Bridalezillas Wedding Extravaganza...

There was a wedding a few weeks back, which gave rise to that proud and noble institution, the bridale or wedding-ale.

As the tale goes in that great Finnish epic 'The Kalevala', the bridale must be brewed before the wedding feast - (Chapter 20, Slaughtering an Ox and Brewing), so at the beginning of August, our last brew of Inkie Pinkie for this summer was decreed as the Bridale for your humble correspondent's wedding to the Lovely Lady Arlene.

On the Day Itself, There was The Exchange of Vows, The Cutting of The Cakes (Dundee Cake on the flashing cake-stand and a Chocolate Sponge for the youngsters)  and perhaps the most vital ceremony of all, since there is brewing in the blood - The Tapping of The Cask, complete with tap-bearing bride and mallet-wielding groom being marched around the hall by the Pipe-Major before the happy deed was done.

With a certain ivory dress in close proximity it's a good thing I've had plenty of experience at putting in cask taps...

A Bonnie Bride, a Delicious Bridale and a Great Cèilidh!

Slàinte

Ken

Atholl Highlanders charge for a pint!

The Atholl Gathering took place on the last Sunday in May at Blair Castle under glorious sunshine, after the showers and gusty winds had disappeared. The last fully-armed private army in Europe, the Duke of Atholl's very own Atholl Highlanders, were on parade on the Highland Games field with the Pipes and Drums and their two-pounder field gun. The firing of the field gun at 1pm opened the games with a big bang. The annual Atholl Highlanders' Race (above) was great fun with your friendly neighbourhood brewer running as fast as he could to get to the firkin of Inkie Pinkie. I must confess I wasn't in the top quartile, but at least I wasn't in the last either, though I did win the rifle shooting trophy, beaing the gamekeepers and regular shooters! The beer went down rather quickly, we think it was something to do with the double quick tempo of the Atholl Highlanders march being played by Pipe Major...

The Highlanders continued the entertainment with a relay race between the Officers, Pipeband and Rifle Company, a very interesting Foursome Reel by a quartet of Officers, the Sword Dance from a trio of Jocks and finally a Tug o' War between the Band and the Rifle Company. A grand day out for all and washed down nicely with a pint or two of very tasty beer. Hope to see you there next year at Blair Castle on the last weekend in May.

Slàinte, Ken

Here Comes Summer!

To quote the mighty Undertones, a fave band of mine from the late 70's, 'Here comes Summer...' And to make it even better we've been brewing up plenty of our lovely summer session bevvy, the glorious Inkie Pinkie, as seen above in Greyfriars Bar near me in Perth last weekend. Only a dodgy mobile phone snap, but the beer was FAB!

Whistles whetted and feeling the desire for some summer sun, the Lady Arlenka and I headed over to the West Coast for some well deserved blue sky and high winds near Tarbert where those gorgeous Flowers of Scotland, the Bluebells (another fine band) were welcoming in the summer with relish. Perfect time for a pint of Inkie Pinkie? Mmm...

Back in Perth the next day it was time to strip down the boiler ready for its summer inspection by the Fat Controller. If ever you want to know what Thomas the Tank Engine looks like on the inside, look below now...

A big blue box with hundreds of tubes full of water that is boiled by flames (behind the blue section below) to create steam in the upper section, whence it is piped away to wheel-driving cylinders (in Thomas' case) or to steam jackets (in ours) to heat up water in the Hot Liquor Tank or wort in the Brew Kettle. Everything was in fine fettle for the inspection, so once the boiler was put back together the regulator was cranked up to full steam ahead and brewing began again to keep the summer drinkers happy. Toot Toot!

Steam whistling merrily from the very happy boiler with the very happy brewer whistling merrily away inside, very much looking forward to his pint of Inkie Pinkie. Slàinte, Ken