Leith Heavy: A recipe for success

Leith Heavy - despite its name - tastes very little like a traditional Scottish heavy. It’s fairly aromatic, lighter in colour than your average ale, with a sweet and rather hop heavy aftertaste. Personally, I enjoyed it a lot and everyone I spoke to yesterday - Ian Rankin included - seemed to like it too.

The story goes that original brewer Ken Garden had lived in London and developed a taste for English bitters. On his return north of the Border he struggled to find any of the beers he’d become accustomed to, so decided he would just brew his own. The result is something that actually tastes more like a contemporary craft ale, Ken was very much ahead of his time.

One thing to keep in mind, though: if you fancy a jar of Steven Hope’s revived Leith Heavy, you best get down to the Oxford Bar fast. This could be a very limited run.