I do like to be beside the seaside

I'm very deliberately keeping it light this week. There's nothing I can say that hasn't already been said, more eloquently, about recent events, and I've already spent too much time dwelling on things I can't personally change, so I'm sticking with my original plan and wittering on about beer!

I've had a pretty quiet week truth be told. It's been a scorcher of a weekend, but also really windy so I chickened out of going out on the bike. I do need to get back in to cycling to work though!
We had a quiet night in on Friday night, watching tv with a couple of beers - both the beers I went for were bought in either Aldi or Lidl, from their Scottish craft beer ranges.

First up was this summery pale, in a pretty smart can, by Jaw Brew from Glasgow. The yeast gives it a Belgian edge. I think I need to work on the stylised beer pics, but you can probably see this is quite a cloudy beer. I read an article today suggesting 'murky' beers are the latest craze in craft beer - I don't know if that's true or not, but it has to be good news for vegetarian and vegan beer drinkers, as the stuff most commonly used to make beer crystal clear is fish based. Nice eh?
Next up was a spicy little number from what's fast becoming my favourite Aberdeenshire brewery, Fierce Beer who make some really adventurous beers. When you buy a beer called Ginja Ninja, you've got a pretty big clue as to the main flavour! According to Fierce this one features lemongrass and habanero chilli along with the ginger. The chilli definitely added an extra kick, though I can't say I noticed the lemongrass. A very good ginger beer, I'd definitely have it again, perhaps with the suggested food pairing of Thai green curry, since I have some green curry paste in the freezer.

I was busy for the most of the day yesterday so by evening I was pretty keen to get out for some fresh air. It was still pretty warm, so we took a wander along the front to Broughty Ferry. There were tables free outside at the Ship so we stopped there for a quick one.
I went with another cloudy, Scottish beer - Beltaine by Inveralmond Brewery. This is as summery as the name suggests, with some herbal notes, but definitely at the lighter end of the scale for a Hefeweisen - just the thing on a warm summer evening! Much though I was enjoying our prime position looking out over the water, the bar was really busy, and the range of beers a bit limited so we moved on to Jolly's which was taken over by Wetherspoons a few years ago. I do think most of the criticisms levelled at 'spoons are pretty much justified, and I wouldn't want to share a pint with Brexit loving boss Tim Martin, but they do have a decent range of beers, and this branch is pretty spacious so you can generally get a seat. I had a couple of passable beers here before we headed off for food.
Fun Wetherspoons fact - each Wetherspoons pub has it's own unique, bespoke carpet. Someone even wrote a book, having blogged about them!
We've lived within walking distance of Broughty Ferry for 10 years so it's a little surprising to realise we'd never actually come down for fish and chips at the seaside! We finally put that right last night with a fish supper from Murray's. Yes, those daft little forks are a pain, but a chippy tea does taste best eaten by the sea!

The light nights at this time of year can make you lose track of time, but it was getting late (though not much cooler) so after watching a member of Ye Amphibious Ancients Bathing Association (!) getting in an evening swim, we headed home, past the RNLI Oor Wullie, and the growing collection of rigs at the docks.