Originally published in BEER January 2007
ABV: 4.6 and 5 per cent
Origin: Bridgend, Islay (Argyll and Bute)
Buy from: Brewery (tel 01496 810014), local outlets, specialists
Website: www.islayales.com
Islay Ales Ardnave Ale and Single Malt Ale
I never really “got” whisky until I tasted the pungent, peaty single malts of the Isle of Islay, the southernmost of the Hebrides and the former seat of the Lord of the Isles. So I was delighted to encounter the products of the island’s only brewery, an Anglo-German-run micro launched in 2003.
Supplying craft-brewed bottled ales alongside cask makes real sense in this relatively remote but well-visited location. Islay Ales’ beers trade on the local Celtic heritage and are available in a range of key local outlets including hotels and restaurants.
The brewery – Leann an Ile in Gaelic – boasts a range unusually wide for a small micro hand bottling its beers, and every bottle in the selection I tried, from light session beer Finlaggan Ale to dark and substantial 7.1 per cent Ballinaby Ale, had something to say for itself.
One standout was Ardnave Ale, named after Ardnave Point at the north end of Loch Gruinart. This characterful and refreshing bitter is made from pale malt and “small amounts” of crystal, with four hop varieties – Goldings, Mount Hood, Fuggles and Styrian Goldings.
It’s a warm rich amber with a thick pinkish white head and a pungent, slightly sulphurous aroma with cream and mineral notes. A fruity, biscuity palate is distinctive and unusual, with mineral and complex blackcurrant notes.
The long slightly nutty finish has peppery notes and a hint of ashy roast and, if it doesn’t sound too fanciful, a slight whiff of the seaweed note sometimes found in the island’s whiskies.
There’s an obvious whisky link, too, to Single Malt Ale, originally a special for local malt and music festival the Feis Ile. Amarillo and Bramling Cross hops flavour pure pale malt in this deep golden brew with a creamy white head that, perhaps unexpectedly, emphasises hop character at least as much as malt.
A nettly grapefruit and blackcurrant aroma heralds a very fresh and crisp palate with good malt character, toffee notes and plenty of dry grapefruity hops. The rooty, peppery finish is quite stern and astringent, but with soft fruity malt beneath. Sláinte!
Read more about these beers at ratebeer.com:
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/islay-ardnave-ale/51591/
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/islay-single-malt-ale/71980/
Leave a Reply