Shilling Brewing Co (Glasgow): Review

Glasgow is a city known for its passion, and rich history of brewing. It's a city which is innovative, forward-thinking and collaborative when it comes to its food and drink industry, and possesses a huge range of foodie establishments which offer up unique, artisan dishes.

Recently I discovered a new found love for craft beer, not my usual preferred tipple of choice, my tastebuds seem to be playing tricks on me, allowing me to indulge in some exciting new flavours. Maybe getting older isn't so bad after all...

With a passion for pizza and my tastebuds looking for their next foodie fix, it wasn't long until I'd sold in the idea to my boyfriend. After all Shilling Brewing Co is the new place-to-be on the Glasgow brewing front, and he does love pizza and beer - it was an easy sell really.

Previously an old bank, the eatery, which is located on 92 West George Street boasts its own in-house brewery, and is the first brewpub to don the city of Glasgow. It's also home to a coupla oven which all of the homemade pizzas are cooked in.

The beer of choice was the unicorn IPA. Named after Scotland's national animal, the IPA is unique in flavour and can be ordered in a pint, 2/3 pint or 1/3 of a pint. Perfect measures if you'd like to try out a few of their other beers too. In all honesty, I'm obsessed with unicorns, so it was always and only ever going to be the unicorn IPA, a good choice and very refreshing, the perfect pairing with a pizza.

 

As well as its brews, the brewery specialises in pizza and pizza alone, so if you don't like eating pizza then best stick to the beers. Actually, even if you don't like pizza, I urge you to give these bad boys a go. Legit, one of the best pizza's I've eaten in Glasgow, so much so, I'd say it's a close call between these pizza's and Paseano's pizza's for the top spot. 

I love a traditional pizza, the more toppings the better in my eyes, and if it comes lathered in BBQ sauce, then we're on to a winner. However, when you see a pizza on the menu which boasts haggis, red onion, tomato sauce, mozzarella, and chilli and Irn Bru jam (£9), you've got to try it out! The pizza was light, and left me full, not the heavy full feeling you sometimes get eating doughy foods, but the satisfied full, leaving a real positive taste in my mouth. The haggis and chilli and Irn Bru jam was phenomenal. Haggis in itself is fantastic, but that chilli and Irn Bru jam was bloody awesome, and I'd order it again, and again, and again. Haggis ft chilli and Irn Bru jam, I love you.

My boyfriend decided to keep it tradizionale (that's traditional in Italian) and ordered a pepperoni pizza featuring jalapeños, mozzarella, red chilli, tomato sauce and red peppers (£10). You can also build your own pizza, and add four different toppings for just £11, bargin. Armed with our own personal pizza cutters, we delved into the gourmet thin-crust pizza, fresh out of the coupla oven, putting those hunger pangs to bay. Better still, all of the pizza's are made using dough risen with brewers' yeast.

Mid pizza meltdown, I sneaked off to discover the rest of the brewery. I'd heard how impressive this place was, and that the tasting rooms and toilets were in what used to be the old bank safes. Did I believe anyone? No. Do I now believe them? Absolutely. It's definitely worth while going for a wonder round this place, you just never know what you might find...

Back to dinner, another great element to this feast was the crust dippers. Gone are the days you have to leave those poor, soulless crusts, hello the era of foodie heaven where crust dippers are a thing. Hello Shilling BBQ and aioli sauces, god damn they were good.

The most fantabulous part about my experience at Shilling Brewing Co (minus the food) was the fact I was seated right in front of a kick ass unicorn. Yeah I just made up a word, but they have a unicorn on the wall - AMAZING.

As a whole, the new brewpub is shit hot. The interiors are, as the kids now say "sick", and the pizza and beers are cracking. A great wee place to stop in for a pizza and beers with your pals, or a fab place for a casual date with your other half. Heck I'd even go as far as saying to take your parents and grandparents along, this place has something for everyone and really caters to all ages.

I will definitely be returning armed with a crowd of my friends to try out another pizza, and together we will sit staring longingly at that unicorn, dreaming of the day we can finally own one...as if.

So if you like great pizza and you love good craft beer, be sure to pay the brewpub a visit, you won't regret it.

For Now...

Just Julia