Photo of
July 3, 2018

Scottish Real Ale Festival Previous visitors to the Scottish Real Ale Festival raise a glass. Pic: Facebook.

We're loving all this sunshine but it doesn't half work up a thirst. Happily, we have the 2018 CAMRA Scottish Real Ale Festival to look forward to later this week.

Taking place at Edinburgh Corn Exchange, the festival runs from noon on Thursday 5th July to 9.30pm on Saturday 7th.

This is the big one for Scottish real ale lovers.

Visitors will be able to sup more than 170 real ales and more than 30 perries and ciders.

As well as beers from the vast majority of Scotland's real ale brewers, there will also be plenty of beers from Northern Ireland.

Whether you want to gingerly sip a 7.1% Battering Ram from the Black Metal brewery in Loanhead or quaff a 3.5% Summer Ale from Broughton Brewery, there are plenty of brews to choose between.

Naturally, wines and soft drinks are available too along with a selection of foods to complement your choice of drink.

Scottish Real Ale Festival: Champion Beer of Scotland

A highlight of the festival will be the announcement of this year’s champion beer of Scotland.

This will take place on the Thursday at around 3pm.

The Champion Beer of Scotland is the highest accolade that Scottish CAMRA members can award to brewery.

The current title holder is Silkie Stout from Loch Lomond Brewery. Previous winners have included Jarl from Fyne Ales; Orkney's Dark Island and good old Deuchars IPA from the Caledonian Brewery.

If you are a real ale newbie, the experienced festival staff, all CAMRA volunteers, are there to help you choose styles of beers to suit your taste.

Admission is £6 or £4 on presentation of your membership card if you are a CAMRA member.

This will get you a programme listing all the beers, perries and ciders available plus a souvenir pint glass with 1/3 pint and half pint marks.

Obviously, sticking to 1/3 pints means you can sample more of the huge array on offer while still drinking responsibly.

Not only is the Scottish Real Ale Festival dog-friendly, it is also a World Cup-friendly festival. Quarter final matches will be shown on two large screens at the Corn Exchange.