Brand New Ales At The Grog

May is a good month for cask ale. A wonderful range of seasonal ales are on offer from our local Highland breweries to add to their usual listings. One of these to be featured this week is White Lady wheat beer from Cairngorm brewery. A classic light bodied session bitter. This copper coloured beer has a delicate malt flavour and a hint of caramel from crystal grains. It is traditionally bittered with Goldings and has a dry slightly spicy finish. It's proving very popular even for a wheat beer.


To add to our great range of ales this week we also have Hebridean Gold from Isle of Skye Brewery. A distinctively different ale, brewed with porridge oats for exceptional smoothness, with a deep and creamy head.

Both ales are selling extremely well so worth popping down to The Grog and Gruel before we sell 'oat' !!

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!

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!