71 Brewing from Dundee are a relatively new craft brewery which has been making bigger and bigger waves in the wider Scottish beer scene for some time now.
As the first active brewery in the City of Discovery for 50 years when it was founded in 2016, they have firmly planted their flag as a maker of modern craft beer styles.
After only seeing them in specialist craft beer shops and pubs around the north-east for years, I’ve lately spotted them appearing on the shelves in bigger supermarkets.
So, with 71 Brewing becoming more widely available, I thought I’d give three of their beers in widely different styles a shot: A fruity sour, a strong IPA, and their take on a classic Scottish style you really don’t see much of…
Beer 1 from 71 Brewing Co: Heavy Lifting, a Scottish Heavy
- 3.9%
- £2.80 per 440ml can on the website
- 71 Brewing C0, Dundee
- Style: Scottish Heavy
Scottish Heavy is a very traditional style of beer which is really rather uncommon nowadays, with only a few brewers in our country keeping it alive and kicking.
So few are they in fact, that I’ve hardly had many to compare this one to, but what I can say for certain is it’s an excellent beer.
At just 3.9% it’s nice and low ABV if you’re looking to have a fair few fancy beers in a night, and you’ll definitely be wanting to come back for more of this treacle-esque drink.
Deep, dark, almost blackish amber in colour, it tastes just like that heavenly smell you get when you’re walking past a brewery: full of super sweet maltiness.
3.5/5
Beer 2 from 71 Brewing Co: Strawberry Crush, a fruity sour
- 6.5%
- £4.50 a 440ml can on the website
- 71 Brewing C0, Dundee
- Style: Fruit sour
When it comes to fuity sour beers, often you’re talking the likes of crazy tropical flavours like mango, passionfruit and the like, and a hefty price tag to boot.
Not the case here: A £4.50 can is a very reasonable price, and what’s more, it’s made with good old-fashioned strawberries.
I must say I found it a little bit too strong on the booze side for my liking in this style of beer, but for everything else, this totally delivered.
This 71 Brewing creation tastes just like the best jammie doughnut you’ve ever had, with a sharp, fizzy, sugary sourness that’s balanced out with juicy strawberry sweetness.
Rating: 3.5/5
Beer 3 from 71 Brewing Co: Rollin’ Coaster, a double IPA
- 7.4%
- £3.70 a 440ml can on the website
- 71 Brewing Co, Dundee
- Style: Double IPA
For the uninitiated, a double IPA is typically your standard IPA, but a lot more boozy.
I’m not too much of a fan of super duper strong DIPAs, so the 7.4% here feels just about right to me.
It’s everything the style should be: Oily, resinous, refreshing, and tastes weirdly like what you’d assume a pine tree would taste like.
This was hands down my favourite of the three, which surprises me as normally big, rich IPAs prove a bit sickly for my tastes.
And at a £3.70 price tag too, it’s a great deal from 71 Brewing.
Rating: 4.5/5
Kieran is a former craft beer barman and usually publishes his beer column every Tuesday online. You can also read his column in the P&J’s Food and Drink magazine, which you can find inside your Press and Journal newspaper every Saturday.
More of my beer reviews:
Forget whisky, is Irn-Bru-flavour beer the perfect Burns Night drink?
