What better way to spend a cold January afternoon than with some warming Scotch whiskies accompanied by some beer. Whisky and beer are a natural fit; after all, they are both made from malt, water and yeast.

It probably comes as no surprise that the pairing of whisky with beer has been around for ages. The Americans have long had ‘The Boilermaker’ or the ‘shot and a beer’ but this session will go down the Scottish route of ‘a hauf an’ hauf’.

The ‘hauf an’ hauf’, unlike the Boilermaker, is designed to savoured; alternating sips between the beer and the whisky to let the flavours blend and complement each other. Although we won’t be serving half pints of beer as we want people to be able to walk afterwards!

Led by Guild of Beer Writers Member and World Whisky Judge, Christine Cryne, this tasting will feature Scottish four great single malt whiskies with four tasty beers. It will start with an accessible Speyside whisky and then moving on to drams from three other whisky regions: Lowlands, Highlands and Islands.

And what better time to do this tutored tasting than a few days after Rabbie Burns’ birthday, a poet who loved whisky so much he wrote about it! See: https://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/robertburns/works/scotch_drink/

The session will start at 2pm and last about 2 hours and will take place in the upstairs room at the Pineapple.