On the craft trail with a gluten-free double and a juicy ale. Wicklow Wolf, Lough Gill, Third Barrel.

On the craft trail with a gluten-free double and a  juicy ale. Wicklow Wolf, Lough Gill, Third Barrel

Wicklow Wolf Arcadia GF Lager 4.3% ABV, 440 ml can https://wicklowwolf.com/shop/ 

“Slowly conditioned to ensure an exceptional taste”

Lovely gold/amber colour on this lager, with a soft white head. Great display of bubbles rising. Aromas are more malt than hop. Straightaway, you notice the refreshing edge, “great cutting in it”, as was said some decades back! But it has. Smooth also with a subtle balance of fruit and hop, a little sweetness and a hint of spice. Add in that crisp finish. What more could you want?

They say: We are locally rooted and at one with nature, brewing beers in a sustainable way. Slowly conditioned to ensure an exceptional taste, this is a smooth, refreshing lager with a hint of sweetness and spice. It is finely balanced with fruit and floral notes. Subdued maltiness throughout with a crisp finish.

The recipe seems to have changed a bit over the past few years. The hops now are Ariana and Huell Melon, with the latter taking the place of Hallertau Tradition, while the Munich is an addition to the malt bill. But the gluten-free lager is an excellent one and Very Highly Recommended.

Lough Gill Breakers Gluten Free Pale Ale, 4.2% ABV, 440 ml can Matsons

smooth and very enjoyable ale

Breakers, a gluten free Pale Ale by Sligo’s Lough Gill Brewery,  has a clear light amber colour with micro-bubbles galore rising to the frothy head. It certainly looks inviting, and the looks here do not deceive!

 The aromatics continue the “come-on”, notes of tropical fruits, pine and a hint of grapefruit. More of the same on the palate of this smooth and very enjoyable ale.

The independent craft brewery has employed Mosaic and Chinook hops with Irish Pale Malt to good effect here, and the easy-drinking beer is Very Highly Recommended.

Third Barrel Shut Up Juice Juicy Pale Ale, 5.0% ABV, 440 ml can Bradley's Cork

seriously juicy, seriously fruity, seriously crushable.

Seriously juicy, seriously fruity, seriously crushable. That was the hook from Third Barrel when they released this Shut Up Juice a few years back.

The colour is light orange with a white foamy head. The aromas, not quite as big as expected, feature pineapple and citrus. But the flavours are seriously exotic: passionfruit, pineapple, and mango, a delicious melange that takes you all the way to a refreshing finish.

It has been double dry hopped with New World hops Vic Secret (Australia) and Citra (USA), enough to give a balancing streak of bitterness. Highly Recommended.

Third Barrel, based in Dublin, claims to be “a unique concept, a collaboration brewery between Stone Barrel Brewing and Third Circle Brewing, who have combined their experience, resources, love for brewing, and absolute passion for beer to create one of Ireland's most cutting-edge breweries.” Founded in 2015, they make a wide range of beer and sell it all over Europe.