Swans Brewery Riley’s Scotch Ale

Victoria, BC
$5.50 for 650ml, available at select private liquor stores

www.swanshotel.com/brewery

Since I don’t have a BC whiskey to tell you about (yet!), let me suggest another pairing possibility for your Robbie Burns Dinner celebration tonight, January 25. BEER. This isn’t a new beer to the scene, but it is kind of a local tradition. And, as we know, there are fewer things more traditional than the piping in of the haggis, complete with pomp, circumstance, and booze. The Scots are hardy folk, with a fondness for hardy drink. Strong, powerfully flavoured Riley’s Scotch Ale will stand up to the spicy haggis.

Though crafted in downtown Victoria’s Old Town/Chinatown district, Swans imports their high quality malts and yeast from the UK. Their ales are naturally carbonated and left to fine at cold temperatures instead of by filtration. This dark brown ale, brewed in the ‘wee-heavy’ style, clocks in at 8% alcohol and has flavours of sweet malt, dark caramel, coffee and spice, ending with a subtly sweet and lengthy finish. A perfect pair for your Robbie Burns sup: haggis, neeps (rudabaga) and tatties (potatoes).

*What exactly is haggis? Well, this traditional Scottish dish consists of a mixture of the minced heart, lungs, and liver of a sheep or calf mixed with suet, onions, oatmeal, and seasonings. It is then boiled in the stomach of the slaughtered animal. It is the traditional main course in a Robbie Burns Dinner, served with much bagpiping, fanfare, poems, toasts and drinking. Sláinte!

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Swans Buckerfields Brewery Riley’s Scotch Ale

Though crafted in downtown Victoria’s Old Town/Chinatown district, Swans imports their high quality malts and yeast from the UK. Their ales are naturally carbonated and left to fine at cold temperatures instead of by filtration. This dark brown ale, brewed in the ‘wee-heavy’ style, clocks in at 8% alcohol and has flavours of sweet malt, dark caramel, coffee and spice, ending with a subtly sweet and lengthy finish. A perfect pair for your Robbie Burns sup: haggis, neeps (rudabaga) and tatties (potatoes).