A Quart of Ale± #52. On the craft journey with Amber & Red Ales.

A Quart of Ale± #52

On the craft journey with Amber & Red Ales. 

Do you know your amber from your red?

This may help. Then again it may not!

"Amber ale is an emerging term used in Australia, France and North America for pale ales brewed with a proportion of amber malt and sometimes crystal malt to produce an amber colour generally ranging from light copper to light brown. A small amount of crystal or other coloured malt is added to the basic pale ale base to produce a slightly darker colour, as in some Irish and British pale ales.In France the term "ambrée" is used to signify a beer, either cold or warm fermented, which is amber in colour; the beer, as in Pelforth Ambrée and Fischer Amber, may be a Vienna lager, or it may be a Bière de Garde as in Jenlain Ambrée. In North America, American-variety hops are used in varying degrees of bitterness, although very few examples are particularly hoppy. Diacetyl is barely perceived or absent in an amber ale." Source: Wikipedia

Brú Red Ale, 4.2%, 330ml can Bradleys

It’s a red ale and it is red with a pillowy off-white, coffee dusted head that shrinks as you drink. Toffee and caramel in the aromas. And that continues onto the palate, impressive entry as the malt and the hops each get a share of the limelight as the pleasant experience continues. 

They say: An aromatic red ale for today’s drinker…BRÚ Red Ale is a sophisticated and modern beer.

They also say: Mirroring the unwavering strength of Celtic figure Cuchulainn, the red ale is a mighty example of the traditional Irish style.

Well, modern or traditional, it certainly is mighty!

They say: Alongside our own range of craft beers, we also showcase the best of Ireland’s exciting drinks industry, working closely with high quality Irish breweries, distillers and cider makers. We champion local ingredients and modern Irish fare across all sites and our staff are knowledgeable and passionate about Irish produce. Each of our venues has a distinct personality but all are committed to providing a proper Céad Mile Fáilte – a hundred thousand welcomes. In short, you can expect good beer, good food and good company at every BRÚ Hospitality site.

Porterhouse Red Irish Ale, 4.2%, 500ml bottle via Bradleys

Red, not surprisingly (they use Crystal Malt), is the colour of this Porterhouse ale and there is a light coffee coloured head, a soft frothy one that hangs about a bit. There’s a tarty streak in the fruity palate and also a decent hint of the malt. I liked this really well-balanced effort a few months back and am just as impressed this time. Excellent from start to finish.

They say: Irish red ales? Yes, we know. Sweet, a bit cloying and, well, no thanks. So, it was brave of us (we say bravely) to put the words “red ale” after our own moniker. Why the hell would we do that? Because this is a real red ale, ….But sweet? No way. Balanced, yes. Fresh, yes. Aromatic, yes. In fact, we say yes, please.

Geeky Bits

Malts: Pale Ale Malt, Crystal Malt, Wheat Malt, Black Malt

Hops: Galena (US, fruity), Nugget US, (bittering) , East Kent Goldings (UK, aromatic)

ABV: 4.2%

 IBUs: 33

Kinnegar Devil’s Backbone Amber Ale 4.9%, 440ml can Ardkeen QFS 

Amber’s the colour for sure, a dark amber at that, lots of fizz in the haze. First sip introduces you to its chocolate/caramel backbone and you realise this is a serious drink, pretty robust too, a full-bodied drink you can’t ignore. Dark fruit flavours on the palate, a very satisfying bitterness as well (hops are a mix of European and American) and then there’s a lip-smacking dry finish to boot. Kind of Beamish light with a Guinness bite.

I was wondering, at first, does this belong with the red ales. Seen this classed as pale ale but a better fit in red. Kinnegar themselves confirm it as “A refreshing contemporary take on a traditional Irish Red. Versatile with food and equally enjoyable on its own.” And more good news: Devil’s Backbone is available all year round. 

Dead Centre “Sham Maths” Amber Ale, 6.2%, 440ml via beercloud.ie 

Dead Centre’s well-made well-balanced Amber Ale has, you’ve guessed it, an amber colour (Crystal Malt again!) with a nice soft head. Quite a delicious harmony, with toffee and caramel playing the lead, follows on the palate, and that pleasant balance is further enhanced by a judicious use of bittering hops. By the way, you don’t get too many Ambers (or Reds) at 6.2 abv. 

Athlone’s Dead Centre is Westmeath’s first and only craft brewery. They say: We’re big fans of Amber Ale at Dead Centre Brewing, so when we decided to make a hoppy American Amber…we wanted to do it right…and that’s exactly what we did! A marriage of Pale Malt, Munich Malt, Chocolate Malt and Crystal Malt combine to form a beautifully full and sweet foundation for this deep copper ale that pours with a smooth, firm head. Simcoe and Centennial are the stars of the show on the hops front. Clocking in at 6.2%, Sham Maths is the perfect step up from our core IPA, Marooned.

Dead Centre Brewing may be found on Custume Quay in Athlone. It offers, outside of Covid restrictions, a combined experience including brewery tour, beer tasting and pizza. Now there’s a combination that’s hard to resist.  

A Quart of Ale± #48. On the craft journey with Pale Ale

A Quart of Ale± #48

On the craft journey with Pale Ale.

Trouble Brewing Lucky Pale Ale, 4.4%, 440 can Bradleys

A very pale yellow is the colour here with a white head that shrinks rapidly. Hazy too. Citrusy hoppy aromas are quite intense and the hoppy element follows through to the smooth palate. Oats and wheat are listed here but hardly a wheat ale. It is in fact crisp, flavoursome and well timed for late spring and summer.

Citra, Talus and Simcoe are the hops.

The Brewery: Trouble Brewing was founded in 2010 by three friends: Paul, Tom and Stephen. Tom had been homebrewing for years and insisted on sharing the fruits of his labour with Paul and Stephen.  On nights out, he dragged them to drink pints of various styles and flavours at pubs like the Porterhouse and the Bull and Castle beer hall, both Mecca’s for great beer in Dublin.  Paul soon developed an interest in brewing himself, and it wasn’t long before he realised making beer was a relatively inexpensive process and buying it was quite the opposite.  With this in mind he approached Tom and Stephen with the idea of setting up a brewery of their own. It could provide an income for the three and get them out of the unfortunate situation of working for “the man”. They gathered up all the money they could (about €45k between them) and borrowed the same from the bank with the help of a well prepared business plan. Then they set about putting together a functioning brewery.

Whiplash Jupiters Pale Ale, 5.1%, 440ml can*

Jupiters, described by the producers as a “light, bright spacey beer”,  has a pale yellow, almost lemon, colour, very very hazy, with a soft white head that fades away quickly enough. Aromas are hefty and hoppy, a hint of pine, with citrus prominent. And the hops, reinforced in the whirlpool, dominate the palate with mango, passionfruit and pineapple singing their exotic song right though to the lip-smacking finalé. It is among the “hoppiest” of pale ales, not the one to start your craft journey with.

Label: Maris Otter, Wheat Malt, Oat Malt, Carapils, Galaxy, Denali. 

Galway Hooker Irish Pale Ale, 4.3%, 500ml bottle O’Donovan’s

Dark amber (burnt amber, I’m told here) is the colour and there’s a white head that sinks slowly enough. And you notice a light citrus-y aroma, more blossom than fruit. Actually you have to give the label writer credit here as the words are more or less bang-on. It is fresh and tangy, a perfect balance between malt (biscuity) and hops (citrus) that gives its a crisp dry finish.  Maybe not exactly a perfect balance; in my opinion, it’s slightly tilted in favour of the malt but no big deal.

Recommended food pairings are barbecued meats, seafood and mature farmhouse cheeses.

They say: Our ethos is to brew natural, full flavoured, high quality and preservative free beers. The results are beers that have received numerous awards, including Gold Medals at the Irish Food Awards in 2014, 2015 and 2016 – the only Irish brewery to have achieved this distinction. Furthermore, our Irish Pale Ale and Amber Lager were Gold medal winners at the 2018 World Beer Awards. 

I’ve enjoyed a few pints of this on draught in its native county and it’s also widely available in 50cl bottle.

Brú “Tutti Frutti” Tropical Pale Ale, 5.5%, 440ml via beercloud.ie

This is part of the Meath brewery’s Urban Jungle series celebrating their “adventurous side”. An explosion of sweetness and a silky soft body make it an easy-drinking beer to delight the senses with every sip. Adventurous?

A gorgeous pale cold colour, slightly hazy, and a soft white slowly-sinking head are what you see. And there’s quite a lot of exotic fruit aromas to sniff. And then to savour on the palate, with Mango showing through along with grapefruit and pineapple.  

Brú say it is “inspired by the classic sweets” and  indicate that Tutti Frutti should remind you of those juicy fruity treats you enjoyed as a school-kid.

There’s real fruit purée and extracts in the mix here but it’s not all sweetness. The Enigma and Centennial hops provide enough backbone to give a reasonable balance and a bitter edge, especially towards the end. No problem sinking one of these, especially in a beer garden or a back garden on a summer’s day.

* - sample

A Quart of Ale± #47. On the craft journey with Stout and Porter

 A Quart of Ale± #47

On the craft journey with Stout and Porter

O’Hara’s Irish Stout 4.3%, 500ml bottle via Radical Drinks

The 2014 edition of the Beer Handbook acknowledges the O’Hara’s family expertise in stout such as this “medium-bodied, drier end, near-black..”  But gives the big thumbs up to their Leann Folláin.

O’Hara’s, trading as Carlow Brewing, were part of the first wave of Irish craft brewing. They started in 1996 before expanding into a new brewery in Bagnalstown in 2009. 

They say of this stout: The flagship of the O’Hara’s brand, this uniquely Irish stout brings one back to how Irish stouts used to taste. First brewed in 1999, it has since been awarded prestigious honours for its quality and authenticity. The combination of traditional stout hops with an extra pinch of roast barley allows us to stay true to Irish tradition, recreating a taste so often yearned for by stout drinkers.

The Handbook may say near-black but its black as far as I’m concerned, black with a fluffy cream-coffee coloured head. Aromas too of coffee, rich and complex. And that follows to the mouth, with sturdy roast flavours it flows smooth and full-bodied on the way to a dry tart finish, again with that coffee prominent. A classic that leaves me looking forward to trying the Leann Folláin (which is in my queue, not a very long one!).

Geek Bits

Style: Traditional Dry Irish Stout

ABV: 4.3% 

Plato °: 10.75°

IBU: 36

Fermentation: Top fermentation

Availability: Keg (nitrogenated), Bottle 50cl and 33cl, occasional 41L cask.

Serve: 6-10°C.  For our bottled version, some enjoy this stout served in the traditional way in southeast Ireland at room temperature “off the shelf”. 

Food Pairing: Excellent with seafood particularly shellfish and smoked salmon. Also pairs well with strong flavoured cheeses and dry cured meats such as Parma ham.

Glass: O’Hara’s tulip glass

O Brother “The Nightcrawler” Milk Stout,  4.5%, 440ml via beercloud.ie 

O Brother introduce The Nightcrawler as “our darkly delicious Nitro Milk Stout. Spreading darkness into the beery world from today! Dark brown to black in colour.” 

From my can, colour is more black than brown with a coffee-dust coloured head that hangs around for a spell. Not at all thick and creamy as you might read in the blurb (perhaps they’re talking draught). And there’s a touch of lightly roasted coffee about the aromas. On the palate it is mildly smooth coffee, chocolate and vanilla notes and a lightness in the body that is more typical of porter. Pretty good balance and nothing too bitter at all in the finish. 

You’ll sometimes see this billed as a Nitro. But O Brother themselves clear this up on their Facebook page: “We can't get the nitro effect in cans or bottles so it's draught only I'm afraid.”  Pleasing enough from the can though.

They say: We’ve been working hard, pushing ourselves to get even more fresh, interesting and exciting beers out the brewery door. We've been having an amazing time working with some of our fellow brewers and a host of talented artists on our 'Off The Wall' beer series too...

Porterhouse “Plain Porter”, 4.2%, 500ml bottle via Bradleys

Black is the colour. Head? What head? Aromas are plain enough: coffee and chocolate. Flavours are just as obvious and the mouthfeel is smooth on the way to a dry and slightly bitter finale.  

I reckon Scaldy (by Dublin’s Whiplash) and Liberty (by Cork’s Elbow Lane) are among the top porters at present though I’m always aware of the old saying: different strokes for different folks. And this beer has gold medals to its name!

And the name? Well, when “…no rashers grease your pan / A pint of plain is yer only man.”

They say: Our Plain Porter – porter is a lighter version of stout – is a double gold medal winner. We brew for taste and in the brewing we look carefully at how we do it

Geek Bits

Food Pairings: Beefy Stew, Roast Lamb

Malts: Roast barley, Black Malt, Flaked Barley

Hops: Galena, Nugget, East Kent Goldings

Galway Hooker Irish Stout 4.5%, 500ml bottle O’Donovan’s

Galway hooker Irish Stout is available on draught and in 50cl bottle. My bottle poured black with a short-lived off-white head. Aromas are coffee dominated. Coffee too on the palate along with dark malt flavours and it stays strong all the way to the finalé, dry on those lips.  

This one may well find its place at the table. They recommend matching with hearty meat dishes, hard cheeses or as an after dinner drink.

Quite a tradition in this country of people drinking lighter beers (mainly lager) in summer and the darker ones in winter. Galway Hooker maintain a blog and have a post on the subject: 

Darker beers usually contain slighter higher carbohydrate levels and perhaps that is the reason our primordial brains seek out this additional nutrition at a time when food was historically hard to come by. Whatever the reason, there is no doubt that stouts and darker ales become more popular at the expense of paler lagers and ciders during the winter period.

More at Galway hooker Blog: http://www.galwayhooker.ie/blog.html.

A Quart of Ale± #45 On the craft journey with a mixed bunch. A Brown Ale, A Black Ale, And Two With ID problems! But Relax, All Drink Well.

 A Quart of Ale± #45

On the craft journey with a mixed bunch. 

A Brown Ale, A Black Ale, And Two With ID problems! But Relax, All Drink Well.

Wide Street “Peach Berliner” Sour or Wheat? 4.6%, 440ml via beercloud.ie

Well, the head on this vanished faster than that of an Alka Selzter. Colour is a hazy pale lemon, a bit like Lem-Sip. Are we having the cure first?

I’m expecting fruit and I get it in the aromas as it manages to make itself known through the funky stuff. And, yes, it is sour too on the palate, superbly so. And immediately you’re thinking, summertime in the open air, either a beer-garden or a back-garden. 

The fruit, not immediately identifiable as peach (more lemon than peach, I thought), is sharp and tangy and the mouthful is refreshingly dry. Apparently that dryness comes from their house yeast.

They say: Meet Peach Berliner. More than 12 months in production and 4 of those months on 100 kg of peaches and our take on the Berliner Weisse style. The refreshing tart peach flavour and aroma combined with a large percentage of wheat with a Brettanomyces and lactobacillus fermentation to deliver a fireside thirst quencher. 

Our house yeast is a custom blend of Brettanomyces, saccharomyces and lactobacillus strains from Bootleg Biology, a yeast laboratory based in Nashville, USA. This gives our beer a distinctive dry mouthfeel and enhanced fruity flavours. Available nationwide through Alpha Beer & Cider Distribution.

So quite a different animal all the way from the wide streets of Longford. Very different indeed. Excites the curiosity a fair bit and now I am on look out for their saison!

Fruit and Veg: Tried this with a bag of Joe’s Farm Vegetable Crisps, my last bag. And was delighted to see how they paired so well! The crisps are made on the Burns farm in East Cork from their own carrots, parsnips and beetroot.

Berliner Weiss, by the way, is a cloudy sour beer. It is a regional variation of the wheat beer style from Northern Germany, dating back to at least the 16th century. Wheat (and barley) is listed in the Wide Street ingredients along with with a 100gm of peaches!

The brewery have an informative article here about Brett in cans.

Whiplash “The Ocean Wide” Brown Ale, 6.8%, 440ml can*

Brown, going on black, is the colour of this ale, a tribute to the tale of Dingle’s Fungie. The head, a touch of coffee in the colour, doesn’t stay around as long as our mammal mate did in Kerry. Coffee, and indeed toffee, both with hints of roast, fill the nose without even having to place the proboscis that close to the glass.  And you meet the pair again on the palate, some chocolate now adding to the experience. Sweetness now but how much that owes to the adjunct Maple Syrup is hard to say. Must say, well not so much must, rather I’m quite happy to say I enjoyed this one.

Whiplash say Fungie was “doing tricks for hungover brewers on a boat of a Sunday morning down in Dingle harbour”. “That’s why he was our number 1. In his memory we’ve brewed the beer we can only assume he was really into – A maple syrup infused Brown Ale. We hope this would be his tipple. We don’t know where he is now. Hopefully he’s retired to warmer waters and we wish the lad well and thank him for his time with us.”

And where did the name come from? Over to Whiplash: As his best bud Paddy Ferriter put it: He can go where he like. There’s no one going to say to him “where did you come from?”, “where are you bound for?”. No. He has the ocean wide.

Me? I like the yarn. And I did enjoy my one and only trip out to Fungie along with kids of all ages. And yes I like the beer.

So Brown Ales? The New York Times: Brown ales and like-minded styles — including straightforward lagers, pilsners and porters — to name a few, are very different sorts of beers (to IPAs). They occupy subtler realms, quenching thirst with pure flavors and perhaps a snappy zestiness in the case of pilsner and a rich depth in the case of porter. They are not flamboyant styles that wow with complexity or make themselves the centers of attention. They simply satisfy. It’s the kind of beer that gets left behind in our I.P.A. culture.

Other Irish Brown Ales (and neither very close to the Whiplash) worth looking out for are Ballykilcavan Bamrick’s and Lough Gill’s Mac Nutty, a nut brown ale (with toasted macadamia nuts).

Metalman “Moonbeam” India Black Ale, 5.0%, 330 ml can via beercloud.ie

Black, as you’ve no doubt guessed, is the colour; the soft head has a light coffee touch about it. I’ve been on the old cocoa lately so I recognise it in the smokey aromas. And in the flavours too but here the hops rule, tropical fruits, including pomegranate, getting a chance to shine right through the dry finish. This Waterford beer is yet another hybrid. Has ambitions to be a Black IPA but, black though it is, for now methinks it’s an ale rather than an IPA. 

They say: Moonbeam is brewed with a selection of New Zealand hops and balanced with plenty of dark malts to deliver a solid cocoa backbone. Dark and luscious, but deceptively light in body and smooth on the finish.

Früh Kölsch, 4.8%, 500ml bottle via Bradleys

This German beer comes with a bright and clear light-amber hue, a slim white head, with bubbles by the thousand racing to the top. After that it is crisp and refreshing, with no lack of flavour, from this easy-drinking beer.  It is a hybrid, as its production and subsequent beer drinking experience straddles both lager beers and ale. While it can be classed as a lager, it is top fermented (besides, malted wheat is one of the ingredients), so you could also call it a wheat beer..

The beer from Cologne (hence the Kölsch) has been around for centuries and the family owned company is in its fifth generation. The “deliciously palatable beer” is the Cologne specialty - and an original still brewed today according to the original recipe by Peter Josef Früh - from the best ingredients and in accordance with the German Purity Law. With such a long history you might be expecting a beer with more heft to it but the Früh Kölsch is a relatively simple drink that’s stood the test of time. Nowadays, you can also find an alcohol free version.

They say: Almost 400,000 hectoliters of Früh Kölsch now flow out of the brewing kettles every year. Today, early Kölsch is valued as a beer specialty far beyond the borders of the Rhineland. And so you can find early lovers not only between Heligoland and Munich, but also in over 30 export countries.

* sample supplied

Cheers on Beer, Spirits and Wine. With Ballykilcavan, BeerCloud, BeoirFest, Irish Distillers, Wines of the World, Clonakilty Distillery, Larkin's Brewery, Bierhaus

 Cheers on Beer, Spirits and Wine. 

With Ballykilcavan, BeerCloud, BeoirFest, Irish Distillers, Wines of the World, Clonakilty Distillery, Larkin's Brewery, Bierhaus

Ballykilcavan Farm and Brewery: Tour Online!

It looks like it could be a while until we're welcoming visitors back inside the brewery, so we're moving our tours online.

If you're organising a group event over the next few months, we can now run a private, virtual tour of Ballykilcavan for you. It's the same tour as if you were here, so I'll share the stories of the family and workers over the 13 generations that we've been here, show you around the 18th century farmyard and 21st century brewery, and we can even send out some beers in advance and do a guided tasting.

If you're interested, please just message me here or send an email to david@ballykilcavan.com and I'll go through the details with you.

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Tempting Mixed Case Offer from BeerCloud!

To celebrate St Patrick's Day (don't worry, it's definitely not too late to celebrate the feast day of our patron saint), we've taken one of our newest boxes and lashed on a HUGE 17% discount!

An Bosca Beorach is a collection of beers that celebrate the Irish language and all carry Gaelige on the label. It includes wonderful beers from White Hag, Four Provinces, Reel Deel and Eight Degrees.

This offer is strictly while stocks last and expires on March 31st, 2021 @ 11:59pm

To celebrate St Patrick's Day (don't worry, it's definitely not too late to celebrate the feast day of our patron saint), we've taken one of our newest boxes and lashed on a HUGE 17% discount!

An Bosca Beorach is a collection of beers that celebrate the Irish language and all carry Gaelige on the label. It includes wonderful beers from White Hag, Four Provinces, Reel Deel and Eight Degrees.  

An Bosca Beorach €28.60 View

This offer is strictly while stocks last and expires on March 31st, 2021 @ 11:59pm *********

BeoirFest Roundtables Back on April 3rd

We're taking break from the roundtables for a week. But we'll be back on April 3 with a fantastic schedule....

Apr 03:

Tempted Irish Craft Cider

,

Stonewell Cider

,

Legacy Irish Cider

Apr 10:

Lineman

,

Bullhouse Brewing Company

,

Killarney Brewing Company

Apr 17:

Trouble Brewing

,

Peak Beer

,

Dundalk Bay Brewery

Apr 24 & May 1: A very special event with Lars Marius Garshol and Simonis Gutautas from

Dundulis

in Lithiuania.

Join us April 3rd...

#irishbeer #irishcraftbeer #homebrewing #craftbeer #lithuanianbeer #irishcider #irishcraftcider

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Irish Distillers Tasting Club

Welcome to the Irish Distillers Tasting Club. This six part series examines everything from the impact of different casks to the exploration of flavour and aroma. Each week you'll join an Irish whiskey masterclass with the people who know it best. Check in here on You Tube.

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Wines of the World - Virtual Private Tasting

Fancy booking a private virtual wine tasting for yourself and your colleagues?

Drop us a DM or email sales@WinesOfTheWorld.ie for more information .

We can cater for small and large groups all across Ireland.

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Larkin's Brewing Company Seek Lead Innovation Brewer

Job Description

This is a great opportunity for the right brewer The pandemic has pushed Larkins to evolve fast and with that has come new opportunities for growth We have two ranges - core range of approx. 9 beers and the innovation range which will comprise 4 - 6 new small batch beers per month The headlines of the role: Based just outside Dublin close to the sea in Wicklow In charge of wort production for core and innovation ranges. Recipe creation for innovation range. Typical beer styles for us would be ipa, dipa, stouts including impy, barrel aged beers etc etc CIP of brewhouse and wort-forward line Co-ordination with packaging and cellar team for cellar management and overall beer quality International travel for festivals as soon as possible! More details here

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Cork's Bierhaus announces another Haus Flies Live
FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 2021 AT 7 PM UTC+01

Haus Flies Live Episode 5 - Larkins Brewing Company

Free  · Online Event Details: here