There is more than just whisky on Islay, and that’s a good thing. Last week, I took a stroll down a tree-lined lane to an unassuming courtyard. The courtyard contains the renovated buildings from an estate’s farm. Today, it houses a little gift shop, chocolate shop, tailor, art gallery and…brewery. Yes, a brewery!
It’s smaller than my cottage at Persabus, but makes up for it with big, bitter, bold tastes of some wonderful brews. Most Scottish beer is rather light for my palate, so it’s no surprise that the Islay Ales brewery www.islayales.com is run by two Englishmen, Paul and Paul, who transplanted themselves to Islay a few years ago. The English are known for their bitter and hoppy beers.
Neither Paul nor Paul had any beer experience at all, aside from drinking it. But, they knew what they liked, researched, talked with experts and did a little training. The result is fantastic, with seven different brews to choose from. Most of the beer is sold to tourists in several of the island’s pubs, as the natives tend to stick with their familiar canned beer. It’s no different than most Americans drinking Miller or Bud rather than mircobrews.
So, if you make it to Islay and think that you want a little change of pace from all the wonderful whisky, know that you have some options!