Jo and I have just got back from a holiday in Inverness to celebrate her birthday. Most of her family live there so I've visited a few times, but something was different on this trip: decent beer.

On all previous occasions that I've visited I've ended up drinking whisky. Not that it's a chore, of course, as there's inevitably an excellent range of malts available, but I'd rather have a good beer and, up until now, that just hasn't been available with gassy, chemically lager being the order of the day.

So I was very pleasantly surprised on this visit to discover a number of bars serving really good local beer. The Castle Tavern is just down the road from Jo's mother's and they had some excellent beers from Cairngorm Brewery and the Isle of Skye Brewing Company. Elsewhere I also had good beer brewed by the An Teallach Brewery, and the Black Isle Brewery. All of these companies are new - starting in the least decade or so, and many more Highland breweries have started in the last five years.

There's been revival of real ale brewing across the country over the last fifteen years or so, but it's good to see that the Highlands aren't being left behind. So here's to the Highland renaissance - it will make visits to the in-laws that much more appealing!

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