The 10th of January 2020 was a landmark in the life of one of the best Real Ale pubs in Scotland, if not in Britain, the Redgarth in Oldmeldrum. Since Stuart Singer took it over, it has been a regular entry in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide for 29 successive years starting with the 1992 edition and there is no reason to doubt that it will make the grade for the 2021 edition due to be published in September 2020. Previously under Stuart's ownership, the Boars Head at Kinmuck featured for 3 years from 1988 to 1990.
The event was attended by George Howie, Richard and Donna Jones, Neil and Ian Andrew of the local CAMRA branch. All attendees at the celebration were met by a smiling Stuart and handed a voucher for their first pint and a special edition celebration pen. Beers available were Swannay Island Hopping, Scapa Special and Kelburn Jaguar. Unfortunately the Fyne Ales Jarl was not up to Stuart's demanding standard and was not put on sale - that is why the pub makes the GBG on a regular basis, always superb condition beer and the Redgarth does not sell any beer above around 4.5% abv.
Several local musicians played throughout the evening, a superb buffet was supplied and the ale pumps were being pulled constantly. So much so that by the time our party departed for the last bus back to Aberdeen, there was only the Jaguar remaining on sale. A TV in the back room showed a variety of photos from over the years.
