Scottish Wedding Theme
Newsroom

Rooster, a classic Scottish red ale.

Rooster courtesy Williams Brothers Brewery

Seven Giraffes, combining 7 malted barley varieties and elder flowers. On the label, notice how the seven forms the giraffe neck and head.

Seven Giraffes courtesy Williams Brothers Brewery

Williams Black, a rich dark ale.

William’s Black courtesy Williams Brothers Brewery

Williams Ginger, an alcoholic ginger beer, with cane sugar and no hops.

William’s Ginger Beer courtesy Williams Brothers Brewery

Williams Gold, a golden ale.

William’s Gold courtesy Williams Brothers Brewery

Williams IPA

William’s IPA courtesy Williams Brothers Brewery

Williams Red, a premium red ale.

William’s Red courtesy Williams Brothers Brewery

This concludes the listing of Williams Brothers Brewery and the entire posting of Scottish beers, which began on July 21, 2009. The selection of breweries and products is vast, with something for every taste, from the contemporary tongue-in-cheek brews to antique, treasured recipes, with a blending of history in between.

If you’re interested is serving an ale or beer at your reception, there’s plenty of choices, so have some fun with your selections. If you do go with something historical, do let your guests know what you’re serving and why.

Monday being a holiday, there will be no blog. Tuesday a series of shorter, varied topics will begin again…

September 2, 2010 08:37 - Scottish Beer ~ Part XXVI, Williams Brothers Brewery Continued

Harvest Sun, a golden ale.

Harvest Sun courtesy Williams Brothers Brewery

Joker IPA, with a complex blend of malt and hops.

Joker IPA courtesy Williams Brothers Brewery

Kelpie, a rich chocolate ale brewed with bladder wrack, a seaweed from the Argyll coast, with an aroma of fresh sea breeze and a distinctive flavor of rich malt with a crispy, salty finish. Before 1850 alehouses used malted barley grown on fields fertilized with seaweed, thus imparting the seaweed aroma and flavor.

Kelpie courtesy Williams Brothers Brewery

Bladderwrack courtesy Wikipedia

A kelpie is a malevolent water spirit, from Celtic folklore, believed to change from a sea horse to a woman, who haunts the rivers and lochs of Scotland and Ireland. The kelpie is often given credit for drowning, as the legends tell of the kelpie luring children into the water, then drowning them. The name comes from >Cailpeach or Colpach, meaning a heifer or colt.

Two interpretatons of Kelpies ~

Kelpie courtesy Embroidery.com

Kelpie courtesy Mysterious Britain

If you look closely on the Kelpie label, there’s a kelpie in the background.

Midnight Sun, a black porter.

Midnight Sun courtesy Williams Brothers Brewery

Roison, a tayberry beer that‘s pink, pronounced Rosheen. Originating in the Tay Valley, the berry crosses a raspberry and a blackberry, with a sweeter taste, a bigger berry, and more aroma.

Roison courtesy Williams Brothers Brewery

Tayberry ~

Tayberry courtesy Wikipedia

Tomorrow, the beers of Williams Brothers Brewery will be completed…

September 1, 2010 07:11 - September Highland Games and Festivals

September is another great month for festivals and games. Some locations, will have gorgeous autumn colors, others will have just plain gorgeous locations, while the rest will offer you a winter-full of memories.

So, take a look, and skeedaddle to one near you, for that last dose of Scottishness before winter sets in…you can see all those colorful kilts, stuff yourself on Scottish goodies, and listen to those pipes a-skirlin’!

• September 2 to 5, Portland, Oregon ~ National Gymanfa Gane/Festival of Wales
  
• September 3 to 5, Waukesha, Wisconsin ~ Wisconsin Highland Games and Celtic Fling
  
• September 3 to 5, Kansas City, Missouri ~ Kansas City Irish Fest
  
• September 3 to 6, Heber Valley, Utah ~ Soldier Hollow Classic Sheepdog Championship and Country Festival, an invitational event featuring top Sheepdogs from 15 countries and 5 continents.
  
  Competitor at Annual Sheepdog Championship
  courtesy Soldier Hollow Classic

• September 4, Calgary, Alberta, Canada ~ Calgary Games
  
• September 4, Braemar, Scotland

  This event, called The Games by locals, is thought to have begun during the reign of Malcolm III, around 1059, and is still attended by the British Royal Family. Suspended during the 18th century Act of Proscription, the games were reinstated in 1782.

  Two young dancers presenting a bouquet to the Queen Mother ~

  
  Presenting posies to the Queen Mother
  courtesy Braemar Gathering

• September 4, Carlisle, Pennsylvania ~ McLain Highland Festival
  
• September 4, Wijhe, The Netherlands ~ Keltisch Festival
  
  2009 Re-enactment courtesy
  Wijhe Keltisch Festival

• September 4 ro 5, Ringgold, Georgia ~ Appalachian Celtic Festival and Highland Games, previously held in Chickamauga
  
• September 4 to 5, Altamont, New York ~ Capital District Scottish Games
  
• September 4 to 5, Pleasanton, California ~ Caledonian Club of San Francisco Highland Games
  
• September 4 to 5, The Plains, Virginia ~ Virginia Scottish Games

  For British car enthusiasts, there’s even a Classic Car Show

  
  Vintage British cars courtesy
  Virginia Scottish Games

• September 4 to 5, Upperville, Virginia ~ Irish Festival
  
• September 4 to 6, Newport, Rhode Islandg ~ Newport Waterfront Irish Festival
  
• September 5, Blairgowrie, Scotland ~ Blairgowrie & Rattray Highland Games
  
• September 5, Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania ~ Brittingham’;s Irish Festival
  
• September 5, Canmore, Alberta, Canada ~ Canmore Highland Games
  
• September 5, Kingston, New York ~ Hooley on the Hudson
  
• September 9 to 11, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ~ Festival of Traditional Irish Music and Dancing
  
• September 9 to 12, Estes Park, Colorado ~ Longs Peak Scottish/Irish Highland Festival
  
• September 10 to 11, Trenton, Ontario, Canada ~ Trenton Scottish Irish Festival
  
• September 10 to 11, Syracuse, New York ~ Syracuse Irish Festival
  
• September 10 to 11, Buffalo, Missouri ~ Southwest Missouri Celtic Heritage Festival and Highland Games
  
• September 10 to 12, Jackson, Mississippi ~ CelticFest Mississippi
  
• September 10 to 12, Bilzen, Belgium ~ Scottish Weekend, celebrating their 25th anniversary of games.
  
• September 10 to 12, Elizabethton, Tennessee ~ Sycamore Shoals Celtic Festival
  
• September 10 to 12, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ~ Pittsburgh Irish Fesitval
  
• September 10 to 12, West Dundee, Illinois ~ Fox Valley Irish Fest
  
• September 10 to 12, Tulla, County Clare, Ireland ~ Tulla Traditional Music Festival
  
• September 10 to 12, Irondequoit, New York ~ Rochester Irish Festival
  
• September 10 to 12, Green Lane, Pennsylvania ~ The Green Land Scottish Irish Festival and Highland Games
  
• September 10 to 17, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada ~ Quebec City Celtic Festival/Festival Celtique de Quebec.
  
  Celtic Festival Parade courtesy Quebec City Celtic Festival

  As part of the celebration Gaelic football will be introduced on the Plains of Abraham, where a pivotal battle was fought in the French and Indians War in 1759. I think it’s safe to assume many Scotsmen fought and died on the Plains.

  
  Plains of Abraham Battle Soldier’s Sketch
  courtesy Wikipedia

• September 11, Buffalo, New York ~ South Buffalo Irish Feis and Expo
  
• September 11, Ligonier, Pennsylvania ~ The Ligonier Highland Games
  
• September 11, Pitlochry, Scotland ~ Pitlochry Highland Games
  
  Pitlochry 2010 poster courtesy PItlochry Highland Games

• September 11 to 12, Annapolis, Maryland ~ Maryland Renaissance Festival - Scottish Celebration
  
• September 11 to 12, Columbus, Indiana ~ Columbus Scottish Festival & Highland Games
  
• September 11 to 12, Kelso, Washington ~ Kelso Hilander Festival
  
• September 11 to 12, Ship Bottom, New Jersey ~ Ship Bottom Irish Festival
  
• September 11 to 12, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ~ The Beach Celtic Festival
  
• September 12, Augusta, New Jersey ~ Annual Irish Feis
  
• September 12, Peebles, Scotland ~ Pebbles Highland Games
  
• September 13, Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada ~ Owen Sound Celtic Festival
  
• September 17 to 18, Ballston Spa, New York ~ Irish 2000 Music and Arts Festival. Scheduled to mark the half-way point to St. Patrick’s Day and the premier of Russell Crowe in the new movie, RobinHood
  
• September 17 to 19, Lincoln, New Hampshire ~ New Hampshire Highland Games
  
• September 17 to 19, Indianapolis, Indiana ~ Indianapolis Irish Festival
  
• September 17 to 19, Muskegon, Michigan ~ Michigan Irish Music Festival
  
• September 17 to 19, Nelson Bay, New South Wales, Australia ~ Clans on the Coast Festival

  Go to the festival webpage to hear Highland Cathedral, one of my most favorite pipe tunes and very appropriate as wedding music.

• September 17 to 19, St. Charles, Missouri ~ Missouri River Irish Fest
  
• September 17 to 19, Tulsa, Oklahoma ~ Oklahoma Scottish Games and Gathering
  
• September 18, Davenport, Iowa ~ Celtic Highland Games of the Quad Cities
  
• September 18, Gloucester City, New Jersey ~ Gloucester City Shamrock Festival
  
• September 18, Greeley, Nebraska, Greeley Irish Festival
  
• September 18, Milford, Connecticut ~ Milford Irish Festival
  
• September 18, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina ~ Charleston Scottish Games and Highland Gathering
  
• September 18, Sea Girt, New Jersey ~ Irish Festival at the Jersey Shore
  Each year the Festival opens with a mass in the traditional Gaelic language.
  
• September 18, Selma, California ~ The Fresno Scottish Festival and Highland Games
  
• September 18, Treasure Valley, Idaho ~ Treasure Valley Celtic Festival and Highland Games
  
• September 18 to 19, Aberdeen, South Dakota ~ NESD Celtic Faire and Games
  
• September 18 to 19, Annapolis, Maryland ~ Maryland Renaissance Festival Irish Weekend
  
• September 18 to 19, Coney Island, New York ~ The Great Irish Fair of New York
  
• September 18 to 19, Eminence, Kentucky ~ Celtic Fest
  
• September 18 to 19, Olcott Beach, New York ~ Niagara Celtic Heritage Festival and Highland Games
  
• September 19, Long Island, New York ~ Nassau County Ancient Order of Hibernians Feis
  
• September 23 to 26, Gardner, Walsenburg, and La Veta, Colorado ~ Spanish Peaks International Celtic Music Festival
  
• September 24 to 25, Kalamazoo, Michigan ~ Irish Fest
  
• September 24 to 26, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania ~ Celtic Classic Highland Games and Festival
  
• September 24 to 26, Danbury, Connecticut ~ The Greater Danbury Irish Festival
  
• September 24 to 26, Dandridge, Tennessee ~ Scots-Irish Music Festival
  
• September 24 to 26, Sebastopol, California ~ Sebastopol Celtic Festival
  
• September 24 to 26, Memphis, Tennessee ~ Evergreen Clanjamfry: A Scottish Festival
  
• September 24 to 26, Mineral Point, Wisconsin ~ Cornish Festival and Celtic Celebration
  
• September 24 to 26, Wildwood, New Jersey ~ Irish Weekend
  
• September 25, Cedar Rapids, Iowa ~ All Things Scottish CelticFest
  
• September 25, Fredericksburg, Virginia ~ Fredericksburg Welsh Festival
  
• September 25, Hartford, Connecticut ~ Pipes in the Valley
  
• September 25 to 26, McPherson, Kansas ~ McPherson Scottish Festival and Highland Games
  
• September 25 to 26, Louisville, Kentucky ~ Louisville Irish Fest
  
• September 25 to October 3, Kilkenny, Kilkenny County, Ireland ~ Kilkenny Celtic Festival
  
• September 30 to October 3, Oulu, Finland ~Irish Festival of Oulu
  
  Ceilidh Dancing courtesy OuluFestival

For more detailed information about the listed events, go to

• U.S. Scots and the Scottish Heritage Society
  
• Keltic Nations

Coming tomorrow, more Scottish beer from Williams Brother Brewery…

August 31, 2010 06:58 - Scottish Beer ~ Part XXVI, Williams Brothers Brewery Continued

Fraoch 20, a heather ale aged in sherry/malt whisky casks, to celebrate 20 years of brewing, a very special limited edition. Named after the legendary Gaelic hero Fraech (Fraoch). Flowering heather and sweet gale are added for flavoring.

Fraoch 20 courtesy Williams Brothers Brewery

Newsroom blogs February 13th to 27th, 2009, has more details about the uses for heather, including Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem Ode to Heather Ale.

Heather ~

Heather blooms courtesy Stock Exchange

Sweet Gale ~

Sweet Gale courtesy Wikipedia

There’s evidence that Heather Ale was being drunk around 2000 BC and is thought to be one of the oldest styles of ales in the world.

Good Times, a county pale ale with meadowsweet and elder flowers.

Good Times courtesy Williams Brothers Brewery

Meadowsweet courtesy Wikipedia

Grozet, from the Gaelic Groseid, meaning gooseberry.

Grozet courtesy Williams Brothers Brewery

Gooseberry ~

Gooseberry courtesy Wikipedia

Since at least the 16th century Scots monks and alewives brewed indigenous drinks from cereals, wild herbs and ripe fruits. Tibbie Shiels Green Grozet was immortalized by such Scots literati as Sir Walter Scott, James Hogg (The Ettrick
Shepherd) , Robert Lewis Stevenson, and Robert Burns. Tibbie’s inn, an 18th century coach stop, was located on the shores of St. Mary’s Loch.

Grozet is brewed with lager malt, wheat, bog myrtle [another name for sweet gale], hops and meadowsweet then secondary fermented with ripe Scottish gooseberries.
Sweet Gale ~

Sweet Gale courtesy Wikipedia

Hops ~

Hops courtesy Stock Exchange

Meadowsweet ~

Meadowsweet courtesy Wikipedia

Tomorrow, a listing of September Highland Games and Festivals…