Montana/Scotland, I miss brewing so I'm getting my fix here.

Hello all,
I am an engineer (farmer at heart) from Montana. I was just about to start my fifth batch when my wife got into grad school in Scotland. I obviously couldn’t bring all my equipment with me, so I have been looking around for place to get my homebrew fix. You guys seem to fit that bill nicely. Thanks. By they way, I found a homebrew shop her in Scotland. The owner slipped me some of his Pale Ale…YUMMY.

Welcome.

Where abouts in Scotland?

i'm in Edinburgh

If there is a homebrew shop, there has to be a club. Track them down, make a buddy or two and borrow their gear or just offer to buy ingredients and split the batch.

What's the YF studying there?

Thanks for the tip. I talked to the shop owner and plan on going to their next meeting. Apparently there will be an author giving a talk about his new craftbrew book. The wife is studying Public Health.

Where abouts in Montana? I lived in Missoula for about 8 years.

BTW... welcome to the forum

I was born on a barley/wheat farm in the Great Falls area, but lived in Kalispell for the last six years before coming here to Scotland. Missoula...nice place, but I am a Cats fan. I was still sad to hear the griz lost yesterday.

You should try and get to my old local pub (I moved from above it 4 years ago).
John Leslies Bar in Causewayside. Gavin is the manager. It is more commonly refered to as "Leslies Bar". There are two bars of this name in Edinburgh and the other is down Leith - not advisable

They normally have four or five real ales on tap and he always looks after the cellar very well. Malt Whiskey selection is good also.

Edinburgh has the largest number of pubs (was over seven hundred when I was there) per person in Europe. My mate and I used to try a different one each night but it got too complex to remember which ones we had been to and had to go for a beer to think about it.

Just remembered - there is a beer shop called Oats and Toast. You NEED to go there. It is up Lothian Road / Tollcross area. Largest selection of beers in Scotland apparently.

I lived there for nine years so if you have any questions...

Feck I miss the place

Small world, I think I have already been to the John Leslies Bar you mentioned. The wood work in that place is amazing and yes the beer is great. Thanks for the Oats & Toast tip, I will check it out.

Questions......Why in the hell is Jack Daniels and Southern Comfort (not that I don't love Jack) so popular in the land that invented Scotch Wiskey? You'd think the stuff wouldn't even be allowed in the country.

Anyways, this is a great place for good beer. To bad the exchange rate makes me pay $6 for a pint.

fifelee said:

Small world, I think I have already been to the John Leslies Bar you mentioned. The wood work in that place is amazing and yes the beer is great. Thanks for the Oats & Toast tip, I will check it out.

Questions......Why in the hell is Jack Daniels and Southern Comfort (not that I don't love Jack) so popular in the land that invented Scotch Wiskey? You'd think the stuff wouldn't even be allowed in the country.

Anyways, this is a great place for good beer. To bad the exchange rate makes me pay $6 for a pint.

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Yeup that is the one. I used to sit where the bloke in the red jumper is in the photo (brings a tear to my eye!). Watch out for Tuesday though - always had bad jazz on! I spent about 4-5 nights a week in there sitting at the bar chewing the fat with the other locals. sometimes more When I left Scotand to move to Tasmania I had a leaving do from the pub and I was invited around the other side of the bar to basically help myself! That was a good night - my mate asked me which whisky I would like to drink and he bought the bottle for me! A 16 year old malt ;-)
...can you guess I miss the pub?

As for the JD and southern comfort, there is sometimes no accounting for taste.

The Guildford Arms down on Princes Street is handy when the gf / wife is out shopping. Of course the problem then is two pints in the bladder causes a chain reaction - and where else can you go - the pub to the toilet and it would be rude to walk in and not have a beer. Edinburgh is a very dangerous place for this as there are a LOT of pubs.

The horseshoe bar in Glasgow is worth a visit - largest bar in Scotland apparently. Don't order the White Heather though - it is slops :cross: seriously!!!

Cregar said:

Where abouts in Montana? I lived in Missoula for about 8 years.

BTW... welcome to the forum

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My in laws have a place in Victor.

Been to the Hamilton?

Dibby33,
My brother is getting here soon. We will have a pint at Leslies in your honor.

I am so jealous!

I used to live above the fish and chip shop just up the road

Can you tell Gavin (the manager, early 30s ish, has brown hair and a beard) that David from Tasmania says hello. If you want advice on beers he is the man! Also, can you ask him how Nadine and Mel went! They are two of my mates across here and they went on a tour of the UK a couple of months ago and ended up in Leslies and Mel got very drunk!

Nadine would have livened the place up - she is stunning looking and Leslies bar is basically a mans pub - the locals would have been distracted from the TV that is for sure!