Seven Giraffes IPA from Williams Brothers Brewing is the focus of this Beer Together craft beer review, as we taste a Scottish gluten-free IPA from Alloa and ask whether this unusual beer is really an IPA, an ESB, a golden ale in disguise, or simply one of the most drinkable beers we have tried so far. This week’s episode explores Williams Brothers Brewing, the Scottish family brewery behind Seven Giraffes, including its origins as a Glasgow home brew shop, the story of a traditional heather ale recipe, early brewing in a railway station, and the move to Alloa, a town with strong beer and malting connections. We also look at the wider Williams Brothers range mentioned in the episode, including heather ale, Scots pine ale, gooseberry wheat ale, seaweed ale and elderberry black ale. The beer itself gives us plenty to talk about. Seven Giraffes IPA is a 5.1% gluten-free IPA made with seven different malts, including lager malt, wheat, Maris Otter, Vienna, pale rye, pale crystal and Munich. We discuss how those malts shape the flavour, bringing caramel, sweetness and body without becoming too heavy or biscuity. We also talk through the hop profile, including First Gold, Cascade and Styrian Goldings, alongside elderflower and lemon, and how those floral and citrus notes lift the beer into something lighter, brighter and more memorable. As a beer tasting podcast, we dig into the full drinking experience: colour, aroma, flavour, balance, drinkability, bitterness, carbonation, malt character, elderflower aftertaste, IPA style, and whether Seven Giraffes would work for both experienced IPA drinkers and people who normally avoid IPAs. Matt does not usually like elderflower, which makes his reaction to this beer even more interesting. There is also plenty of pub chat along the way, from questionable Hawaiian shirts and not Googling “lei” on a work laptop, to foraging in the Lake District, elderflower wine bubbling away at home, old pub beer batter traditions, dial-up internet memories, Father’s Day beer choices, and whether your dad would trust the beer but question the label. For food pairing, we move away from the obvious burger or fish and chips match and explore why Seven Giraffes IPA feels more like a posh picnic beer. Think pork pie, sausage roll, roast chicken with lemon, garlic and thyme, goat’s cheese tart, herbal salads, lighter fish dishes and food with floral, citrus or savoury notes that work with the elderflower, lemon and caramel malt. We also test Seven Giraffes against our craft beer definition discussion, including the Italian-style craft beer test around independence, production size, pasteurisation and filtration, before landing on what we call UK pub logic: this is a proper independent craft beer, even if we cannot legally certify it by the Italian definition from the can alone. Finally, Seven Giraffes enters Choose Your Fighter against the current Scottish champion, Vault City’s You Choose We Brew. We compare flavour, drinkability, character and memorability, and decide whether this balanced, floral, caramel-led Scottish IPA has enough to beat the big mango sour from last week. The result gives us a brand-new Choose Your Fighter champion. If you enjoy craft beer podcasts, Scottish beer, IPA reviews, beer tasting, independent breweries, gluten-free beer, Williams Brothers Brewing, food pairing, funny pub stories, or discovering beers worth sharing, this episode is for you.
