Upper Deeside Road Trip
A group of branch members let the Stagecoach bus chauffeur us around Upper Deeside on Saturday 23rd August. Departing Aberdeen at 09:15 we collected members of the party on the road out to Ballater.
Ballater
First stop of the day just after 11 am was the Balmoral Bar, an impressive building on the corner of the square. Two beers were on offer, Cairngorm Trade Winds and Braemar Pale Ale. As this is one of only two cask outlets for Braemar Brewery it is not surprising everyone opted for the Braemar beer. Unfortunately it was rather warm and not that appetising, a condition which we think is down to the cellarmanship rather than a problem with the beer.
Second stop was the Alexandra Hotel, with “local knowledge” suggesting this might be the best pub in Ballater. Arriving for opening at exactly 12 noon (and commented upon by the publican) we had a choice of Cairngorm Trade Winds or Nessie’s Monster Mash. Everyone chose Trade Winds and supped our delightful pints in the beer garden at the rear.
Third stop was the rather upmarket Balmoral Arms, complete with array of 12 pairs of green wellies, throws and tartan. The bar was very quiet. The choice was Cairngorm Trade Winds and Wildcat. Everyone went for the tasty Wildcat, although at more than £6/pint it was the most expensive beer of the day. It's not at all confusing that the Balmoral Bar and Balmoral Arms are NOT the same place!
The final stop in Ballater was the Barrel, also on the main square. This bar was very popular with the locals for both food and beer. Choice available was Orkney Raven or Deuchars IPA, and everyone chose the Raven, which is Orkney’s first beer and consistently good. We then paid a quick visit to the bakery nearby to get some snacks for the 3pm bus ride to Braemar.
Braemar
Alighting about 3:30 we headed immediately to the Invercauld Mews, a bar that looks like it has railway heritage. This is the 2nd of two outlets selling Braemar brewery beer, but unfortunately the pumpclip was turned round because they were waiting for it to settle. The other 3 choices were Cairngorm Trade Winds, Stag and IPA. We tried the Stag and the IPA and they were both superb, hard to choose a favourite but possibly the best beers of the day. This is a really lovely bar to visit and full of character.
And now for a Treat. We had an informal arrangement to meet Dave from Braemar Brewing, who kindly showed us around the small but perfectly formed brewery. He had interesting stories about the challenges of sustaining and growing a small single-man brewery where delegation isn’t possible. He also shared a few of his beers from bottle with us, not just the excellent Pale Ale but a great Stout and a Belgian inspired beer called Herfst (Autumn) brewed with Belgian yeast. Many thanks to Dave for being a great host.
What an interesting afternoon. Such a shame we had a non-negotiable bus to catch at 5:30 as we cut short the visit and abandoned plans to visit the Flying Stag bar in the Fife Arms.
Aboyne
The third 201 bus of the day dropped us on the main road in Aboyne from where it is a 5 minute walk to the Boat Inn, a large place with a lounge, a loft and back bar. They were very busy with diners but we were only interested in Beer and Chips. The choice was two Harviestoun beers called Haggis Hunter and Natural Blonde, also GK IPA. After watching the model train trundle around the lounge, it was time to get our fourth and last 201 bus at 8:20 back towards Aberdeen.
