A new brew

I gather you've all been suffering from the great deluge. The bad news is it is supposed to be coming here today. 

Hey, I'm writing this late in the evening so I can write - the good news is that it didn't happen! 

This morning Liz and I donned waterproof trousers and coats and set off from the campsite towards the bus stop half a mile away. It didn't look too bad as we looked across the site 

Bus caught and into Stirling to pick up a couple of shops we missed yesterday and whilst in the coffee shop it rained heavily. Waterproofs redonned and 10 minutes later it had stopped. On the way back towards Alloa I snapped The Wallace Monument from the bus:

when was the last time you all saw a sky like that?

Anyway I can reveal to Liz now that the main reason I selected this particular site was that it was within walkng distance of The Mansfield Arms in Sauchie

A rare Scottish pub with it's own brewery. This is the Devon valley so the brewery is the Devon brewery, brewing Devon ales, confusing eh!

We arrive just before 4 and the late afternoon group is in. This is very much a male oriented environment, particularly at that time of day and I know Liz didn't feel over comfortable. But, trooper that she is, she stays whilst over the next couple of hours or so I sample their Ordinary (a typical Scottish style season beer), the IPA, still lowish abv at 4% but with a much fruitier hoppy flavour, and finally the excellent 90/-, 4.8% abv and a full malty body. Liz also tried one of their keg offerings a very nice treacly Coal Porter. The pub was a gem of a find!

It did raise a question though, during the afternoon/teatime session locals seemed to be drinking lager, Guinness, or the keg cream-flow 70/- home brew. I wonder how much trade is cask? Obviously enough as the beers where well kept (although the 90/- was a little cloudy, but not to its detriment)

OK we didn't walk all the way back but caught that bus part way so only had 1/2 mile rather than twice that. As we neared the campsite we were remind that history lies around every corner up here, with this tower just off the road

The campsite has a restaurant. It wasn't bad but nothing special. It did make life easy though, I don't think either of us fancied cooking/washing up after those beers!

No driving millage to post today, 'cos we didn't drive anywhere