Hot Festive drinks.

So finally I put up the decorations in the bar. Before folk started calling us "Bar Humbug". Now full of festive cheer its time to unveil the Grog and Gruel Hot Winter drinks selection, made from the very best quality ingredients to old Grog and Gruel recipes.

You can choose between either our hot mulled wine or our warming hot toddy. Both guaranteed to keep you warm on the coldest of days. Both are available in the bar and the restaurant and will be available until the warm weather returns. Well worth popping in for.

Winter opening

As usual Winter is creeping up on us. The nights are getting darker. The mornings are getting colder and you can already see crazy people putting up Christmas Decorations. Another Summer has passed us by in a flash and the time to hibernate is upon us. Although you may think that this means it is time for The Grog and Gruel to completely switch off you'd be wrong. It's time for all the maintenance jobs, staff training, menu reviewing and planning for next year to take place.

As a lot of this cannot take place during trade we will be closing on quieter trading nights. So from Nov 8th till Dec 17th we will be closed all together on Sundays. This is great for staff morale as we now can all watch antiques roadshow together. From November 8th till Dec 17th the restaurant will only be open Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Unless we have prior knowledge of a Christmas booking. Food will be available as usual from Noon till Nine in our Alehouse and closing time in our alehouse will be dependant on trade. So the more customers we have the later we will open (nudge, nudge).

This should not have a dramatic affect on our customers as the changes have been made after analysis of trade and after we have a few very quiet nights playing "Win, Lose or Draw" with customers. To view our opening hours for The Christmas/festive period click here.

And the award goes to ....

Things seem so bleak just now, global recession, costs rising, and a dwindling Fort William High Street dwindling. Good news items are few and far between. Imagine my delight when I received word that The Grog and Gruel had become "CAMRA pub of the year Fort William and Lochaber 2009". The award is voted for by CAMRA members for pubs who are dedicated to the highest quality cask conditioned ale sold in the best quality surroundings. As this years has seen more entries to the competition and a lot more votes it really is something to be proud of.


So how did we manage to win such a prestigious award? Well, we rely on the top quality Highland ales from our local suppliers. An alehouse can only be as good as the ale it sells. Luckily we are surrounded by great brewers working hard to provide great ales for our cellar. We work closely with the local breweries giving feedback and taking suggestions so a good partnership is created and the ale being sold is in the top notch quality. We have also been graced with good staff working hard to keep and serve ale in the best possible condition.


Finding new ways of selling cask ale is also something which we work tirelessly on. This April will see our first Easter 'Pint & a Pie' festival. We take the finest local cask ales, add some great music and entertainment, and create a great selection of tasty and imaginative pies and from this a festival is born. This is just one of the ways we hope to tempt customers to go for a pint in Lochaber newly crowned "Pub of the year 2009"... woot !!

Probably The Worst Decision in the World

Last week it was announced that in 2011 Carlsberg UK plan to close its iconic Tetley Brewery in Leeds. Independant consumer group Camra are reeling, blaming Carlsberg for failing to promote this epic ale in a time when interest in cask ale is booming.

Although questioned by many locals The Grog and Gruel, and its manager, have always been proud to supply Tetley's on draught and have done so for the past 14 years. Rarely do we pick ales outside our local area, even more rare is picking an ale from south of the border. In order to provide Highlanders with a true 'classic' Bitter it is necessary to take a trip to the ionic waters of Englandshire. We have in the past featured other famous bitters.. Ind Coope Burton, Greene King IPA, Marston Pedigree to name a few.

Though when most breweries merge, increase/decrease business size or change the nature of their business, the main priority is to keep the brewing done in the original site. Carlsberg seem not to see this as important. CAMRA is seeking a meeting with Carlsberg in order to discuss the future of Tetley's cask ales. We will keep you informed.

Winter Opening Hours

Due to the decline in trade we will be reducing our opening hours at The Grog and Gruel. The cold dark nights are upon us. The tourists have gone home, and locals will be watching their pennies for Christmas and with recent economic downturn our quiet winter nights are proving even quieter.

As we always have in the past we will be closing on Sundays. This gives us a chance to carry out essential maintenance and staff training that would not be able to be carried out with customers in the building. In addition our restaurant will stay closed on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

It's not all doom and gloom though. The Alehouse will continue to keep the same hours for food and drink Monday to Saturday, maybe the odd early night for those occasions when even locals wouldn't venture out. Although we will reduce our number of cask ales on tap we still have a great range of cask ales coming in the next few weeks...including Seven Giraffes, Tradewinds and Red Squirrel ale. Also some good deals on malt whisky.

If you find yourself in need of a nacho on a Sunday, remember the Clachaig Inn is only a short drive away.