| real ale | lambic/fruit & faro | flemish red | abbey | trappist | draught |

Scottish, Belgian and English Real Ales  

On our specials board you will find 4 real ales in the summer and 3 in the winter months. I support mainly Scottish micro brewerys helping to keep alive the small revolution of brewing in Scotland. However some of the more established English brands are often available.

Beer is often seen as a poor substitute to wine for dining with. Infact brewing is a far more complex process than wine making. The flavours produced, some 400, are far more diverse than wine and often compliment food far better whilst being more refreshing .

I believe "Beer is to dine for" and can accompany any dish in a restaurant. Even the glass ware has been chosen carefully for each beer from long flutes to wide rimmed goblets, allowing the unique aromas and flavours to be savoured.

Below you will find over 30 international beers from Rich robust Trappist to champagne like Faro's. I hope you will give one a try and I'm sure you will be very surprised.

Our full beer list is at the bottom of the page - click here to review an savour

Lambic/Fruit & Faro Ales  

FRANK BOON
Frank Boon is relatively new to Lambics having started blending in 1975, when he took over the defunct De Vits brewery. He has brought new life to the craft, developing a reputation as a daring traditionalist, his lambics having great complexity.

BOON GUEUZE 6.5% abv LAMBIC BEER 375ml
A clean tasting slightly sweet unfiltered gueuze, with a soft floweriness of rhubarb like aroma.

LIEFMANS KRIEK 6.5% abv FRUIT BEER 375ml
Once a year the brewery adds cherries to some of its brown ale and allows further fermentation. The finished product is deliciously smooth dark and distinctive with a sweet/sour flavour. A lovely brewery making truly great beers that take years to mature before being let out of the brewery.

LIEFMANS FRAMBOZEN 4.5% abv FRUIT BEER "NOW ON DRAUGHT"
A remarkable speciality beer made with pressed raspberries added to six month old brown ale. After 8 months of maturation the beer is filtered and becomes frambozen. A beer of real depth of flavour and a truly special sweet/sour taste. Even after bottling it is kept in cellars before it is released. A marvellous fruity experience

LINDEMANS
An independent lambic brewer in the hands of the eighth generation of the family to make lambic beers. Originally a farm, the brewery has recently doubled its capacity to cope with export demand.

LINDEMANS FARO 4.0% abv LAMBIC BEER 375ml
Champagne like, darkish, filtered and sweetened Lambic beer making it a good thirst quencher.

Speciality Beers

GULDEN DRAAK 10.5% abv SPECIALITY BEER 330ml
Powerful dark ale in a painted bottle. Golden dragon in English is more like herbal medicine!

JAN VAN GENT 5.5% abv SPECIALITY BEER 330ml
From Liefmans brewery, which is surely enough pedigree. a Belgian style ale with an orangey colour. Unfiltered and refreshing.

HOEGAARDEN GRAND CRU 8.7% abv SPECIALITY BEER 330ml
From the makers of Hoegaarden witbier, De Kluis, this beer has similar spicing - curacao orange peel and coriander. Aromatic and light in colour.

 LA CHOUFFE 8.0% abv SPECIALITY BEER 750ml.
From the small village Achouffe in the Ardennes this is a micro brewery success story. So what is a chouffe? A red hatted, long- bearded gnome that's a part of local folklore. The beer is just excellent! Spiced with coriander it's immensely drinkable and full of character. Only available in dated champagne bottles.

MCCHOUFFE 8.5% abv SPECIALITY BEER 750ml.
Inspired by a Scottish friend of the brewers this is a full, rich, warming brew with loads of character. The bearded gnome, which is the brewery logo is kilted in deference to that.

DE KONINCK 5.0% abv BELGIAN ALE 330ml
An outstanding copper coloured ale produced in the city of Antwerp. A fruity distinctive ale similar to alt bier and the diamond city's only brewery. Sparkling with taste and velvety smooth - ask for a bolleke of it!

GOUDEN CAROLUS CLASSIC 8.0% abv STRONG DARK ALE 330ml
An old established classic. The name refers to Charles the Fifth. This is a powerful distinctive dark beer - ideal as a nightcap or with chocolate dishes.

KUPPERS KOLSCH 4.8% abv GERMANY 500ml.
There are more than a dozen breweries in Cologne all specialising in the local style of beer. A pale golden aromatic ale with a delicate flavour. The brewers association has protected this style with an "appelation" and so this can only be produced in the city. The style is subtle rather than dramatic.

DUVEL 8.5% abv BELGIUM 330ml.
Today, the Duvel Moortgat , founded in 1871, is an independent producer of authentic speciality beers. Around the world, Moortgat is considered to be the leading producer of blond, bottle conditioned, high fermentation beers. Duvel, the classic strong golden ale with a large creamy head. A subtle fruitiness and distinctive delicate taste will lead you into temptation. One of the world's great beers, Duvel means devil in Flemish and it is certainly sinfully deceptive - light in body, pale in colour.

UNIBROUE, QUEBEC The French language on the labels of this beer is not from Belgium but Montreal, The Unibroue micro brewery make Belgian style beers of great character. It received initial consultancy from riva of Flanders.

RAFTMAN 5.5%abv QUEBEC 330ml
Brewed with whisky malt which combines well with smooth flavours of a choice yeast. It has a subtle and exceptional bouquet with creates a persistent smooth taste.
 

Flemish Red Ale  

RODENBACH probably no other brewery specialises so much in such an unusual product. A national treasure! The definitive example of Flanders red beer. Aged for two years in huge brandy casks there are 300 of these vessels - all uncoated oak - each containing up to 60,000 litres. This is unique in the world and helps give the sour, tart red colour and very unusual colour.

RODENBACH 5.0% abv FLEMISH RED ALE 250ml
A blend of fully matured and young beer - sweet and sour flavour with a certain sharpness.

RODENBACH GRAND CRU 6.0% abv FLEMISH RED ALE 330ml
The fully matured beer with a powerful bouquet and taste. Highly distinctive! 

Abbey Ales  

ST. BERNARDUS at Watou is in the heart of the Belgian hop growing area. It's beers are very malty however! These are licensed beers from Westvleteren the Trappist abbey.

ST. BERNARDUS PRIOR 8.0% abv ABBEY BEER 330ml
Fruity and a little more acidic. Warming finish.

ST. BERNARDUS ABT 12.0% abv ABBEY BEER 330ml
Revered brew - immensely full bodied rich and creamy.

KARMELIET TRIPEL 8.0% abv ABBEY BEER 330ml
Made by the small brewery Bosteels, the makers of Kwak, this is a new beer made unusually using three types of grain. It's wonderfully smooth and aromatic. The Carmelites apparently made a three grain beer in the 1600's and the recipe was stumbled on by accident. The three grains are barley, wheat and oats in both raw and malted forms. Styrian hops, a generous spicing and the fruity character of the house yeast make a complex beer with a light crisp and lemon dryness.

CORSENDONK - The abbey founded in 1398 at Turnhout near the Dutch border has been renovated as a conference centre, whilst before closing in 1784 it still brewed beer. The beers are the creation of the Keersmaekers family, who have been involved in Belgian brewery for generations.

CORSENDONK AGNUS 8.0% abv ABBEY BEER 330ml
A strong golden perfumey beer in the triple style well packaged. Often known as "Monk's Pale". This beer has considerable finesse with is clean body.

Trappist Ales  

WESTMALLE is in the province of Antwerp and the Trappist abbey here inspired a category of beer known as triple - probably the most sought after single trappist beer. A wide variety of hops are used which give the beers a dry complex flavour.

WESTMALLE TRIPLE 9.0% abv TRAPPIST ALE 330ml
Wonderfully herby elaborate beer. Lemon like zesty flavours complements the pale colour and dense rocky head.

WESTMALLE DUBBEL 7.0% abv TRAPPIST ALE 330ml
Fruity with a red brown colour. Flavours of raisins and chocolate from the dark malts but still refreshing on the finish.

ORVAL 6.2 % abv TRAPPIST ALE 330ml
The name means Golden Valley. The Trappist abbey was founded in 1070 when Countess Mathilda of Tuscany lost a gold ring in the local lake. She pledged that if it were returned she would thank God by building an abbey. A trout returned the ring! Hence the beer label. An intensely bitter orangey coloured ale with three fermentations.

Even by Trappist monk standards ROCHEFORT is withdrawn! This has led to these beers being the least well-known Trappist. however despite it's hard to find Ardennes location the beers are rich, dense individual brews.

ROCHEFORT 8 9.2% abv TRAPPIST ALE 330ml
Dry but rich with sweet tea and fig notes to complement the aromatic fullness.

ROCHEFORT 10 11.3% abv TRAPPIST ALE 330ml
Drink this with chocolate. A fruity spicy mocha flavoured classic.

CHIMAY is the best known and biggest Trappist brewery. The beers "set the standard" for Trappist beers. First brewed in 1861 Chimay was the first to sell its beers commercially. They also introduced the designation Trappist.

CHIMAY GRANDE RESERVE 9.0%abv TRAPPIST ALE 750ml
The strongest Chimay brew. Fruity becoming smoother as the years go by. It is in fact vintage dated. Rich with port like flavours. Try it with full flavoured cheeses.

CHIMAY WHITE CAP TRIPPLE 8.0%abv TRAPPIST ALE 330ml
White Cap is a lighter coloured beer in the triple style. Delicate balance of bitter and fruit flavours.

On Draught  

On Draught we also have speciality beers

Erdinger Weissbier
Established in 1886, Erdinger Weissbier is synonymous for Bavarian wheat beer. Located in the heart of Bavaria, in the town of Erding, the beer is traditionally matured to create a crisp, fresh and sparkling character.

LIEFMANS FRAMBOZEN 4.5% abv FRUIT BEER NOW ON DRAUGHT ½ pnt
A remarkable speciality beer made with pressed raspberries added to six month old brown ale. After 8 months of maturation the beer is filtered and becomes frambozen. A beer of real depth of flavour and a truly special sweet/sour taste. Even after bottling it is kept in cellars before it is released. A marvellous fruity experience.

Our List of Beers

  Real Ales on Draught

We have a fine selection of real ales from Scotland and England.

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