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Those Were The Days...
Dec. 29th, 2019 11:32 pmWe have just come back from an enjoyable three days in Scotland, again on the Brewdog bar trail. We ended up doing six in total, visiting Perth, Peterhead, Aberdeen Union Square, Inverurie, St Andrews and Hop Hub Motherwell, taking our stamp count to 63. While this was the primary aim of our visit, we also managed to see a few other interesting sights across Scotland so it wasn't totally about the beer. However, when it gets dark before 4pm, let's be honest there's little else to do, so the last few days have been quite boozy.
This was on top of a reasonably alcohol fuelled Christmas Day, which saw Wolfie and I just spend time alone at home. Wolfie was ill, having contracted the lurgee I had picked up in SE Asia, with him running through all the symptoms in three days which took three weeks to pass through me (indeed I still have the cough). Wolfie's illness meant he spent all of Christmas Eve and most of Christmas Day in bed, necessitating me doing all of the cooking and cleaning around the house. We bought a panchetta wrapped chicken as our main meal, cooking it on Christmas Eve and effectively having two Christmas Dinners, one on the 24th and the other on the 25th, if only to ensure all food would be eaten before we left on Boxing Day. Aside from that, all we did was chill, pretty much watching television for much of the day (The Red Bull Soapbox Race, The World's Most Dangerous Roads, Gavin and Stacey, The Great Pretender about Freddie Mercury and Mrs Brown's Boys). Indeed, I was quite surprised with how much television I did manage to watch but it was a relaxing day at least.
I had to do some work on Boxing Day, meaning we didn't leave the house until 1:30pm. It was a five and a half hour drive to Perth, our stopping off point for the night and location of Brewdog Bar #1. I had already checked with head office that it would be open on Boxing Day night and so we set off with some excitement to the Rebellious Northern Kingdom. En route, we also called in to visit Fox Amoore at his parents' place, sharing a cup of tea and some great conversation for a couple of hours. We even got to meet the family dog, which was nice. We ended up staying here for two hours, about an hour longer than we anticipated, but it was great chatting with Fox and his family and so we didn't mind being delayed slightly.
Once departed, we made our way up to Perth, arriving at our glamorous Premier Inn at about 9pm. We parked up, checked in and headed down to the Brewdog, which was conveniently just down the road. It seemed to be the only place open in the city apart from a more rowdy looking place on the main presinct, while it was also satisfyingly busy too. After a long drive, all we wanted was a beer and some food, so we took advantage of their rather extensive menu and picked up some pizzas as well. There was a loud Scottish local in this bar, but he soon left, taking his dominating voice with him, while the large party on the main table did keep the drinks coming. Meanwhile, we just enjoyed the atmosphere and once we had gone through the beers we hadn't already had on draft, we made a start on the takeaway section too. This bar is really small, but well-formed, fast becoming one of my favourites so we did enjoy our couple of hours in here. The staff were super friendly too.
We had a quick walk around Perth after drinks, but Wolfie was tired from all the driving and wanted to head back to the hotel. Still, we got to see the famous bridge over a rather swollen and angry River Tay along with the dive bar that all the locals visit. Aside from that though, it was all rather quiet, and the same could be said for the next morning, when we braved the rather heavy rain to have a little explore. I used to visit Perth quite a lot as a child, what with my grandparents living not so far away, but we never really ventured into the centre, instead going to the excellent leisure centre with the swimming pool, slides and wave machine. This was certainly the first time I had ever been there as an adult, so it was great just wandering around and seeing what was there. In reality, not much. The River Tay dominates one side of the town, as does the rather tall imposing church. You then have a selection of the usual shops in the middle, including the Greggs where we got Bacon and Lorne Sausage buns for breakfast (the Lorne Sausage came in a patty and was quite smokey and heavily spiced). On the other side of the town was a pleasant surprise - The Town Lade, or mill - which has been in existence on this site since the twelfth century. The mill buildings which stand there today date from between 1774 and 1808, and were primarily used to grind oats. The mill closed in 1966, with the upper portion now a hotel and the lower portion, the bit we saw, preserved as a heritage centre. Alas it was closed, but it was good to see this fascinating piece of history.
The city museum and modern looking theatre were right next to the Premier Inn, and it was good to see a fluorishing art scene in the city. This was in addition to the flower mural next to Brewdog and the graffiti art on the side of the bar, making this street tucked behind the high street somewhat bohemian. We were quite sad to leave, but we had a busy day ahead of us and the weather was quite foul, with it only getting worse the further north we drove. Once we arrived in Peterhead, the wind was lashing at 40mph and the rain was torrential, making for a very wet dart from the free car park to the Brewdog bar. However, I am getting ahead of myself as along the way, we also called off at the town of Couper Angus, which we just happened to be passing through. Couper Angus isn't famous for much, but it is the town where Alestorm are from, and before they became heavy metal pirates, they were in a local band called Splen. This was never a serious thing, but they did release two online albums including the fantastically titled 'Fat People are Sometimes Greedy'. On this album, they did a song about Couper Angus and how it 'smells of rotting poultry' and that 'all it takes is a well-made ice cream to fall in love with Couper Angus'. Well, we couldn't get the well-made ice cream, despite stopping at a local newsagents for some suppliers but we did see the chicken rendering plant, which I took numerous pictures of. Indeed, I have never been as excited to see a poultry factory before, but like with Tewksbury Cathedral, this is a place from my past I had been meaning to visit for so long. Alas, there is little else in Couper Angus so we didn't hang around, soon heading north once I had taken a picture of the road sign to prove my presence there.
So back to Peterhead. The rain and wind was dire, but we got to the Brewdog bar relatively unscathed, bumping into a moustachoed man at the bar who was already somewhat pissed. It was 2:15pm. Anyway, we bought our non-alcoholic drinks (the excellent Hazy AF) and collected our stamps, ticking off another bar in the process. We then just waited for the weather to change, as the weather forecast had predicted. Indeed, about twenty minutes later, the rain stopped and once we had finished our drinks inside this dinky wee bar, we decided to do some exploring. Unsurprisingly for such a small place, there wasn't an awful lot to see. The town hall was pleasant enough and there was a neat church at the opposite end of the high street. Aside from this there were rows upon rows of fishing vessels and the industry associated with it, making it a rather grim walk on a grey, wintery December day. Still, the most easterly place in Scotland had its own unique charm and the roughness of the scene, not to mention the sea, did impart an honesty to the place as it is a hard working fishing town. Still, The Peterhead Trail brought in the tourists with some interesting history of the town, albeit one would assume the tourists would be there in summer as there was bugger all people here on Friday. An hour later and we were largely done, hoping to find a bakery that would sell us a lunchy snack but failing completely, so we headed back to the car and towards Aberdeen in the hope of missing the rush hour.
As we headed back south, I toyed with asking Wolfie to stop the car so we could take some photographs. As you leave Peterhead, you can see the whole harbour with its protective wall, with industry taking place on both sides. Further south and you have some excellent vantage points overlooking the North Sea, it being choppy yet romantic in the fading winter light, but I also thought it best we press on. Passing Ellon, we had a quick call into the Brewdog brewery, noticing a whole new building having been built since our last visit in May 2018. Alas, it was just a quick in and out job as we had to tick off some more bars and were on a tight schedule, not to mention the fact that Wolfie couldn't yet drink as he was still driving.
We arrived in Aberdeen just before 4pm, parking up in the same car park we had parked in last time. This was next to the Ibis Hotel but we weren't staying there this time, having booked a room at the Brewdog Kennels above the Castlegate bar. This is a new Brewdog hotel venture, having only opened last month, so upon seeing it and realising it coincided with our visit, we decided to book a room. It was double the price of the Ibis, but it was definitely a better place to stay, with a vinyl record player and a guitar ready to be used. The shower room was incredible and even had its own beer fridge contained within, while the bed was also very comfortable and had a 'Good Ship Brewdog' lighted sign above it. The apartment was everything Brewdog, with photographs on the wall and graffitied octopuses everywhere, but most important of all it was incredibly cosy. Wolfie fell in love with it straight away and as it was right in the centre of Aberdeen, it was exceptionally convenient as a base of operations.
Even though the rooms were part of a hotel complex next door (which extended above the bar), check in was at the bar itself so once we arrived, we made ourselves known to the staff. As part of the deal, you get a free half of beer upon arrival so we chose a nice brew from Turning Point as we had not yet had it. As we hung around, we got talking to the staff and at one point were asked whether they could take our picture for promotional reasons. We gave our consent (why they think I would be promotional material God only knows) and continued supping our beers, with the lady who had introduced us telling us to let her know when we were done. Alas, this became longer than expected as two fresh beers turned up - a 5am Saint and a Small Batch Pale Ale - as they had been poured for a group who had not paid their tab. Going spare, they just gave them to us, while they frequently popped by and offered us a range of samples of their small batch range. This saw us drink a lot more than we expected to before we had even dropped our bags off, and also resulted in us talking to a lady who did performances for Brewdog in their bar. She used to go to the Castlegate bar as a teenager when it wasn't Brewdog, and so it was great getting some local history from her and a sense of how the city's tastes have changed.
After all this, we were eventually ready to check in, heading upstairs at around 5pm. We were let into the room - the Sink the Bismark suite - and decided to chill for a short while before claiming our final two stamps of the day. In part, we decided to put on Dire Straits' 1985 album Brothers In Arms, a record that evokes so many memories for me as it was one my Dad played constantly as a child. That was on vinyl too so it was great to listen to it again, while they also had ABBA's 1975 album Mamma Mia, which was another classic from my youth (although I did have that on CD). With Wolfie putting this on first, then Dire Straits, it was a very relaxing introduction to the city, in what was our second visit. Alas it was going to be so brief as we were due to depart the very next morning, which was partly why we decided to stay in the apartment a little while too. Indeed, we just wanted to enjoy it as it was an incredibly relaxing space and one we will definitely be staying at again.
Wolfie grabbed a shower and we headed out shortly after 6pm. The two bar staff who had served us clocked off at 5pm and 6pm, and told us they may still be hanging around the bar afterwards, but we needed to head down to Union Square so we couldn't really join them. This Brewdog is the only one in a shopping centre, sandwiched between mainstream highstreet chains. Upon opening, it did cause a little controversy as it did seem a little corporate, and it is clear that the focus here is on food rather than the beer. However, it was incredibly busy and finding a table was very tough, with us seeking out the assistance of the waiting staff. Still, we soon found one and managed to get drinks and food, not to mention the all-important stamp. We got the usual burgers along with onion rings and Christmas Fries, which were essentially fries with a load of Christmas shit dumped on top of them. Tasty enough, but very filling and left us feeling somewhat bloated for the rest of the day. The bar itself was fine enough, very bustling though, not aided by its open frontage on to the shopping centre. It was certainly a different experience to the standard Brewdog bar though and not necessarily worse for it.
We were aiming for the 19:24 service to Inverurie, conveniently from the train station which is right next to Union Square. With the train becoming an hourly service from a half hourly one as the evening became later, we wanted to get to our final bar of the day swiftly, if only so we could get back to Aberdeen in good time. The journey to Inverurie was only twenty minutes and typically we ended up in Aberdeen station with far too much time to spare. Still, we had a good mooch around before jumping on the train, which whisked us the two stops to this delightful market town. We did have a look around, but to be honest there is very little here, although the weather at least was particularly clement now for the time of year. Effectively it's two streets with a few shops, an imposing war memorial and a charming town hall overlooking it, aided in its beauty by the Christmas lights. The Brewdog is very close to this and was incredibly busy, which was surprising in a town with fewer than 11,000 residents. Still, I think this was the first one that was opened due to EFP demand and certainly there are more EFP Punks per capita here than anywhere else in the world so maybe it did make business sense for a bar to be there. It was certainly popular and we enjoyed a few more beers here, until a sour one really hit our stomachs badly and we had to pause for a while. Fortunately, this was in close vicinity to a train, so after an hour in this rather long yet spacious bar, we headed back to the train station to catch the service back to Aberdeen.
Once back in the city, we decided to enjoy the apartment some more, as well as let our bellies recover. The combination of the heavy food and the sour beer had really caused issues, so it was great just to chill. I took the opportunity to have a shower and listen to David Bowie records while Wolfie chilled in the bedroom, with me joining him to watch Taskmaster together. As it approached midnight, we did think we should at least visit a couple of local bars, and conveniently the main one we wanted to call by was literally right around the corner. This proved to be a good choice as Fierce are pretty much the best bar in Britain at present, and their Fiercely Juicy V2 did not disappoint. Their Bourbon beer, another high strength one but in a totally different style, was also a strong contender while we also shared a packet of Prawn Cocktail Skips as we drank. The bar staff were really chatty and it was good to see this bar completed, as it resembled something of a construction site when we visited nineteen months ago. After this, we decided to go for a nightcap in Brewdog Castlegate, again going for a high strength dark beer to finish the evening. However, with a long drive to St Andrews the next day and plans to meet up with Blujay, we did have to call it a night at 1am, with us needing some sleep ahead of another long day.
This was on top of a reasonably alcohol fuelled Christmas Day, which saw Wolfie and I just spend time alone at home. Wolfie was ill, having contracted the lurgee I had picked up in SE Asia, with him running through all the symptoms in three days which took three weeks to pass through me (indeed I still have the cough). Wolfie's illness meant he spent all of Christmas Eve and most of Christmas Day in bed, necessitating me doing all of the cooking and cleaning around the house. We bought a panchetta wrapped chicken as our main meal, cooking it on Christmas Eve and effectively having two Christmas Dinners, one on the 24th and the other on the 25th, if only to ensure all food would be eaten before we left on Boxing Day. Aside from that, all we did was chill, pretty much watching television for much of the day (The Red Bull Soapbox Race, The World's Most Dangerous Roads, Gavin and Stacey, The Great Pretender about Freddie Mercury and Mrs Brown's Boys). Indeed, I was quite surprised with how much television I did manage to watch but it was a relaxing day at least.
I had to do some work on Boxing Day, meaning we didn't leave the house until 1:30pm. It was a five and a half hour drive to Perth, our stopping off point for the night and location of Brewdog Bar #1. I had already checked with head office that it would be open on Boxing Day night and so we set off with some excitement to the Rebellious Northern Kingdom. En route, we also called in to visit Fox Amoore at his parents' place, sharing a cup of tea and some great conversation for a couple of hours. We even got to meet the family dog, which was nice. We ended up staying here for two hours, about an hour longer than we anticipated, but it was great chatting with Fox and his family and so we didn't mind being delayed slightly.
Once departed, we made our way up to Perth, arriving at our glamorous Premier Inn at about 9pm. We parked up, checked in and headed down to the Brewdog, which was conveniently just down the road. It seemed to be the only place open in the city apart from a more rowdy looking place on the main presinct, while it was also satisfyingly busy too. After a long drive, all we wanted was a beer and some food, so we took advantage of their rather extensive menu and picked up some pizzas as well. There was a loud Scottish local in this bar, but he soon left, taking his dominating voice with him, while the large party on the main table did keep the drinks coming. Meanwhile, we just enjoyed the atmosphere and once we had gone through the beers we hadn't already had on draft, we made a start on the takeaway section too. This bar is really small, but well-formed, fast becoming one of my favourites so we did enjoy our couple of hours in here. The staff were super friendly too.
We had a quick walk around Perth after drinks, but Wolfie was tired from all the driving and wanted to head back to the hotel. Still, we got to see the famous bridge over a rather swollen and angry River Tay along with the dive bar that all the locals visit. Aside from that though, it was all rather quiet, and the same could be said for the next morning, when we braved the rather heavy rain to have a little explore. I used to visit Perth quite a lot as a child, what with my grandparents living not so far away, but we never really ventured into the centre, instead going to the excellent leisure centre with the swimming pool, slides and wave machine. This was certainly the first time I had ever been there as an adult, so it was great just wandering around and seeing what was there. In reality, not much. The River Tay dominates one side of the town, as does the rather tall imposing church. You then have a selection of the usual shops in the middle, including the Greggs where we got Bacon and Lorne Sausage buns for breakfast (the Lorne Sausage came in a patty and was quite smokey and heavily spiced). On the other side of the town was a pleasant surprise - The Town Lade, or mill - which has been in existence on this site since the twelfth century. The mill buildings which stand there today date from between 1774 and 1808, and were primarily used to grind oats. The mill closed in 1966, with the upper portion now a hotel and the lower portion, the bit we saw, preserved as a heritage centre. Alas it was closed, but it was good to see this fascinating piece of history.
The city museum and modern looking theatre were right next to the Premier Inn, and it was good to see a fluorishing art scene in the city. This was in addition to the flower mural next to Brewdog and the graffiti art on the side of the bar, making this street tucked behind the high street somewhat bohemian. We were quite sad to leave, but we had a busy day ahead of us and the weather was quite foul, with it only getting worse the further north we drove. Once we arrived in Peterhead, the wind was lashing at 40mph and the rain was torrential, making for a very wet dart from the free car park to the Brewdog bar. However, I am getting ahead of myself as along the way, we also called off at the town of Couper Angus, which we just happened to be passing through. Couper Angus isn't famous for much, but it is the town where Alestorm are from, and before they became heavy metal pirates, they were in a local band called Splen. This was never a serious thing, but they did release two online albums including the fantastically titled 'Fat People are Sometimes Greedy'. On this album, they did a song about Couper Angus and how it 'smells of rotting poultry' and that 'all it takes is a well-made ice cream to fall in love with Couper Angus'. Well, we couldn't get the well-made ice cream, despite stopping at a local newsagents for some suppliers but we did see the chicken rendering plant, which I took numerous pictures of. Indeed, I have never been as excited to see a poultry factory before, but like with Tewksbury Cathedral, this is a place from my past I had been meaning to visit for so long. Alas, there is little else in Couper Angus so we didn't hang around, soon heading north once I had taken a picture of the road sign to prove my presence there.
So back to Peterhead. The rain and wind was dire, but we got to the Brewdog bar relatively unscathed, bumping into a moustachoed man at the bar who was already somewhat pissed. It was 2:15pm. Anyway, we bought our non-alcoholic drinks (the excellent Hazy AF) and collected our stamps, ticking off another bar in the process. We then just waited for the weather to change, as the weather forecast had predicted. Indeed, about twenty minutes later, the rain stopped and once we had finished our drinks inside this dinky wee bar, we decided to do some exploring. Unsurprisingly for such a small place, there wasn't an awful lot to see. The town hall was pleasant enough and there was a neat church at the opposite end of the high street. Aside from this there were rows upon rows of fishing vessels and the industry associated with it, making it a rather grim walk on a grey, wintery December day. Still, the most easterly place in Scotland had its own unique charm and the roughness of the scene, not to mention the sea, did impart an honesty to the place as it is a hard working fishing town. Still, The Peterhead Trail brought in the tourists with some interesting history of the town, albeit one would assume the tourists would be there in summer as there was bugger all people here on Friday. An hour later and we were largely done, hoping to find a bakery that would sell us a lunchy snack but failing completely, so we headed back to the car and towards Aberdeen in the hope of missing the rush hour.
As we headed back south, I toyed with asking Wolfie to stop the car so we could take some photographs. As you leave Peterhead, you can see the whole harbour with its protective wall, with industry taking place on both sides. Further south and you have some excellent vantage points overlooking the North Sea, it being choppy yet romantic in the fading winter light, but I also thought it best we press on. Passing Ellon, we had a quick call into the Brewdog brewery, noticing a whole new building having been built since our last visit in May 2018. Alas, it was just a quick in and out job as we had to tick off some more bars and were on a tight schedule, not to mention the fact that Wolfie couldn't yet drink as he was still driving.
We arrived in Aberdeen just before 4pm, parking up in the same car park we had parked in last time. This was next to the Ibis Hotel but we weren't staying there this time, having booked a room at the Brewdog Kennels above the Castlegate bar. This is a new Brewdog hotel venture, having only opened last month, so upon seeing it and realising it coincided with our visit, we decided to book a room. It was double the price of the Ibis, but it was definitely a better place to stay, with a vinyl record player and a guitar ready to be used. The shower room was incredible and even had its own beer fridge contained within, while the bed was also very comfortable and had a 'Good Ship Brewdog' lighted sign above it. The apartment was everything Brewdog, with photographs on the wall and graffitied octopuses everywhere, but most important of all it was incredibly cosy. Wolfie fell in love with it straight away and as it was right in the centre of Aberdeen, it was exceptionally convenient as a base of operations.
Even though the rooms were part of a hotel complex next door (which extended above the bar), check in was at the bar itself so once we arrived, we made ourselves known to the staff. As part of the deal, you get a free half of beer upon arrival so we chose a nice brew from Turning Point as we had not yet had it. As we hung around, we got talking to the staff and at one point were asked whether they could take our picture for promotional reasons. We gave our consent (why they think I would be promotional material God only knows) and continued supping our beers, with the lady who had introduced us telling us to let her know when we were done. Alas, this became longer than expected as two fresh beers turned up - a 5am Saint and a Small Batch Pale Ale - as they had been poured for a group who had not paid their tab. Going spare, they just gave them to us, while they frequently popped by and offered us a range of samples of their small batch range. This saw us drink a lot more than we expected to before we had even dropped our bags off, and also resulted in us talking to a lady who did performances for Brewdog in their bar. She used to go to the Castlegate bar as a teenager when it wasn't Brewdog, and so it was great getting some local history from her and a sense of how the city's tastes have changed.
After all this, we were eventually ready to check in, heading upstairs at around 5pm. We were let into the room - the Sink the Bismark suite - and decided to chill for a short while before claiming our final two stamps of the day. In part, we decided to put on Dire Straits' 1985 album Brothers In Arms, a record that evokes so many memories for me as it was one my Dad played constantly as a child. That was on vinyl too so it was great to listen to it again, while they also had ABBA's 1975 album Mamma Mia, which was another classic from my youth (although I did have that on CD). With Wolfie putting this on first, then Dire Straits, it was a very relaxing introduction to the city, in what was our second visit. Alas it was going to be so brief as we were due to depart the very next morning, which was partly why we decided to stay in the apartment a little while too. Indeed, we just wanted to enjoy it as it was an incredibly relaxing space and one we will definitely be staying at again.
Wolfie grabbed a shower and we headed out shortly after 6pm. The two bar staff who had served us clocked off at 5pm and 6pm, and told us they may still be hanging around the bar afterwards, but we needed to head down to Union Square so we couldn't really join them. This Brewdog is the only one in a shopping centre, sandwiched between mainstream highstreet chains. Upon opening, it did cause a little controversy as it did seem a little corporate, and it is clear that the focus here is on food rather than the beer. However, it was incredibly busy and finding a table was very tough, with us seeking out the assistance of the waiting staff. Still, we soon found one and managed to get drinks and food, not to mention the all-important stamp. We got the usual burgers along with onion rings and Christmas Fries, which were essentially fries with a load of Christmas shit dumped on top of them. Tasty enough, but very filling and left us feeling somewhat bloated for the rest of the day. The bar itself was fine enough, very bustling though, not aided by its open frontage on to the shopping centre. It was certainly a different experience to the standard Brewdog bar though and not necessarily worse for it.
We were aiming for the 19:24 service to Inverurie, conveniently from the train station which is right next to Union Square. With the train becoming an hourly service from a half hourly one as the evening became later, we wanted to get to our final bar of the day swiftly, if only so we could get back to Aberdeen in good time. The journey to Inverurie was only twenty minutes and typically we ended up in Aberdeen station with far too much time to spare. Still, we had a good mooch around before jumping on the train, which whisked us the two stops to this delightful market town. We did have a look around, but to be honest there is very little here, although the weather at least was particularly clement now for the time of year. Effectively it's two streets with a few shops, an imposing war memorial and a charming town hall overlooking it, aided in its beauty by the Christmas lights. The Brewdog is very close to this and was incredibly busy, which was surprising in a town with fewer than 11,000 residents. Still, I think this was the first one that was opened due to EFP demand and certainly there are more EFP Punks per capita here than anywhere else in the world so maybe it did make business sense for a bar to be there. It was certainly popular and we enjoyed a few more beers here, until a sour one really hit our stomachs badly and we had to pause for a while. Fortunately, this was in close vicinity to a train, so after an hour in this rather long yet spacious bar, we headed back to the train station to catch the service back to Aberdeen.
Once back in the city, we decided to enjoy the apartment some more, as well as let our bellies recover. The combination of the heavy food and the sour beer had really caused issues, so it was great just to chill. I took the opportunity to have a shower and listen to David Bowie records while Wolfie chilled in the bedroom, with me joining him to watch Taskmaster together. As it approached midnight, we did think we should at least visit a couple of local bars, and conveniently the main one we wanted to call by was literally right around the corner. This proved to be a good choice as Fierce are pretty much the best bar in Britain at present, and their Fiercely Juicy V2 did not disappoint. Their Bourbon beer, another high strength one but in a totally different style, was also a strong contender while we also shared a packet of Prawn Cocktail Skips as we drank. The bar staff were really chatty and it was good to see this bar completed, as it resembled something of a construction site when we visited nineteen months ago. After this, we decided to go for a nightcap in Brewdog Castlegate, again going for a high strength dark beer to finish the evening. However, with a long drive to St Andrews the next day and plans to meet up with Blujay, we did have to call it a night at 1am, with us needing some sleep ahead of another long day.
