CorkBillyBeers #12. Craft with Saisons by Black Donkey, Mescan and Galway Bay

CorkBillyBeers #12

Craft journey with Saisons by Black Donkey, 

Mescan and Galway Bay

Mark Dredge’s recently published Beer: A Tasting Course says that Saisons are brewed in an old Belgian Farmhouse tradition and that they vary widely in character. As indeed do farmhouse ales that come “from a romanticised farmhouse tradition”. Just enjoy, don’t get too hung up on the exact style. If you’d like try an excellent Belgian Saison then Michael Creedon of Bradleys in Cork recommends the Saison Dupont: “If you don’t like this, you won’t like saison”.

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Black Donkey Sergeant Jimmy Barrel Conditioned Saison, 7.7%, 500ml bottle BD Online

This is the strongest saison I’ve drank. It is barrel-aged, weighing in at 7.7%. Colour is gold, a deeply hazy one, under a soft white head. There’s banana and vanilla in the aromas. The palate is amazing, so smooth, no heavy hint of the high-ish alcohol, just a caressing ambush by the elegant flavours plus traditional spicy saison yeast character and a gentle satisfying finish including just about a hint of the alcohol that comes more as an expected guest than a whiskey heavy gatecrasher. A welcome guest. 

I’m kind of getting used to writing Very Highly Recommended when the beer is from Roscommon’s Black Donkey Brewery. Long may the habits, mine and Richard’s, continue.

Black Donkey tell us it’s easier to say what this doesn’t pair with, a bowl of cornflakes, that’s about it. "From appetiser to dessert, this beer is possibly the most food friendly beer ever produced on the Emerald Isle. Try it, you’ll see what we mean.”

Very Highly Recommended

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Mescan Westport Saison, 5.8% ABV, 330 ml bottle No. 21

Saison is a traditional farmhouse style from the South of Belgium brewed to sustain the workers during long days of toil in the sun. Reckon I'd appreciate one (or two) after a hard day’s labour or even after an idle day.

Colour is a fairly murky orange, with a soft white head that sinks slowly. Aromas include clove and citrus notes. It is dry and light on the palate, fizzy and refreshing. Indeed, that refreshing fizziness is quite a feature. It is also very well balanced, the New World hops matched by the earthy spicy yeast flavours, and you don't really notice the high alcohol. But do sip rather than gulp!

This one is something different, refreshing and quite a thirst quencher (which is the whole idea), and Mescan, as you may know, was St Patrick’s brewer and no doubt the odd conversion was facilitated by a jug of his cloudy brew. The modern bottle conditioned beer is still cloudy! All Mescan beers are bottle conditioned. To enjoy them clear, store upright and pour into a glass, leaving the yeast sediment in bottle.

Would you like to visit the Mescan Brewery. They’d love to have you: “Let us show you around the brewery and tell you the story of how the founders, Cillian and Bart, left their busy lives as vets to run a microbrewery. We will lead you through our range of beers describing the flavour profiles and some of the history of each style. Light snacks are served, the tours are informal and fun and we encourage questions.” 

Very Highly Recommended.

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Black Donkey Sheep Stealer Irish Farmhouse Ale, 5.6% ABV, 500ml bottle BD Online

It is a Farmhouse Ale or a Saison? Or something in between? Don’t worry too much about the exact style, just enjoy this well established favourite from the Roscommon brewery.

Colour is straw to a deeper gold, nice small-bubbled white head that hangs about for a bit. Aromas have notes of sweet malt but also a little tart touch. Fruity and a little bit spicy, a lively, natural carbonation, with a subtle hop bitterness, quite complex with the yeast also getting into the flavour act. And that flavour is retained right through to the lip-smacking finalé.

Obviously, Black Donkey can talk the talk and walk the walk. There’s a tall tale about sheep stealers on the label before the beer inside makes quite a statement. An excellent bottle from the Roscommon brewery.

But there is some important info on the label. So note the beer, an “Irish saison, is multi-award winning, is dry, crisp, and ultimately refreshing. Also unfiltered, all natural bottle-conditioned beer. Store upright,  8-10c and pour gently into glass, do not disturb the yeast.”

Delighted to note that Black Donkey are one of those breweries that make an effort (beyond the usual pizzas or fish ’n chips) to come up with matches for their beers. “An incredibly versatile beer to accompany grilled and roasted lamb and game, rib eyes and salmon or mackerel on the BBQ. Stuffed, cheesy mushrooms and cheeses of almost types will match perfectly with this saison for all seasons.”

Nothing’s out of synch here in this very drinkable ale, a core beer since 2014.

"At Black Donkey Brewing we value technique over technology. We brew traditional beers in our traditional, hands-on brewhouse. All our beers are unfiltered, unpasteurised and bottle or keg conditioned."

Very Highly Recommended.

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Galway Bay (with Boundary) Beers That Nobody Asked For Petite Saison, 3.8% ABV, 440ml can CraftCentral

This little saison, Petite because of the lower ABV (I presume), has lemongrass listed as one of its ingredients. It has a bright golden colour, is clear with a bubbly white head, a short-lived one. Some sweet notes along with “countermeasures" from the hops in the aromas. Quite a refreshing drink with flavour mix of floral and citrus, some pith in the background, and a crisp and clean finish.

Galway Bay and Boundary Brewing got together for this one. Galway tell the yarn: “In June we welcomed our good friends Boundary Brewing back to Galway for a long overdue collab. We first brewed together in 2015. For this 2022 brew we decided to turn back time to when brewers made Saisons with reckless abandon. BEERS THAT NOBODY ASKED FOR is a petite saison brewed with Lemongrass. Mashed with Pilsner malt, Wheat & Oats & gently hopped & dry hopped with Amarillo. ..The perfect low alcohol thirst killer.”

Recommended.

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A Quart of Ale± #98. On the craft journey with Third Barrel, Rascal's, Boundary, Whiplash

A Quart of Ale± #98

On the craft journey with Third Barrel, Rascal's, Boundary, Whiplash

Third Barrel Shut Up Juice Juicy Pale Ale 5.0%, 440ml can Bradleys

Third Barrel had a lot of success previously with this Pale Ale: It’s back! Our biggest selling beer of 2018 is back with a 2020 hop bill. Loaded with Vic Secret, El Dorado and Citra. Seriously Juicy, Seriously fruity, Seriously crushable!

Colour is a light orange with a white foamy head. 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 take you all the way to a refreshing finish, dry enough and with bitterness present to confirm the use of New World hops.

By the way, the hops packed in here are the US pair of Citra and El Dorado plus Vic Secret from Australia.

Dublin based Third Barrel claim 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 Irelands most cutting edge breweries. Thye make lots of beer and sell it in 11 countries: Ireland, Spain, France, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Portugal, Switzerland, UK and Italy.”

Rascals Rude Girl Black IPA 6.0%, 440ml can Bradleys

Rascals introduce this as “A top ranking mash-up featuring citrusy hops and dark roast malts”. Good, but not quite that good methinks.

Pour it, a little robustly perhaps, and you get the black topped with a tan head, a head than hangs about a bit. The old finger test into the foam give hints of roast from the malts and a bite of evergreen from the hops. That roast also discernible in the aromas with a faint hint of pine in the background.

The malty background holds it steady in the mouth but is balanced out by contributions from the international hops (floral and spicy from the US Cascade, tart gooseberry from the Kiwi Nelson Sauvin, pepper and resin from the German Magnum). Still that roast comes on, certainly more than the “citrusy” hops, both on the lips and in the aftertaste. They say: One step beyond. I say: Hardly. One step short (which is pretty close, actually).

Geek Bits:

Malt: Pale Malt, Munich Malt, Chocolate Wheat Malt, Melanoidin, Carafa 2 Malt

Hops: Cascade (grapefruit, floral, pine), Nelson Sauvin (gooseberry, grape, passionfruit), Magnum (cedar pepper resin)

Yeast: LAX

ABV: 6%

Rascals reflect on the can design: “We’re big into our music here at Rascals and we thought a really complementary way to put a design to these new beers would be to use the iconic black and white chequered motifs of ska culture. Our designer Rachael has some lovely attention to detail on the can design, such as the female character’s distinct ska hairstyle forming the ‘G’ on the Rude Girl can, as well as speaker stacks forming the letter ‘i’. They really are class designs.”

Boundary Trees We Didn’t Plant Pale Ale 4.0%, 440ml can Bradleys

This Belfast pale ale has quite a pale colour, tending towards lemon. It is also hazy with a soft white head that sinks away soon enough. Melon leads the aromas but there’s also a hint of orange. On the palate, it is clean, crisp and light, no shortage of tropical flavour though. It is well balanced and properly refreshing with just enough bitterness at the finish. 

A pretty decent example of the style and definitely one for your session. Quite a backbone to this one for a four per center. Certainly worth a try.

Ingredients include Barley, Oats and Wheat while hips used are the US pair of Citra and Azacca.

There’s been some good news for the Belfast Brewery (a cooperative) recently and they are happy. ”At very, very, very long last, we are opening Northern Ireland’s first Taproom right next door to our Brewery & we need YOU to help make it happen! Come Join Us.” See the video here. 

Whiplash Loud Places Pale Ale 5.0%, 330 ml can Bradleys

Loud Places comes in a light orange colour, a hazy one. The white top doesn’t hang about for long. Hop aromas, with apricot prominent, rise up in the glass to greet you. 

Juicy for sure on the smooth palate, with melon and orange flavours, the hop aromas continuing in the mouth, with some slight sweetness also present but there’s a good balance here. Pretty creamy mouthful on the way to a slightly bitter finish but no shortage of fruit. As they say themselves: “It's a big hazy hoppy sup.”

Not a great deal of info on the can; it doesn’t include the usual malts and hop details. Ingredients do include oats though and that possibly accounts for the smoothness of this very pleasant pale ale. It is unfiltered and unpasteurised.

A Quart of Ale± #59. On the craft journey with a mixed session: Blacks, Boundary, Larkins, West Kerry.

A Quart of Ale± #59

On the craft journey with a mixed session: Blacks, Boundary, Larkins, West Kerry. 

Blacks Ace of Haze Battle of the Tropics DDH Hazy IPA 5.5%, 440 can Bradleys

Yellow-gold is the colour of this latest Ace of Haze from Blacks of Kinsale as they put Azzaca and Mosaic hops through their paces in the Battle of the Tropics. A soft fluffy head sits on top of the haze.

They say: Meet the newest member of the Ace of Haze family, fresh off the canning line. Azzaca and Mosaic do battle to bring you a double dry hopped (DDH) hazy IPA, bursting with mango, pineapple and floral citrus flavours and aromas.

Fruity and floral notes, pine too, in the aromas and that continues on the palate of an interesting mid-bodied and heftily-hopped IPA. It is instantly friendly in the mouth, full of flavour and refreshing, very easy to get along with and there’s quite a finalé as well. 

Quite a combination and one for the short list!

Boundary Very Serious Situation Pils 4.8%, 440 can Bradleys

Light gold is the colour here, slightly hazy with no shortage of rising bubbles. Aromas are mildly fruity (citrus perhaps). Fruity too on the palate, a touch of spice also, refreshing with a dry lip-smacking finish. Very Serious Situation is a pretty serious contender in this style!

I haven’t heard too much of Tettnang, yet this German hop has a long history and is used in the production of a huge variety of beers, including everything from German Pilsners to American Pale Ales.

Not too much info on the beer on their website other than to mention it’s a “crisp, refreshing Pils, generously hopped with Tettnang”. Credit for the can artwork goes to  John Robinson. Boundary is a cooperative brewery owned by its members.

They say: In December 2014, we offered our first members the chance to start a brewery that we could all be proud of! In eight days, we raised £100k and welcomed 447 members to our Cooperative.We got to work immediately. Loads of people missed out on our initial Community Share offer, but we had what we needed to get off to an amazing start.In January 2015, we took the keys to our brewery in Portview Trade Centre. In May, we brewed our first beers.They sold out immediately.

Since then, we've released four core beers, and a mildly ridiculous amount of specials. Reviews have been amazing. In fact, we’ve been voted the best beer and best Brewery in NI every year since we opened!! In December 2015, we opened membership again, and raised over £160,000 to help us scale. 

Read more here https://boundarybrewing.coop/pages/membership 

Curious Society Citra Pale Ale 4.5%, 440ml can Bradleys

Curious Society is the name of a series of better value beers from Larkins. They say: A classic pale using one of our house yeasts and one of the all-time best hop varieties Citra.

Yellow is the colour and the head is short-lived. Mango, guava, and lychee fruit is what you expect from the Citra hop and that exotic melange is more or less what you get here. No real bitterness about this well-made pale ale but it is a very pleasant drink and easily quaffable.

Enjoyed this one very much. I also have their Atlantic 353 West Coast IPA in the queue; looking forward to trying that quite soon!

West Kerry “Carraig Dubh” Porter 6.0%, 500ml bottle Bradleys

This hand-crafted traditional porter comes in a black robe with a creamy brown head. It is more or less chocolate and coffee all the way from here but there is an acidity also at play. 

They say: “Carraig Dubh is a rich luxurious porter brewed with bags of chocolate malt. This bold heavy porter is laden with coffee and chocolate Tones.” It is bottle conditioned and made from malted barley, hops, yeast and spring water “from our own spring”.

Traditional, yes. A bottle (or two) would go down well at the threshings I remember - but not too many threshings on farms anymore. 

Hops and Glory at LITFEST16. Seven IPAs after breakfast.

Seven IPAs on a Sunday Morning

Hops and Glory at LITFEST 2016

Pete Brown

“Canning has moved on enormously,” declared beer expert Pete Brown as the Litfest 2016 beer tasting got underway in Ballymaloe last Sunday morning. “It's the freshest way to keep beer”. The session was named Hops and Glory, after one of Pete's books, and he was accompanied on the panel by Caroline Hennessy, co-author of Slainte.

Our first beer was a can of the Yankee White IPA by Rascal’s Brewing. Caroline was happy with this Belgian style IPA: “It’s a lovely food friendly beer, ..feels lighter than five per cent!” Pete says it is now a very popular style. “Every new brewery starts with an IPA”.

Worthington’s White Shield certainly got Pete going: “One of my five desert island beers...not a modern IPA but the only true survivor of the old style that was shipped on 6-month voyages to India and drank like mother’s milk…. This is very hoppy, also very malty, a wonderful balance...gets better with time”.

Caroline is part of the 8 Degrees Brewing Company and their Full Irish was next. She stressed the importance of local. They used local barley, malted in Togher (In Cork City). “It is a single malt beer and made to showcase the malt. First made in 2014, it was Beer of the Year in 2015”. Pete noted the hops on the nose, the good balance and equally good body.

Another can followed: the marvellous Ironmonger from Metalman, first launched in 2011. As readers of Slainte will know, Caroline regularly looks for the food angle and praised this as food friendly. “There is a huge change in restaurants,” she said, noting that local food is now being matched with local drink (including beers and spirits).

Pete again admired the body and said he hadn't come across Metalman before but had been enjoying it at the bar in the Big Shed next door. In general, he remarked that one of the best beer tastings you could have is a cheese matching: “Great fun with a small group! Just get a few beers and a few cheeses.” Caroline surprised him when she said she found Crozier Blue and the full Irish a very successful pairing.

Caroline

On to the next one: Black Lighting from 9 White Deer in West Cork, a style that they agreed involves some “messing with your head”. After all, IPAs are not meant to be black but both agreed it is a wonderful style, Caroline adding that it was a “very American style IPA”.

A little discussion on hops followed. Pete said the character changes from place to place, the influence of the terroir. Caroline advised trying some of the single hop beers available, a good way “to build your knowledge”.

Beer Number Six, the citrusy/grapefruity bottle-conditioned Boundary Pale Ale, came from a Northern Ireland cooperative brewery. Caroline has noted a rapid advance of craft beer in the area, and more: “I would recommend a visit to Belfast...good food and drink.”

Pete was on a cloud nine as we finished with Cloudwater DIPA v3, a special edition: “This is the most hyped beer, the most hyped brewery..the best brewery in Britain right now….so much juiciness, so much fruit character..all from the hops”.

This weighed in at 9% and Caroline explained how high ABVs can come about. “If you have lots of hops, you need lots of malt to balance. Malt means more sugar and that means higher ABV”.

So applause all round as our expert duo brought the curtain down on an entertaining and informative beer session.

See also, from LITFEST16:

Irish Craft Cider. A Litfest16 Event

Irish Atmospherics at John Wilson Tasting. Mediterranean Island Wines in Spotlight. LITFEST16