a warm afternoon. Hop flavours are there but not in abundance. www.harviestoun.com
Harviestoun Old Engine Oil Porter	Scotland	6.0		Where to start with most unusual ale! It is quite viscous, extremely dark, with strong aromas. You would not want to spend an evening drinking this porter but a couple of 300ml bottles are well worth a try. www.harviestoun.com
Stewart's 80/- Ale	Scotland	4.4		A fairly standard Scottish ale - light hop flavours and almost a hint of fruitiness ifrom the hops.
Innis & Gunn Canadian Cherrywood Scottish Ale	Scotland	8.3		What a superb ale. A great balance of woody flavours from both the cherrywood and oak barrels, excellent hop balance, Aroma is great and a pleasant crystal clear golden, reddish colour. www.innis&gunn.com
Innis & Gunn Irish Whiskey Cask Stout	Scotland	7.4		A good well balanced stout with nutty flavours that you would expect. Why not mature it in Scotch Whisky barrels? www.innis&gunn.com
Innis & Gunn Original Oak Age Ale	Scotland	6.6		An excellent ale with a slight nutty flavour. www.innis&gunn.com
Innis & Gunn Draught Lager	Scotland	4.6		I expected better from this brewery - light in carbonation, hop flavours and just about everything else. www.innis&gunn.com
Highland Brewing Orkney IPA	Scotland	4.8		A good malt and hop balance in this fine Scottish ale.
Kelburn Regnitz	Scotland	4.4		Not a bad pint. Good hoppiness and citrus flavours.
Williams Bros Joker IPA	Scotland	5.0		*What an excellent "craft"* style beer. Plenty of hop flavour, good aroma, excellent head retention. An all round darned good beer.**
Williams Bros Fraoch Heather Ale	Scotland	5.0		Another good ale from Williams Bros Scottish Gruit "craft" style beer at it's best. Most interesting flavours not like any other ale I have tasted but very interesting - well worth trying. It gets a four because of the unusualness.
Inveralmond Brewing Lia Fail Dark Ale	Scotland	4.7		An interesting dark amber ale with hints of chocolate and caramel - very interesting beer.
Tullibardine 1488 Premium Whisky Beer	Scotland	7.0		A fairly unusual style of beer (along the lines of Innis & Gunn cask flavoured ales). An excellent beer but a bit on the pricey side. Great flavours but I guess it will be pretty hard to get here in Australia.
Barney's Beer Volcano IPA	Scotland	5.0		Citrus and other fruit tastes/aromas and balanced malt and hop flavours - not too shabby but something was lacking.
Three Hop Lager	Scotland	4.5		Could not have used too many hops in this one - fairly average Scottish pint.
Cock O' The Walk Red Ale	Scotland	4.3		Not a bad pint consumed at the Central Bar in Leith Walk, Edinburgh.
Hook Norton Twelve Days Ale	England	5.5		A great malty dark ale, with subtle after tastes.
Hook Norton Haymaker	England	5.0		A clean and crisp ale with a good hop/malt balance.
Hook Norton Old Hooky	England	4.6		A great example of a traditional English bitter.
Hepworth Sussex Ale	England	3.5		Not a bad mid strength bitter ale.
Oxfordshire Ales - Pride of Oxford	England	5.0		A pleasant ale in the usual English style - nice hop balance.
Hopback Summer Lightning	England	5.0		Very good golden style ale. Quite a few hops in this one.
Thwaites Wainright Golden Ale	England	4.1		Malt/fruit/hop flavours all well balanced - a good old English pint.
Thwaites Lancaster Bomber	England	4.4		ood hop aromas amd bitterness - I reckon it is a HIT and on target.
Greene King Abbot Ale	England	5.0		Excellent, full bodied traditional English beer.
Greene King IPA Gold	England	4.1		Quite a pleasant draught beer with some citrus hoppiness.
Greene King 1799 Bicentennial Ale	England	6.2		I would have expected better from this brewery.
Greene King Strong Suffolk Vintage Ale	England	6.0		A very pleasant tasting beer - quite complex and a great aroma.
Flack Catcher Bitter	England	4.4		Bulk standard English bitter - hop flavours and a hint of citrus.
Brains S A	England	4.2		A pleasant ale but not really worth the money it costs here.
Brewers Droop	England	5.0		The name is fancier than the beer.
Morland Hen's Tooth	England	6.5		A really true traditional English ale. Excellent.
Morland Old Speckled Hen	England	5.2		A very pleasant traditional English ale, however, totally different to the ales from the north of the country.
Morland Old Golden Hen	England	4.1		Golden ale with decent hop flavours and aroma. Good head retention - very refreshing.
Marston's Single Malt	England	4.2		A really hoppy beer - very good.
Marston's Oyster Stout	England	4.5		A good stout with quite a body - but I am no real fan of stout so don't pay much attention this comment.
Marston's Strong Pale Ale	England	6.2		I would have expected better from Marston's. The head was pretty useless, aromas faint, etc. - all in all not very impressed.
Theakston's Black Sheep Ale	England	4.4		A pleasant traditional English ale. www.theakstons.co.uk
Theakston's Old Peculier	England	5.6		A great dark English ale. www.theakstons.co.uk
Black Sheep Riggwelter Strong Yorkshire Ale	England	5.7		A good traditional Yorshire ale.
Newcastle Brown Ale	England	4.7		The standard in brown ale.
Tetley Pub Ale	England	4.4		A great English ale. This is the next best thing to drinking Tetley's in a real Yorkshire pub.
Samuel Smith's Yorkshire Stingo	England	8.0		A superb strong English ale. The flavours of nutty malts and balanced hops will give you a real kick. So will this ale if you have too many.
Samuel Smith's Organic Wheat Beer	England	5.0		Sorry Sammy but Germany and Belgium beat you hands down on wheat beer.
Portobello Pale Ale	England	4.0		A fairly run of the mill English bitter.
Robinsons Old Tom Ale	England	6.0		Superb English ale. The chocolate gives an added taste to the excellent flavours of this ale.
Boddingtons Pub Ale	England	4.8		The gadget in the inside of these cans really make pouring this beer fun and then just watching the head form is half the pleasure of drinking this fine ale from the north of England.
John Smith's Extra Smooth Bitter	England	4.0		A fairly average English ale style of beer. I must visit the website they advertise on the can. www.drinkaware.co.uk But there again why bother. www.johnsmiths.co.uk
Ruddles County	England	4.7		A very good, traditional English beer which is full of hops.
Badger Tangle Foot	England	5.0		Nothing special but a pleasabt brew. www.badgerbrewery.com
Badger Golden Champion	England	5.0		Another good English ale with a fruity, nutty flavour. www.badgerbrewery.com
Badger Brewery Export	England	4.8		Great tasting traditional English ale. www.badgerbrewery.com
Young's Ram Rod	England	5.0		Nice, pleasant tasting beer. www.badgerbrewery.com
Young's Special London Ale	England	6.4		Quite a strong beer from the UK. Strong malt flavour with plenty of hops. www.badgerbrewery.com
Young's Double Chocolate Stout	England	5.2		Well you certainly smell and taste the chocolate in this little number from Youngs/]. www.badgerbrewery.com
Courage Directors Ale	England	4.8		Used to be an old favourite of mine when I lived in England. A good, bulk standard English bitter. www.badgerbrewery.com
Well's Banana Bread Ale	England	5.2		With a name like this I had to try it! It did have a taste of bananas and was actually quite pleasant. I normally do like fruity beer such as the Belgian raspberry ones - but this was a pleasant change. www.wellsandyoungs.co.uk
Well's Bombardier	England	5.2		Well this is a great English traditional ale - plenty malt flavours and hops with a great colour. www.wellsandyoungs.co.uk
Well's Waggle Dance	England	5.0		A beer with a difference. Quite pleasant for a change with a dry after taste and interesting hop flavours and aromas. www.wellsandyoungs.co.uk
Wychwood Hobgoblin	England	5.2		Quite pleasant English style ale. Good aroma and colour. www.wychwood.co.uk
Wychwood Circle Master	England	4.7		*What's with the "organic"* title? However, an excellent English ale. www.wychwood.co.uk**
Wychwood King Goblin	England	6.6		Excellent ale with nutty/chocolate flavours. Great aroma. www.wychwood.co.uk
Brakspear Bitter	England	3.4		Not too bad for a mid strength ale. Some hops flavour and malt. Don't go out of your way to get it.
Brakspear Special Ale	England	6.7		Just about the same as the Brakspear Bitter but with more body and it needed it.
Brakspear Triple III	England	4.3		An very good, well balanced ale. Hops and fruit flavours and aromas abound. Individually numbered bottles probably puts the price up a bit !
Daleside Morocco Ale	England	5.5		A fairly standard English Ale.
Ringwood Brewery Old Thumper Ale	England	5.1		Quite a reasonable beerr from near where I was staying in Hampshire.
Hogs Back Brewery Traditional English Ale	England	4.2		Traditional English Ale (also known as T.E.A.) - not too bad.
Titanic White Star Ale	England	4.8		Excellent amount of hopping and great flavours from them - citrus and a hint of banana. Golden colour and good head retention and lacing.
Shepherd Neame Spitfire	England	4.5		English ale which is quite pleasant but nothing to get really excited about. www.shepherdneame.co.uk
Shepherd Neame Bishops Finger	England	5.4		They have only been brewing since 1698 so they should have some idea. This is a pleasant English ale with good hops flavour and aroma. www.shepherdneame.co.uk
Shepherd Neame India Pale Ale	England	6.1		Plenty of hops in this one (after aal the grow enough in Kent). Nice copper colour, good head retention and a pleasant sharp bitterness. www.shepherdneame.co.uk
Shepherd Neame Premium Golden Ale	England	4.5		An very good hoppy and fruity golden coloured ale (as the name would suggest) www.shepherdneame.co.uk
Shipsterns's Draught Bitter	England	4.0		Well for an ale from a can it was okay.
Wadworth 6X	England	4.3		An excellent ale. The beer is quite malty but very little taste of hops.
Adnams Broadside Ale	England	6.3		A dark, strong ale with chocolate flavours and a pleasant lingering taste.
Adnams Ghost Ship Ale	England	4.5		Good style traditional English bitter. The history is behind the name is quite interesting - so look it up on th internet.
Jennings Tom Fool Bitter	England	4.0		A normal style English bitter - nothing to get excited about.
Jennings Sneck Lifter (Draught)	England	4.3		A pleasant pint. Now who knows what a Sneck is? I do.
Jennings Sneck Lifter (Bottle)	England	5.1		A pleasant darkish ale. Quite different to the draught version and surprisingly I preferred the bottled version - perhaps just more body to it.
Marston's Evening Glow	England	5.0		A traditional English ale with quite a malty flavour.
Black Sheep Bitter	England	3.0		A traditional English ale which is quite bland.
Dark Horse Bitter	England	4.3		A good traditional English Ale - no great hop taste but at least they are trying to get something different.
Sunny Republic Brewing Co Hop Dog Modern IPA	England	5.5		From a small craft brewery a very good IPA with plenty hop flavours, nice head - all round a good one.
Hampshire Brewery Porky & Best	England	4.5		I couldn't resist the name but the beer was only average.
Hawkshead Red	England	4.2		Local Lake District brew - quite pleasant and malty.
Hawkshead Lakeland Gold	England	4.4		Another brew from Hawkshead Brewery. Quite a malty taste but don't you just love those creamy heads.
Moor Brewery Hoppiness.	England	6.7		As the name suggests a well hopped ale. A bit pricey here in Australia but worth it for the one off tasting. www.moorbeer.co.uk
Moor Brewery Claudia.	England	4.5		A pleasant wheat beer, reasonably hoppy, good aroma, excellent head retention and lacing effect on the glass. A good beer on a warm sunny day. www.moorbeer.co.uk
St Peters Ruby Red Ale	England	4.3		A very good traditional English ale in an interestingly shaped bottle. I enjoyed it but at the price they charge here in Australia it will the last one I buy.
St Peters India Pale Ale	England	5.0		As you would expect a good hop flavour to this ale balanced well with the maltiness. Pleasant but noticeably remarkable.
Partners Ghost Bitter	England	4.5		A fairly bulk standard English bitter but with a hint of citrus flavours.
Coniston Brewery Bluebird Bitter	England	4.2		A brew from Lake District. Not too bad but I reckon Sir Donald Campbell would have preferred some other ales.
Meantime Brewey London Lager	England	4.5		Very pleasant lager a good hop flavour and head retention very good as well with sweet aromas.
Meantime Brewery Shortlist Fool's Gold	England	4.5		Very similar to the brew above.
Mordue Brewery Geordie Pride	England	4.2		From the north of England a pleasant traditional malty ale.
Allendale Brewery Curlew's Return	England	4.2		A standard English bitter with light citrus hints.
Skinner's River Cottage	England	4.0		I enjoyed this English ale - perhaps itwas because I was on a steam train journey near Haworth in Yorkshire. But to be truthful it was just an average ale.
Tetley's Smooth Flow English Bitter	England	3.6		A very good standard English ale with great head retention. I remember many pints of this at the "Shoulder of Mutton" in Dewsbury, Yorkshire.
Tomos Watkin	Wales	4.3		Not a dark ale as usual with English ale/bitter. An orangey sparkling colour with good head retention and an very pleasant hoppy, fruity taste.