You might be a hipster if....

....your favourite brunch spot is in an old flour mill and can only be accessed via a metal staircase. In fact scrub that, even just having a 'favourite brunch spot' probably qualifies! No matter, The Bach has one of the most interesting brunch menus I've seen, as well as doing great coffee, so I'm prepared to overlook the industrial chic, odd lighting and too high tables - either I'm shrinking or this is becoming a bit of a trend as it's not the only place where I feel like a kid sitting at the grown ups table. The owners are from New Zealand, and I'm not sure if some of the menu options are genuine Kiwi classics or if they're having a bit of a laugh at our expense, but I'm also a sucker for something different so today I went for the mince on toast - mince in a spicy tomato sauce topped with a poached egg and hollandaise sauce, served on a thick slice of toast.  It was a lot nicer than that sounds to be honest!

See also Dave's aeropress coffee. Apparently 'soft brew' coffee is going to be the next big thing in coffee, and includes anything not brewed in a high powered espresso machine, so I suppose like you would have got in most cafes or restaurants 20 years ago, or like you'd brew at home. We'll see 😏

Monday was a Bank Holiday, so despite the not great weather we decided to go for a walk at Crombie Country Park. It's a good spot for a walk, through the woods around Crombie Reservoir, but I bet it get's really busy in the summer.  We didn't spot much in the way of wildlife, but it's always good to get out in the fresh air, even if it did feel more like March than May.

I enjoyed a couple of treat beers this week - both sharers.  We started off with one of the Wicked Weed beers we ordered at the Brewdog AGM. Wicked Weed have been in the news this week after signing a deal with AB InBev - or selling their soul to the devil as far as a lot of craft beer fans are concerned.  Interesting that their Head of Production for sour beers has recently moved over here to oversee Brewdog's new sour beer facility - wonder if he knew this was coming? Anyway, the beers we tried at the AGM were really interesting so despite the slightly jawdropping price tag we bought four bottles, three of which would have been £20 before the 30% AGM discount. Friday's was Brettaberry, a farmhouse style saison with honey and berries.  I've had a few fruit sours over the past year or so, and this was a good one. The berry flavour took a while to come through, but the honey gave a nice rounded finish to what would otherwise be a pretty tart beer.   I'm no expert but I believe the brettanomyces yeast that gives the beer it's name is also what gives it a slightly wine like taste. Their label art is almost as interesting as their beers!

My second beer of the night was a variation on a favourite - Mexicake by Tempest. The original is a beautiful imperial stout, flavoured with chocolate, vanilla, cinamon and chilli - actually I bet you could make great chocolate brownies with it.....
The bottle we had on Friday had been aged in Bourbon Barrels, adding smoky whisky tones to the mix.  I actually think the barrel ageing masked some of the more subtle vanilla and chocolate of the original version, so it was a very different beer - just not necessarily better. I'd rather have a glass of this than a JD and Coke though, which is probably the drink it's closest to. As it's a limited edition and currently sold out I might not get to drink it again though!

 I'm having a week off work for pottering this week, so hopefully I'll be reporting back on some more cycling adventures next week.....