Tryst Blàthan

ABV: 4%
Origin: Larbert, Falkirk, Scotland
Website: http://www.trystbrewery.co.uk

This is an expanded review of a beer that featured as a fruit beer on the bottled beer review page in the August 2010 issue of BEER magazine, sent free every quarter to CAMRA members, who can also view it online. The magazine is also available in selected newsagents.

Tryst Blàthan

Hops and ale yeasts can lend beers flowery notes, so adding real flowers seems a logical step. The perfumed but refreshingly spicy flavour of elderflower, already indelibly associated with balmy British summer days, makes a good match for quenching golden beers, and one of the best such uses is in this magnificently engineered example from excellent Scottish brewer Tryst, based near Falkirk in the Forth Valley. The name, pronounced BLAH-hun, means “little blossom” in Gaelic, reflecting the inclusion of Scottish flowers alongside a single hop, Challenger.

The beer is a pale delicate gold and lively with a thick fine white head. A rich elderflower aroma has crisp hop and lemon notes, leading to a complex but refreshing palate, with a notable weight of pale malt that recalls a Belgian blond. The spicy elderflower notes are beautifully matched with nicely bitterish hops, some sweetish fruit and a hint of toast. A hoppy finish has a slightly floury, bready quality, finally turning quite bitter, chewy and peppery. An ideal al fresco ale.

Buy this beer from AlesbyMail.com as part of a special pack containing all the beers featured on my beer review page in BEER this month. BEER readers receive a special discount by entering the voucher code shown in the magazine.

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Read more about this beer at ratebeer.com: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/tryst-blathan/98788/