On the craft trail with Eight Degrees, Connemara and Trouble Brewing

On the craft trail with Eight Degrees, Connemara and Trouble Brewing

Eight Degrees Déjà Vu Hopfenweisse, 7.5% ABV, 440 ml can No 21 Coburg St

Buy-Back Brewers Bounce Back

This Hopfenweisse is the welcome-back shot from the Antipodean founders of Eight Degrees, who had just bought back the brewery. It may be a Weisse, but the Naturally Adventurous duo, while happy to brew traditional styles traditionally, have never been keen on just imitating. Here, as is their wont,  they have added their own twist!

“We’ve created a beer that epitomises our love for taking traditional beer styles and adding a modern twist.” Weissbiers come in varying styles, and you don't find Hopfenweisse in many style listings, but they can be placed alongside beers such as Hefeweizen. 

According to Han-Peter Drexler, brewmaster of respected weiss brewers Schneider, wheat beer is not the easiest of beers to brew: “For me, wheat beer is terrible to produce…..but the result is amazing if everything works perfectly.”

You can expect a large foamy head in wheat beers, and here, above a clear amber/golden body (well populated with rising bubbles), the Deja Vu delivers. Another wheat beer characteristic is banana in both aromas and on the palate, and it also shows. The Eight Degrees difference comes from the hops, including the dry hopping with Mandarina Bavaria, adding a well-judged input of sweet tropical citrus notes to an already attractive beer. Quite an ale by the comeback kids and Very Highly Recommended.

Geek Bits

Style: Hopfenweisse
Malt: Irish malted barley, wheat.
Hops: Amarillo, dry hopped with Mandarina Bavaria.
ABV: 7.5%

Connemara Irish Ale, 4.5% ABV, 330 ml can Lidl

an open fermented ale

Our Connemara Irish Ale comes with a soft, foamy head over a  red-orange body. Juicy, yes, and full of flavour, yet there is something “old-fashioned” about the palate, and that should be expected as this is an open fermented ale. Connemara is a taste journey from first sip to last, thanks to the use of traditional recipes and the best possible local ingredients sourced directly from carefully selected producers.

They say: “Our masterly crafted recipe produces a taste explosion from start to finish. A perfect hop medley and yeast blend provides our ale with a flavour that will make you want more. Irish ale has a long and dignified history. We've kept to those traditional values by producing an open fermented ale with a reddish hue and a beautifully sweet palate that is bursting with hop flavour while remaining low in bitterness. It's like Connemara sunset in a glass.” I wouldn’t disagree!

Very Highly Recommended.

Trouble Brewing Little Monster Pale Ale,  3.5% ABV,

440 ml can Bradleys 

Recommended for a session!

The colour of our Little Monster is pale orange, with a brilliant, if short-lived, white head and shoals of bubbles rushing towards the top. The aromas are citrusy and tropical. The flavours are unexpectedly intense for the ABV and closely follow the aromas, with mango and pineapple among the tropical notes. Additionally, there is a quite bitter element from the hops. The beer is refreshing with a lip-smacking, dry finish. The ingredients include oats, wheat, and rye, as well as malt and yeast, of course.

Little Monster was launched three years ago. The hops used are Sabro, Mosaic, Azacca, and El Dorado. Despite being 3.5%, it is quite flavourful and would more than hold its own in a session. Recommended.