Introducing Whinstone, a barrel-aged farmhouse ale with gorse flowers.

Our latest Origins Brewing release brings together the spirit of Glen Fyne with a touch of Norwegian farmhouse brewing – a wheat-heavy pale ale fermented with kveik yeast, a traditional Scandinavian strain, before souring and finishing with a tea made from Glen Fyne gorse flowers.

The resultant beer showcases a unique character with flavours of subtle coconut and almond, with a touch gentle vanilla which wash into a gose-like salinity and mellow sourness. It’s a soft and balanced with a finish that lifts and delivers a moreish tang.

SHOP ORIGINS BREWING – WHINSTONE

Like all our Origins Brewing, Whinstone features a high-proportion of Scottish raw wheat, and ingredient we believe provides a beautiful canvas on which we can layer complex flavours. This is especially the case with Whinstone whose gentle combination of coconut, almond and vanilla beautifully combine with the wheat and the farmhouse Kveik yeast.

Gorse is a hardy, thorny plant, the most common species of which is native to Scotland and blooms each spring with bright yellow flowers, lighting up the hillside of Glen Fyne along its many watercourses with a golden glow. While there is little record of the flowers having any significant medicinal qualities, their unique floral coconut and almond flavour mean they have been used extensively in wines, teas and as a flavouring in desserts. Here in Whinstone, the gorse flowers have added a unique character to the beer that is soft and moreish.

The base beer, primary fermented with the kveik yeast and then soured, was resting in oak for quite a long time and on its own it was tasting really nice – the kveik ferments at a high temperature and gives off lots of rounded esters to the beer,” explains Head of Origins Brewing, Pawel Nowak. “The idea to finish the beer with gorse came in Spring 2020, when we were out for a walk during the first lockdown – I remember passing close by the gorse bushes and being overwhelmed by the scents of coconut and almond, the flowers are quite potent when in bloom, and I thought they would be a brilliant addition to the flavour profile of the barrel.”

SHOP ORIGINS BREWING – WHINSTONE

Previously only available as part of special mixed cases, Whinstone is now available to buy on the Fyne Ales online shop on its own, or as a case of six 375ml bottles.