Here for the beer: the brewery revolution

That may be how some regard the face of real ale: a bit woolly, slightly serious boffin type who could talk for hours about the difference between wooden casks and metal kegs, hops, yeast and malt while everyone else just gets stuck into the lager.

But cut to earlier this week when hundreds of real ale fans - not a matted beard in sight - descended on Adam House in Chambers Street for the annual Campaign For Real Ale (Camra) Real Ale Festival. They'll be back in force today, pints of smooth fruit flavoured ales, spicy beers and dark malty offerings in hand and with a distinctively fresher, younger and much more adventurous look about them.

And look ahead to tomorrow, when the race to pamper dad on Father's Day is expected to boost sales of bottled real ale.

"That woolly jumper image might be some people's perception of real ale drinkers but it's far from accurate," points out DJ Johnston-Smith, manager of Scotland's oldest surviving public house, The Sheep Heid Inn, in Duddingston.

"Actually, there's a massive brewery revolution going on around us just

now, people are far more open to trying different things. For too long the marketplace was dominated by lager, not that there's anything wrong with lager, but now people are looking for much more choice."

He's seen the shift in demand with his own eyes: when the pub started its own beer festivals seven years ago, they could fit everyone who came into a back room. Now the Sheep Heid Inn's Easter and August real ale get-togethers have dramatically expanded. "The age group is 25 to around 40," he points out, "and plenty of them are women who want to try something different. They are interested because they've heard about different beers on social media sites and online."

What they find are beers that cross boundaries and defy logic, that blast the myths surrounding what real ale is all about and others that are rooted in traditional brewing but with flavours that are bang up to date.

"Right across Scotland there are fantastic little breweries doing amazing things," he adds. "There are fruit beers and flavoured ales that make the mind boggle."

Indeed from heather ales to beer made using tayberries that create a blushing pink brew, to gooseberry beer and marmalade ales to others spiced with Thai flavourings of lemongrass and ginger or even orange and coriander, real ale offerings begin to sound more like something from the wine cellar.

With a thriving Scottish microbrewery scene – led locally by Stewart Brewing in Loanhead, Edinburgh-based Innis and Gunn, left, and gutsy challenger Brewdog which has expanded into running its own pubs, with a venue in the Cowgate – interest has never been greater.

According to Edinburgh-based chairman of Camra, Colin Valentine, the trend is partly fuelled by consumers keen to steer away from mass produced factory offerings towards those with more handcrafted origins. "People are going to farmers' markets, they are seeing things like locally made bread and cheese. Beer is part of that," he explains. "Because these beer producers are small companies, they can experiment with their products in a way big producers can't. That's led to products like beetroot and black pepper beer. There's even a blueberry lager."

Certainly more and more pubs are latching on to the "craft" beer trend. "Edinburgh has always had lots of real ale pubs," he adds. "But more are cropping up.

"The South East Scotland Camra pub of the year is the Bow Bar in Victoria Street, but the Halfway House in Fleshmarket Close has a great selection, and Holyrood 9A in Holyrood Road is another."

If you're seeking out real ale bottles for dad, Colin adds there are good off-licences that stock off-the-wall varieties often not found in supermarkets: "Peter Green in Marchmont is the daddy of them all with a great selection. But Peckhams in Bruntsfield, Cornelius in Easter Road and Appellation Wines in Dalry Road – they're also great."

And not a Fair Isle sweater in sight . . .

n The Camra Scottish Real Ale Festival, Adam House, 3 Chambers Street, today until 9pm