Holy Goat 1887 Imperial Stout

Holy Goat make the sort of beers that smell faintly alarming when you first open them, then five minutes later you’re completely hooked and trying to explain mixed fermentation to your mates like you’ve suddenly become a farmhouse beer professor overnight.

Based up in Dundee, the brewery focuses heavily on spontaneous and mixed fermentation beers, pulling inspiration from Belgian lambic traditions but giving everything a distinctly modern Scottish twist. Loads of oak ageing, wild yeast, bacteria and long maturation times involved, which means the beers develop all kinds of tart, funky, fruity and earthy flavours that normal clean brewery fermentation would run screaming from.

The saisons and sour beers are where things really shine. Sharp citrus, underripe peach, hay, cider apple, farmhouse funk, bits of oak, sometimes a gentle vinegar edge depending on the beer. Complex stuff, but still weirdly drinkable once your palate settles in. There’s clearly loads of care behind it all rather than just “let’s make it sour and see what happens”.

Fruit gets handled brilliantly too. When Holy Goat use berries or stone fruit, it tastes like actual fermented fruit rather than smoothie mix dumped into beer for Instagram likes. Dry, tart and layered instead of sugary.

Despite all the wild fermentation nerdiness, the brewery never feels pretentious. The beers are experimental but grounded, and there’s a proper DIY Scottish energy behind the whole thing. Slightly chaotic, deeply thoughtful and very good at making your fridge feel more interesting.