Naturally, being in Scotland, I have of course purchased a few beers from some classic Scottish brewers. This beer is from Inveralmond Brewery, who I haven’t heard of, and who are the sister brewery to the more widely known Innis & Gunn. Long time readers will know that golden ales are my favourite traditional ale style so this was a no brain pick up in Lidl. ‘Ossian’ (who was the name of the narrator in famous Scottish poet James Macpherson’s epics) comes in at 4.1% ABV.

The beer pours a perfect clear, golden colour with one of the best maintaining heads I’ve seen in a long time. Lasted to the very end! The nose is very malt forward but with a nice, sharp citrus tang to it too. The main body has a lovely malty sweetness to it. There is a dryness to the beer with a good hop bitterness throughout. Clean and refreshing finish with a little citrus on the end.

A quick note on the bottle art: Cracking design and colours used on this one. Simply a beautiful bit of artwork depicting the Scottish countryside.

Ossian, in bottles, won a silver award, at the Scottish Beer Awards in 2019 and it is easy to see why. Great malty backbone supported by some lovely citrus flavours. Very drinkable and was the ideal tipple in the hot sun yesterday. Also special mention to the head on this beer. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a brew maintain it’s head so well throughout drinking! It won a gold award on cask so I will definitely be on the look out for that!

Score: 7.5/10

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Additional Information:

• Hops: First Gold, Cascade, Fuggles
• Malt: Pale, Caramalt
• IBU: Not Available
• ABV: 4.1%
• Gluten Free: No
• Vegan: Yes!
• Purchase Location: Lidl
• Purchase Price: £1.79