The Witch Hikers have been out and about testing various local, slow and organic beers, ciders, wines, schnapps and tipples of all guises. Seriously, it’s hard work. I mean, imagine having to drive all that way and only being able to have a small beer before heading back out onto the road? Torture, especially when the weather is good and sunny. But I digress...

The first port of call on this organic booze cruise was Traditional Scottish Ales Brewery (Formerly Bridge of Allan Brewery) which is practically on our doorstep! (at least at the time of writing) We’ve been aware of this brewery for some time, but only recently stumbled upon the fact that they produce three distinct “Flavours of Scotland” organic beers.

Second up on this particular trip was the Black Isle Brewery. Heading North to Inverness, cross the bridge and then turn left. It’s signposted, you can’t miss it. Okay, okay, it’s in the village of Munlochy in the Black Isle, just north of Inverness.

The third and final stop on this trip was Moniack Castle Wineries near Beauly, Inverness-shire. Although Moniack isn’t an organic producer, they take care to source as many of their ingredients from local sources (the bottles come from Glasgow).

Traditional Scottish Ales offers three organic beers from its vessels; Ben Nevis, Glen Coe and Lomond Gold. When I first got my hands on these three beers, I knew instantly which would be my favourite. While the Ben Nevis 80” was deep and malty and the Lomond Gold zesty and citrus, it was the toasted wild oats of the Glen Coe Ale which stole the show with its rich fullbodied flavour, and lightly hopped aftertaste. Sadly, it seems quite tricky to get your hands on these ales as they are stocked locally around Stirling in Tescos, and in other specialist suppliers further afield. Visit the website to peruse stock
and make an order. Nice!

Traditional Scottish Ales Ltd
Unit 7c, Bandeath Industrial
Estate, Throsk, Stirlingshire,
FK7 7NP
T: 01786 817000
W: www.traditionalscottishales.com

The Black Isle Brewery is purely organic, and uses locally grown organic ingredients. With six staple brews, and seasonal varietals like Chocolate beer (6.5%) and Runrig Beat the Drum Ale (4.5%) prove worthy companions to the more traditional beers. For me, the Red Kite (4.5%) and the Porter (4.5%) were the stand out performers, although the chocolate beer was rich and tasty too. For those of us in the South of the country, getting our hands on Black Isle beers may be tricky, although there are a few outlets in Edinburgh. But don’t despair, because you can order online and help to save the planet! Yay! Just head on over to www.blackislebrewery.com and order a mixed case of 20x 500ml bottles for £44.95 delivered anywhere in mainland UK. And if that wasn’t enough, there are discounts on multiple cases and a beer club too!

Black Isle Brewery Ltd
Old Allangrange
Munlochy
Ross-shire
IV8 8NZ
Tel: 01463 811871
Web: www.blackislebrewery.com

Moniack Castle Wineries produce a range of country wines, liquers, schnapps and mead that rely heavily on locally sourced natural ingredients, as well as an impressive range of preserves, chutneys, marmalades and other local goodies. While this doesn’t always mean organic, Moniack are keen to stress slow, local foods and ingredients. From the country wines range, I sampled the Silver Birch wine, as well as the plum and the cherry wine. So what would I choose from here? The Silver Birch wine is better than many a white wine found on the High Street, and is about as perfect a match for Summer barbeques as you’ll find, but my real favourite was the Plum Wine; sweet and powerful. Fantastic! Sadly, only sell through the winery outlet, but when the sun is shining, there aren’t many better places to be than Inverness-shire.

Moniack Castle Wineries
Inverness IV5 7PQ
Tel: 01463 831283
Web: www.moniackcastle.co.uk