Friends of Nevis

A quick thank you from the Friends of Nevis to The Grog and Gruel for being the top fund raiser in the town. But it's not us that should be thanked, it's our customers! So, thanks!

Path repairs 25ooft up a mountain don't come cheap!

Apparently the total to the beginning of June from the bar top collections and trolley token donations is a fairly substantial £617.70 (plus 10 Euros!) Here's a quick note from FoN:

Please pass on my thanks to your team there, because it is definitely the attitude and enthusiasm in promoting/placing the items that really helps. So many times I have been into other outlets to find our leaflets and/or boxes are either under the counter or shoved behind stuff in a corner!

Well, no point doing something if you're not going to do it well. And we're glad to help. Ben Nevis is Fort William's biggest asset. We'd dread to think of the town without it, so it seems only natural that we'd choose to get behind something that helps to protect that asset for now and for future generations.

So, thanks to everyone who's donated. And if you haven't already, see the FoN web site for more easy ways to help out, not all of which involve cash!

Quiz night results

Another great evening of cask ale and intellectual jousting at The Grog and Gruel last night as another quiz night was held as part of our Easter Ale Festival. Quiz mistress Dr Jacqui Hill was hosting the evening and, after a few half pints of ale and a Wild Boar Chilli, she was in fine form. We had 10 teams in all, including last years winners and reigning champions "The Guessers" and a team of about 12 students from Lochaber College.

So.. what did we learn?? Well, The teletubby with the hat is Dipsy, A laxton Superb is an apple NOT a laxative,and Elvis Presley was did infact die at age 42 and is NOT still alive. Well done to all those who took part especially to the winners "The Guessers", runners up "Trumpton Fire Brigade" and a special round of applause for the 12 Lochaber college students who came in 3rd place (even after trying to use mobiles to get answers)

Our next quiz night will be held as part of our mid summer ale festival.

Opening Up or Closing Down ??

How can you tell it is getting into the busier trade season in Fort William? Judging by the snow it's certainly not the warmer weather. The easiest way is to look for the shops which open for the season with closing down sales. Like a blot on the landscape.

Everyday of every month of every year there is some kinda of sale on. I too find it hard to understand. Opening a business with damaged stock seems like a very poor business decision. In some small way I suppose its better than having another empty premises, but not by much. So far they have not stuck balloons on the front of the building, which only make it look worse. For anyone wanting to buy quality outdoor equipment (undamaged) in Fort William Ellis Brigham and Nevisport are well worth a visit.

Japanese Whisky ?

With over 70 bottles of single malt whisky on the shelves at The Grog and Gruel, we try to feature whisky from every area available. As whisky gets a lot of its flavour from the water of the area it is produced in, regional variations give each whisky a distinct unique flavour. We have a couple bottles of Irish whisky hidden away for those who wish to drink whisky from our celtic cousins and now we have a Japanese whisky available also.



YAMAZAKI single malt whisky is made from the purest natural ingredients distilled through the art of Japanese craftsmanship in perfect harmony with nature. The whiskies are handcrafted at Japan’s oldest distillery, built by Suntory founder Shinjiro Torii in 1923. The distillery is situated in the Vale of Yamazaki on the outskirts of Kyoto, an ideal environment for whisky production where the same exceptionally pure waters used in Japan’s most esteemed tea ceremonies are used to produce YAMAZAKI whiskies.



So if you are looking for a good dram in Fort William, The Grog and Gruel is the place to go. Choose from our massive selection of great Scottish whisky or for something more unusual, why not try Japanese whisky?? Maybe one day we'll be brave enough to stock English whisky too (but probably not :))

Going, going, gone...

Having seen the race conditions on Saturday we're surprised that the runners didn't come into the Alehouse all asking for warming cups of tea and hot chocolate. It was a bit wild up there!


But no, the bar was packed with plenty of tales of 30 mph winds, lashing rain and perhaps one of the stormier days on Ben Nevis this year. And rather than tea, it was our special Ben Nevis Race Ale that was the tipple of choice. Made exclusively for The Grog & Gruel by those talented folk at the Isle of Skye Brewery, we quickly sold 3 barrels of the stuff. And if you fancy a taste then you'd better be quick as its likely to be completely sold out by the end of the day.

So, another year over for the Ben Nevis Race. Nice to see so many familiar faces, including that of a certain victorious runner from Yorkshire who may well have been first across the line, but was the last to leave the pub!

Ben Nevis Race Weekend

Are you ready for it? Well, chances are that if you're not ready now then you won't ever be ready for the annual Ben Nevis Race this Saturday.

Half way! The Red Burn with the dreaded 'grassy bank' on the right hand side.

We're expecting to see a fair few Ben runners through the doors over the weekend so there'll be plenty of pasta available on Friday night and plenty of our special Ben Race Ale on Saturday night.

Good luck everyone!

Good bye Easter !!

So Easter is well and truly over. Everyone is back to school or work and all the chocolate is gone. Fort William saw a very busy time in Fort William with a great spell of good weather, even some Ben Nevis sunburn victims were recorded. Easter also saw a record number of pints and pies sold at our "Pint and a Pie" Festival. The pies proved so popular we found ourselves having to place emergency pastry orders.
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.

Quiz Night Announced !!

Yes indeed !! We have finally confirmed our quiz nights for the weeks over Easter,during our "pie n a pint" Ale festival. On Tuesday April 7th and on Tuesday April 14th we will be featuring quiz nights as part of our Easter celebrations. Probing questions are being stolen from various sources as I type on a whole range of topics.

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.

We have so many amazing prizes, yet to be confirmed, we couldn't list them all here. We can however guarantee that it is well worth popping along.

As always these are evenings in the Grog and Gruel are not to be missed. A great selection of cask ales, top notch food, and great company.... But will any of you be able to beat the local yacht club quiz team. The local "egg heads"....best start revising now.

What's wrong with Daddy...?

Another Ben Nevis Race over! If you haven't run one then you might not understand the feeling. But you might have a good guess. Regardless of how much training and preparation you put in before hand (usually nowhere near enough in my case), the pressure of race day just gets to you. Maybe its the thought of the finish line. Invariably, flat out on the grass writhing about with cramp shooting through the legs, feeling like you've just done 10 rounds with a sumo wrestler, with your hands tied behind your back. Blindfolded. No wonder my children are now banned from the finish line. Too many, "What's wrong with daddy? Why is his face all green?" questions.


But not so this year. I actually had quite a good race, feeling vaguely human even at the end. Near perfect conditions for 2008 and a record number taking to the hill.

Still, another year over. And seems that I wasn't the only one who enjoyed the weekend. The restaurant at The Grog & Gruel was packed on Friday night with demand for Adam's homemade pasta reported to be high (worked for me!) and the Alehouse was jumping on Saturday evening with the Ben Race Ale lasting till very nearly the end of the session.

Ben Nevis Race 2008

Not long now till the 2008 Ben Nevis Race. Some of us are in the final stages of training, fine tuning those highly trained muscles in preparation for 1pm on Saturday 6th September. And some of us are just starting our training, having realised that yet another summer has flashed past and we really ought to stretch those legs before race day.


The Grog & Gruel's long association with the Ben Nevis Race in Fort William will continue this year. No doubt the bar will be packed full of anxious looking wiry types wearing Ron Hills on Friday night, all looking for some carbo loading with our fresh pasta and perhaps a pint (but no more!) of our special Nevis Race Ale. Brewed especially for the occasion by our friends at the Isle of Skye Brewery, we reckon there'll be a few more pints sold on Saturday evening!

Are you a friend of Nevis?

Its that time of year again when the slopes of Ben Nevis get a real pounding. This weekend saw various groups (as in dozens of mini buses) arrive in town and take on the challenge of 'the Ben', with many going on to do the '3 peaks' in 24 hours. The weather was generally very kind again (lots and lots of that recently!) and so hopefully everyone had a great 5 or 6 hours on Britain's highest.


I would get all pompous about it and say the challenge of the 3 peaks is as much about the driving as it is about the peaks - Ben Nevis, Scafell and Snowdon... but the only reason I know this is because I've done it too! A few years ago I might add. And I'll be dashing up and down the Ben often enough this summer in preparation for the Ben Nevis Race on 6th September.

So instead, we'll keep on fundraising for the Friends Of Nevis
(see our blog entry 14th May) And we're pleased to note that it hasn't taken long to raise £54 at The Grog & Gruel, Fort William's favourite pub and restaurant, with similar amounts coming from the collections at Clachaig Inn, Glencoe.

Friends Of Nevis

Nothing quite like a great pint after a hard day trekking up and down Ben Nevis!

Well, happy as we are to Britain's highest mountain on our doorstep it does tend to get a bit of a hammering every year. So here's your chance to join the Friends of Nevis and help to support and manage Ben Nevis and the surrounding Nevis area.

The Nevis Partnership have recently established the Friends of Nevis web site - so why not take a peek just now.

This precious and unique environment includes mountains, wild land, glen and river Nevis and a range of visitor facilities such as a visitor centre and numerous low and higher level walks.

Ben Nevis and its surroundings mean a great deal to a large number of people from all over the world. Protecting the area, whilst making it accessible and pleasurable to visit, is a real challenge and Friends of Nevis can help through subscribing, donating or contributing time and resources on a range of practical projects such as path maintenance, wildlife monitoring, fundraising etc.

Photo courtesy of Friends of Nevis

And when next at The Grog & Gruel, you can throw your loose change into our bar top collection boxes, or perhaps buy a branded 'Friends of Nevis' trolley token.