retiredmartin

Ellon (pop. 10,070) is one of the most populous UK towns I’d never visited before this mammoth ticking year, which is odd when you think of its reputation as the birthplace of woke craft beer.

I would have visited in 2019 but I was so sick after the bus trip to Oldmeldrum I gave it a miss.

The BrewDog Tap, the only place in the world you can order a pint of Tactical Nuclear Penguin, is excluded from the GBG on a matter of principle (no cask), but the two ticks nearby are both corkers.

Just outside Ellon, Pitmedden’s micro-like Craft Bar is one of the most enthusiastic places I’ve been in; the owner giving me a full history of the breweries on the bar.

I really couldn’t have cared less, and just wanted to sit down and eavesdrop, but the chap was so friendly and enthusiastic I found myself nodding in the right places.

And his beer (Orkney) was sensational, cool and crisp 3.5+ stuff. Proper crisps too.

In Ellon itself the Tolbooth looks an unlikely GBG entry,

a bar dominated by darts and blokes at the bar.

Too busy to take photos, so here’s the one where the locals say “Cheers”.

Outside beyond the conservatory it was singlets and Snow Patrol, an unlikely combination.

Again, a superbly crisp Orkney (3.5) which might just edge Aberdeen & Grampian into the top half of my secret beer scores spreadsheet.

Never mind Brew Dog, come for the Tolbooth and stay for the Action Men.