So if you are out and about over the weekend and fancy a nice beer, awesome music in great surroundings then The Grog and Gruel is the place to be. Only a limited supply of this great ale is available so try it while you can.
We have only managed to get our hands on a very small number of these bottles, which are individually numbered, and there is already interest in them. At 11% and matured in ex-sherry casks used to mature single Speyside malt, these unique bottles of ale will prove to be a memorable gift for any ale enthusiast. At only £9.95 per 75cl bottle, you won't want to miss out on this rare opportunity to taste part of Heather Ale history.
So for the whole of October we will be selling Traditional Cask Conditioned hand pulled Thatcher's Cider. Although in England Cask Cider is in abundance it very rarely travels North of the border. This is something that is changing and with a 13% increase in cider sales in Scotland this year it seems that it maybe something customers are looking for also. At 6% Thatcher's Heritage Cider has been produced in Somerset for over 100 years on a family farm. Originally made to top up workers wages on the farm and now 100 years later it is available in most Supermarkets and now at the Grog and Gruel.
As hops were not a traditional Scottish crop we see some great beer recipes coming from old Scots recipes and the Picts. These include heather ale, seaweed and blaeberry ale and many more. If you venture into the Grog this week you will be able to sample two great cask ales from old pictish recipes, Fraoch Heather Ale and Isle of Skye "Cuillingorm" a Blaeberry ale.
Half way! The Red Burn with the dreaded 'grassy bank' on the right hand side.
Ok, so its a bit of a way off just yet, but given the antics of bikes without engines last weekend, I reckon its going to be worth seeing what a little petrol power can do. Try visiting the web site and signing up for the news updates.
The atmosphere at The Grog & Gruel was great. Live music provided by Sandra MacBeth and the Shoogle Sisters on both Friday and Sunday nights helped. As did a dazzling array of beers, with the rarely seen William Bros. Grozet (Gooseberry ale) selling faster than hot cakes (and the Venison & Grozet Pie on sale in the restaurant).
The highlight of the weekend was again the men's downhill, but mention should be made of the British Trials Championship too. Whilst that pic above of the chap about to commit cycle suicide by jumping off the log is impressive, spare a thought for the juniors tackling the slightly easier course along side. Big respect!
Great weekend!
I bet their burgers aren't as good as ours!
Speak to any brewer about their operating costs and right up there along with the cost of distribution and the upward pressure on hops and other raw materials will be the cost of kegs. And quite likely the difficulty of acquiring them. So you'd think that most brewers would want them back again pretty sharpish, would you?
Ok, so I'm not really that into writing about why I found this book interesting or otherwise. Far too traumatic as it reminds me too much of English Literature classes at school. What the hell was that Shakespeare bloke on about? And why couldn't he write in proper english like wot I do.
Down to business tho, and the big question is "who is the winner of the best ale of the festival?". As always we allow customers to vote for the beer they enjoy the most over the two weeks. As always the results were surprising especially when the quality and range of ales were the best we've seen here at the Grog. The winner was Kelpie Seaweed ale made by those clever Williams Brothers, with Ben Nevis 80/- coming in a close second. Great to see customers at the Grog are brave enough to try a taste of Seaweed ale. But the end of the beer festival ain't the end of the world and we will be show casing another 9 local cask ales this weekend to wash away your thirst. So pop in and see what we've got to tempt you with.
Visit Broken Picture Telephone and all will be revealed. The name itself means nothing to me. But if you called it Chinese Whispers, then I'd have a better idea as to what this was. Maybe its a regional thing, or perhaps an age thing? Or maybe Chinese Whispers is just plain racist and morally offensive in the 21st century.
The Rowan Cottage Kitchen is a small business based way out west at Newton of Ardtoe (that's just beyond Acharacle and the beach nearby is reason enough to go and visit). They came across to Clachaig last night to meet some of the local B&B businesses at the informal 'gathering' of the trade. Great to meet such enthusiasm for doing business.
As always the Grog & Gruel got top marks for all the ale being served at the time of the random, twice yearly inspection. This is no surprise as we are consistently checking the ales for consistent high quality in-house. Why not pop in for a pint and put us to the test yourself??
My own personal favourite is also included in the line up. Kelpie Seaweed ale from Williams Brothers is also making an appearance. In addition to the seaweed (Bladder rack) harvested on the Argyll coast, they have also used organically grown malt. Kelpie is a rich chocolate ale which has an aroma of fresh seabreeze and a distinctive malty texture. How many of you will be brave enough to try a Seaweed Ale??
Rememer..we'll even let you taste the ale before you buy a pint. It all starts on Thursday so don't be late or risk missing some of these great ales.
Note that we're running a 'corny caption contest' based on our general pie theme. Our graphics chap has set the bar with his stunningly bad 'somewhere over the rainbow wae a pie..." (think about it a little). So if you fancy wining some Grog & Gruel goodies, including a slap up meal for 2, then let us have your (truly terrible) pie slogan. The pie's the limit!
SIBA, the society of independent brewers, had their annual gathering recently (p*** up, breweries, etc.....?!) and announced that their volumes are up 10%. Very much against the trend of the drinks industry as a whole in the current climate.
To sample her work check out her myspace site http://www.myspace.com/sandramacbeth or check out her song "Moon Eyes" on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmlXftHAyNc, the full video was too big to upload here. She is the favoured artist on my ipod at the moment. So if you wanna have an exceptional evening of great ale, a hearty pie and some of the best music around you know where to be on the 2nd of April.
At the moment we are building our friends list and we need more folk to add us. To see our myspace site go to http://www.myspace.com/grogngruel. To access our Bebo site go to http://www.bebo.com/The_Grog. Both will be updated along with the website and blog by our e-marketing department. We hope this will mean a lot more folk will be able to keep in touch with us in the way they prefer, and remember to keep in contact with your friends while on the move why not stop at the Grog for a pint and use of our free unlimited WIFI?
We have even found knowledgeable and fully qualified local celebrities to host the evenings In exchange for a few pints and a good feed. Folk will do some crazy things for a pint of ale and a good Grog n Gruel pie.
Although the band were happy to travel up to keep the gig they had with us it would be a huge expense to them for a small gig. I tried to chat to other venues to fill the empty dates but few folk will get involved in such last minute bookings, especially in this economic climate. Well at least my dancing shoes are ready for the next time they are needed.
If we were to listen to local and national reports we wouldn't be so optimistic however it has never been our way to follow trends but to set them. If the credit crunch is getting you down then there has never been a better time to raise your spirits with a pint of cask ale and a nachos. Maybe some of our optimism will rub off !
Not my idea, but it makes sense to me. So, come on, you know it makes sense too!
January midweeks are very quiet here on the High Street, and having sorted out the kitchen and got on top of all the cleaning and maintenance, now's the time to have a bit of fun getting all creative. Well, time to have a bit of fun anyway.
The new altro floor and a very shiney kitchen.
So, doom, gloom recession, lack of Woolies on the High Street and all that, but we seem to have bucked the trend and had our own little oasis of prosperity at The Grog & Gruel. For one week at least!
The kitchen is closed for a few days so that we can replace the floor covering and give it a bit of a makeover. Its now nearly 13 years since we last gave it a complete overhaul and, despite being an incredibly hard worked area, it has stood the test of time well. This essential work is sound investment and will undoubtedly help to keep our already high standards high. Unfortunately, as we need access to the entire floor area in the kitchen and wash-up areas, the sink is now in the restaurant, the griddle is on table 7 and no one has seen the fridge since Sunday. Normal service will be resumed shortly!
