We will be going up to Tongue on the north coast of Scotland in a couple 
of weeks.  Not much in the GBG so any suggestions anyone has in the area 
would be appreciated. We will be travelling around a bit, day trips 
etc., so anywhere within a reasonable distance would be interesting.

Stuart Hudson

"Stuart Hudson"  wrote in message 
news:7g5jiiF2n89trU1@mid.individual.net...
>
>
> We will be going up to Tongue on the north coast of Scotland in a couple 
> of weeks.  Not much in the GBG so any suggestions anyone has in the area 
> would be appreciated. We will be travelling around a bit, day trips etc., 
> so anywhere within a reasonable distance would be interesting.
>
Just returned. We found more cask beers in Orkney than Caithness. Great 
value day trip from John O Groats, ferry & coach tour £44. Time in both 
Stromness, 2 outlets, Kirkwall, at least 3.
I believe there is a JDW in Wick, if you're desperate (;-)

John Sullivan

On 2009-09-01, Stuart Hudson  wrote:
>
>
> We will be going up to Tongue on the north coast of Scotland in a couple 
> of weeks.  Not much in the GBG so any suggestions anyone has in the area 
> would be appreciated. We will be travelling around a bit, day trips 
> etc., so anywhere within a reasonable distance would be interesting.
>
> Stuart Hudson

  It's a very long time since we were on the north coast, so I can't
help from personal experience as to the current situation in the
immediate vicinity. However if Ullapool is not too far for a day
trip, then that is worth a visit. We were there recently and it has a
decent selection of real ale pubs - the Ferryboat Inn probably being
the best.

  It may be worth looking at http://www.beerintheevening.com/
For example searching on Location Thurso gets quite a few hits.
Although the site info itself does not log whether real-ale is
available, the comments (if any) on each pub quite often do.

Malcolm

On Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:25:30 +0100, Malcolm Lee  
 wrote:


>   It may be worth looking at http://www.beerintheevening.com/


I just had a look for a pub I know of; The Goose and Cuckoo, Gwent CAMRA's  
PotY; they don't have it.

-- 
Siggy played guitar

On 2009-09-02, Esra Sdrawkcab  wrote:
> On Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:25:30 +0100, Malcolm Lee  
> wrote:
>
>
>>   It may be worth looking at http://www.beerintheevening.com/
>
>
> I just had a look for a pub I know of; The Goose and Cuckoo, Gwent CAMRA's  
> PotY; they don't have it.
>

  That doesn't surprise me. Their site also omits many pubs that
I know of. I also think that their rating and comments system
is best ignored.

 All I was suggesting that it may be useful for the OP to use the
site to make a list of pubs that may be worth visiting.

Malcolm

"Malcolm Lee"  wrote in message 
news:qq42n6-rb6.ln1@giganews.com...
> On 2009-09-01, Stuart Hudson  wrote:
>>
>>
>> We will be going up to Tongue on the north coast of Scotland in a couple
>> of weeks.  Not much in the GBG so any suggestions anyone has in the area
>> would be appreciated. We will be travelling around a bit, day trips
>> etc., so anywhere within a reasonable distance would be interesting.
>>
>> Stuart Hudson
>
>  It's a very long time since we were on the north coast, so I can't
> help from personal experience as to the current situation in the
> immediate vicinity. However if Ullapool is not too far for a day
> trip, then that is worth a visit. We were there recently and it has a
> decent selection of real ale pubs - the Ferryboat Inn probably being
> the best.
>
A couple of weeks ago, we found The Morefield Motel about half a mile north 
much more user friendly, and they have beerfests.

>>> We will be going up to Tongue on the north coast of Scotland in a couple
>>> of weeks.  Not much in the GBG so any suggestions anyone has in the area
>>> would be appreciated.
snip
>>> Stuart Hudson
snip
if Ullapool is not too far for a day
>> trip, then that is worth a visit. We were there recently and it has a
>> decent selection of real ale pubs - the Ferryboat Inn probably being
>> the best.
>>
> A couple of weeks ago, we found The Morefield Motel about half a mile north 
> much more user friendly, and they have beerfests. 
> 
> 

Ullapool is probably a bit to far at 3 hours each way but thanks for the 
suggestion.The trip to orkney sounds interesting.

Stuart Hudson

"Stuart Hudson"  wrote in message 
news:4AA2696C.8050001@iname.com...
>
>>>> We will be going up to Tongue on the north coast of Scotland in a 
>>>> couple
>>>> of weeks.  Not much in the GBG so any suggestions anyone has in the 
>>>> area
>>>> would be appreciated.
> snip
>>>> Stuart Hudson
> snip
> if Ullapool is not too far for a day
>>> trip, then that is worth a visit. We were there recently and it has a
>>> decent selection of real ale pubs - the Ferryboat Inn probably being
>>> the best.
>>>
>> A couple of weeks ago, we found The Morefield Motel about half a mile 
>> north much more user friendly, and they have beerfests.
>
> Ullapool is probably a bit to far at 3 hours each way but thanks for the 
> suggestion.The trip to orkney sounds interesting.
>
If you take the Orkney trip, try the lunchtime buffet upstairs in the 
Stromness Hotel, but the cask ale is better in the downstairs bar!

John Sullivan wrote:
> If you take the Orkney trip, try the lunchtime buffet upstairs in the 
> Stromness Hotel, but the cask ale is better in the downstairs bar! 
> 
Ooh Ooh! Orkney Dark Island ale. Incredible.

On Sat, 5 Sep 2009 22:29:28 퍝, "John Sullivan"
 wrote:

>If you take the Orkney trip, try the lunchtime buffet upstairs in the 
>Stromness Hotel, but the cask ale is better in the downstairs bar! 

The difference between beer in the 1st floor bar and the "Flattie Bar"
on the ground floor is the temperature of the beer (and 20p). IMHO the
Flattie serves it well below optimal temperature (they run it through
a chiller), but I've been told that's deliberate - the clientelle of
the Flattie apparently prefer it that way.

Having just come back from a trip to Orkney, I can recommend the
Stromness Hotel and the Ferry Inn in Stromness - they are about 100
yards apart. 

In Kirkwall, there are 4 real ale outlets - Helgi's, Shore Inn, Ayre
Hotel and the Bothy Bar (Albert Hotel). My vote goes to the Bothy Bar
which has three handpumps, the others only have one handpump each, and
they were all selling Highland Scapa Special when I was there (it is
an excellent brew, by the way).

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to try the outlets on the other
islands - according to the information I have, there are real ale
outlets on Sanday, Westray and Hoy, but I can't vouch for the accuracy
of that information.

There are two breweries on Orkney - Orkney Brewery and Highland
Brewery, both of them brew excellent beers. Highland Brewery's Scapa
Special can be found in just about every real ale pub on Orkney
Mainland.

Real ale outlets on the Scottish mainland include the Central Hotel in
Thurso, which sells a lot of beer from Highland Brewery. There is also
a Wetherspoon's in Wick - The Alexander Bain.

There is also the Scourie Hotel, which is in the Good Beer Guide, but
I have never tried the ale there (on my only visit some years ago, I
was driving).
-- 
- Helge Nareid
  Nordmann i utlendighet, Aberdeen, Scotland
  For e-mail, please refer to my website.
  Website: http://www.nareid-web.me.uk/

"Helge Nareid"  wrote in message 
news:489hb5h0pjn5i67k2v31mq6t5b3679r680@4ax.com...
On Sat, 5 Sep 2009 22:29:28 +0100, "John Sullivan"
 wrote:

>If you take the Orkney trip, try the lunchtime buffet upstairs in the
>Stromness Hotel, but the cask ale is better in the downstairs bar!

The difference between beer in the 1st floor bar and the "Flattie Bar"
on the ground floor is the temperature of the beer (and 20p). IMHO the
Flattie serves it well below optimal temperature (they run it through
a chiller), but I've been told that's deliberate - the clientelle of
the Flattie apparently prefer it that way.

Having just come back from a trip to Orkney, I can recommend the
Stromness Hotel and the Ferry Inn in Stromness - they are about 100
yards apart.

In Kirkwall, there are 4 real ale outlets - Helgi's, Shore Inn, Ayre
Hotel and the Bothy Bar (Albert Hotel). My vote goes to the Bothy Bar
which has three handpumps, the others only have one handpump each, and
they were all selling Highland Scapa Special when I was there (it is
an excellent brew, by the way).

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to try the outlets on the other
islands - according to the information I have, there are real ale
outlets on Sanday, Westray and Hoy, but I can't vouch for the accuracy
of that information.

There are two breweries on Orkney - Orkney Brewery and Highland
Brewery, both of them brew excellent beers. Highland Brewery's Scapa
Special can be found in just about every real ale pub on Orkney
Mainland.

Real ale outlets on the Scottish mainland include the Central Hotel in
Thurso, which sells a lot of beer from Highland Brewery. There is also
a Wetherspoon's in Wick - The Alexander Bain.

There is also the Scourie Hotel, which is in the Good Beer Guide, but
I have never tried the ale there (on my only visit some years ago, I
was driving).
-- 
Also The Caberfeidh at Lohinver, Am Furhan (The Well!) at Altandhu, and the 
Summer Isles Hotel, Achiltibuie