A Quart of Ale± #104. On the craft journey with Wicklow Wolf, Boundary, Otterbank and O Brother

A Quart of Ale± #104

On the craft journey with Wicklow Wolf, Boundary, Otterbank and O Brother

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Wicklow Wolf Locavore Spring 2022 Barrel Aged Farmhouse Ale with Brett 11.9%, 330ml bottle Bradleys

Locavore Spring 2022 is a Barrel Aged Farmhouse Ale aged for 36 months in Chianti Red Wine Barrels. “Conditioned with wild yeasts from the brewery’s hop farm and carefully monitored by the watchful eyes of our brewing team, the beer was allowed to slowly mature over time to give a magnificent depth of complex flavours.”

The result? A wild, sour farmhouse ale that champions the wild yeasts of the Wicklow Wolf Hop Farm and the Wicklow terroir.

Colour is a black/brown with a light tan head. And yes, there is indeed a “magnificent depth of complex flavours”. And very little physical sign of the high ABV. 

Three years in the Chianti Barrels, plus the wild yeast, has undoubtedly worked on the beer, giving it waves of flavour, everything from fruit flavours (sour cherry) to Balsamic  to darker (espresso), rich for sure but no shortage of a balancing tart acidity. 

Brett (or Brettanomyces, to give it its full title) has a bad rep and scares the life out of many but this Wicklow Brett seems very amicable indeed, from initial sniff to aftertaste. Three years in the wood have rounded the beer into an amazing experience on the palate. Very Highly Recommended. Don’t worry too much about the details here - just sip and enjoy.

The Locavore project consists of small batch, local, experimental beers that champion terroir. Locavore was founded on provenance and pride. “It allows us to honour the landscape of Wicklow, our home, and celebrate it with small batch, local and experimental beers.” This is the 9th in the series. I’ve missed many of the earlier ones but am determined not to miss any more!

Boundary Double Nelson DIPA 8.0%, 440ml can Bradleys

Just one hop.. but a serious hop-bomb..

That’s how Belfast’s Boundary introduced this Double Nelson DIPA last March.  Colour is a very hazy orange with a soft white head. “Juicy,” they say. “ You'll catch a hint of gooseberry, passionfruit maybe.”  The fruits mentioned are typical when Nelson Sauvin is used. Nelson’s named for the grape Sauvignon blanc and that too, especially when it is grown in Marlborough (NZ), can have the same fruit flavours.

This DIPA has been dry-hopped with the Nelson (22 g/l) and it is juicy and full of flavour and finishes with quite a bitter touch. Not too sure about the gooseberry here as flavours seem more exotic. Perhaps they have different gooseberries on the South Island! 

Yet, it is a serious hop-bomb indeed and Boundary are happy: “You may have enjoyed our Full Nelson before. It's like that. But bigger.

We don't do that many single-hop beers, but this one works so nicely.”

They are also happy that they have opened Northern Ireland’s first Taproom right next door. “The Taproom will be a space for all things Boundary. Here you will be able to enjoy the freshest (and cheapest!) Boundary in the Universe…. As a Cooperative, the Taproom will also become a real community hub. We now have over 1800 members! In the new taproom we'll be able to run book clubs, running clubs, board game clubs, helping with finance classes etc.” 

You may not have come across this hops before but it is in common enough use in the craft beer world (more so recently) for American Pale Ale, India Pale Ale, and Pale Ale.  Hoplist: “The variety has gained popularity in American-style Pale Ales but is definitely a hop that requires prudent and discerning application in brewing. Nelson Sauvin’s oil profile is complex and fortunately works well as an aroma hop, flavor hop and also for bittering.”

Full nelson is a wrestling term for a type of hold; you also have a quarter nelson, a half nelson and three-quarter nelson. Not too though that there is a double nelson. But Boundary’s could well get a hold on you.

Otterbank Middle Lane American Pale Ale 4.4%, 440ml can Bradleys

This American Pale Ale from Donegal based Otterbank has a light hazy orange/gold colour and a soft white head. Aromas, not surprisingly considering it has been dry-hopped (“generously”) with Citra, are citrusy with notes of pine. Pretty damn good on the palate, refreshingly forward-hopped but not at all over the top as they get the balance spot-on.

 

Otterbank is a microbrewery based at the start/end of the Wild Atlantic Way (the brewery at the other start/end is Blacks of Kinsale) in the border village of Muff. They focus on barrel ageing, mixed and experimental fermentation (as well as the odd IPA). And the odd Pale Ale too, it seems.

Geek Bits

Malts: Stout, Cara Gold.

Hops: Centennial, Chinook, Citra.

Web: American pale ale dry hopped with Citra

Beernut: nil

O Brother You’ll Pay With Your Souls Single Hop (Simcoe) Pale Ale 5.3%, 440ml can Bradleys

Colour of this Wicklow produced Single Pale Ale is a light orange with a big soft white head that hangs around awhile. Did the old finger test in the head and came up with pine. Also found in the aromas and in the mouth where some grapefruit, passionfruit and apricot also comes through. Noticeably dry with a muscular lingering bitterness. Not bad at all but a bit one dimensional and lacks balance methinks. 

The Wicklow based O Brother are a trio of O’Neill siblings (Barry, Brian and Paddy) and they are quick to point to the contribution of their brewer Rich Barrett. On Insta, they say: “Rich is the man responsible for producing all that beautiful fresh liquid we're so proud of, and aside from being incredibly talented and a key ingredient in our success, Rich has been with us pretty much since the beginning of our journey, and is every bit one of the bros at this stage!”

 

Their core beers are The Sinner (American style IPA), The Dreamcatcher (session NEIPA), The Chancer (Pale Ale), The Nightcrawler (Milk Stout). Their beers are Unfiltered. Unpasteurised. 

Unadulterated.

Geek Bits

Hop: Simcoe (USA)

Malts: Extra Pale Malt, Pilsner Malt, Oats, Flaked Barley and Cara Pils

Ingredients: Water, Malted Barley, Oats, hops, yeast. 

Barley to glass dream becomes a reality as Clonakilty officially has its own Irish whiskey

 press release

Barley to glass dream becomes a reality as Clonakilty officially has its own Irish whiskey

 

A big moment for Clonakilty Distillery founder
Michael Scully

 

Clonakilty Distillery are celebrating a significant business milestone this week as their own spirit legally became Irish whiskey, following a three-year wait since they filled their casks.

 

(As per legal Revenue requirements, Irish Whiskey must be matured for a minimum of three years and can be marketed with different maturities.)

 

Patiently maturing over the last three years in their Atlantic Ocean warehouse, the spirit was also distilled at the distillery in Clonakilty using their own copper pot stills.

 

To add a further local and Clonakilty connection, all the raw barley used within the distillation process was also from farmlands owned by the Distillery, in addition to neighbouring farms in the locality.

 

Clonakilty Distillery’s own whiskey has been much anticipated in the Irish whiskey community and within trade circles, having already won Best Irish New Make at the World Whiskies Awards in 2020.

 

Head Distiller Paul Corbett said that while this was in the pipeline for a number of years, it marked a significant turning point for the Distillery and the production of their own whiskey would solidify their position as one of Ireland’s leading distilleries.

 

He revealed the natural local surroundings of their Atlantic warehouse played a huge role in both the maturing and distillation process and were instrumental in creating a uniquely Clonakilty offering.

 

He said: “This Pot still Irish whiskey was triple distilled from a combination of locally grown raw barley and malt. Our stills with have long tall necks which produce an elegant spirit which help us to showcase the sweetness of the malt, as well as the spiciness of the barley and fruity flavours produced by the yeast.

 

“The spirit was then cut down to casking strength with mineral rich water from our well at our Atlantic Coast warehouse and laid to rest here for the last three years.  The warehouse is perched 200ft above the ocean and is exposed to persistent howling Atlantic winds.

 

“The ever-changing climate the casks are exposed to will increase our angel’s share and concentrate the flavours in our spirit creating a whiskey with an unmatched depth of character.

 

“We have a passion for innovation, and we strive to use only the best cask finishes for our whiskey, and this will be a brilliant addition to our current range of European Oak, Port, Bordeaux and Cognac casks,”  Mr Corbett concluded.

 

Founder of Clonakilty Distillery Michael Scully said he was delighted with this recent milestone, but added that the Distillery will continue to harness the flavours and allow them to mature for a further two years before releasing to the public:

 

Mr Scully said: We are delighted to have reached this three- year milestone for our single Irish pot still whiskey. The smoothness and intriguing flavour combination of fruit and spice is exactly as we wished for at this point in its development. This elegant whiskey will only get better, which is why we intend to wait for a further two years before release.

 

Whiskey fans can follow the journey and process of Clonakilty’s Single Pot Still through their social media channels – but can also buy a cask in advance through their Cask Keepers Club which allows buyers the unique opportunity to invest in their own cask of the premium Single Pot Still new make spirit, with further details on the website here - Cask Keepers' Club - Clonakilty Distillery

 

 

A couple of superb wines from opposite sides of the Alps. Roussette and Dolcetto. Not your usual grapes!

A couple of superb wines from opposite sides of the Alps. 

Roussette and Dolcetto. Not your usual grapes!

Roussette and Dolcetto are not grapes that immediately spring to mind when talking wine. But here are two excellent examples from opposite sides of the Alps with just a spectacular four hour drive between Alba (Italy) and Frangy (France).

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Domaine Lupin Roussette de Savoie (AOC)  Frangy 2019, 12.5%, 

€23.40  64 Wine Dublin, Bradley’s of Cork, Greenman Dublin, Le Caveau Kilkenny

Many of us will not have heard of the Roussette grape previously. Its proper name seems generally accepted to be Altesse (meaning highness). It is indigenous in Savoie and indeed it is grown on high ground there.

Frangy itself, the named cru on the label,  is located in Haute-Savoie between Lake Annecy and Lake Lehmann (Geneva) and benefits from a micro-climate favourable to the cultivation of vines.

Colour is a light straw. The aromatics are relatively delicate but with a notable floral complexity. There’s a potent juicy acidity but all is well balanced, with flavours of pear and honey and also a nutty character. It is soft and mellow and more or less full bodied. Quite a mouthful, quite a wine. Very Highly Recommended, especially if you like your white wines on the off dry side (just a little!).

Not altogether a surprise as Altesse is regarded as “perhaps Savoie’s most noble, native varietal”. Another plus factor is that this is a cru, one of sixteen villages in the Savoie, all of which have higher standards than those of the Vin de Savoie AC and Roussette de Savoie AC and may append their name to either of these appellations if their wines meet these higher criteria. One of the best of these crus is Frangy.

Lake Geneva

This Bruno Lupin is 100% Roulette de Savoie and Le Caveau recommend pairing it with river fish such as pike or perch, or veal escalope, or even the local Beaufort cheese. Beaufort is one of the great Alpine cheeses and an Irish equivalent is Hegarty’s Templegall (even if Whitechurch hasn’t quite got the altesse of the Alps).

Lupin: “As with many of the vineyards in this region the viticulture is lutte raisonnée. (Minimal use of chemicals, low yields, hand harvested) and the yields moderate (49hl/ha). In the winery some skin contact is allowed for richness of aroma with fermentation at 18-20c, followed by a natural settling of the must, lees contact, and eventual bottling in April the following year.”

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Ciabot Berton Rutuin Dolcetto D’Alba (DOC) 2013, 13%, €19.25 64 Wine Dublin, Bradley’s of Cork, Greenman Dublin, Le Caveau Kilkenny

Dolcetto is the grape here. Colour is a mid to deep ruby. Aromas are floral (violet) and fruit (cherry), also a hint of spice. Cherries and berries on the juicy palate, with a crisp acidity, light-bodied and refreshing with light tannic streak and a decent aftertaste. Highly Recommended.

From the north-west of the country, Dolcetto is one of Italy’s classic food wines and the producers recommend matching it with cured meats, pasta dishes and white meat dishes while Winefolly.com goes with "richer, darker meats and vegetable dishes with roasted tomatoes, eggplant (aubergine), and garlic”.

 Wine-searcher.com tells us: "Those with a grasp of Italian might understandably assume that Dolcetto wines are all sweet. In fact, sweet Dolcetto wines are something of a rarity.”

Wine Folly on the grape: "In Piedmont, Dolcetto’s home, the name means 'little sweet one." Funny enough, wines are generally tart with loads of black fruit flavors and occasionally aggressive tannins". We don't see many examples available in Ireland.

Virtually all of Italy’s Dolcetto is grown in Piedmont and Dolcetto D’Alba is one of the appellations. The Ciabot Berton vineyards lie in the prestigious historical cru of La Morra: Roggeri, San Biagio, Rive, Cappallotti, Pria and Rocchettevino, on the slopes facing towards Alba.

The aim at Ciabot Berton is to produce wines that express their vineyard terroir, unique in each vintage and with the stamp of the family’s way of working. These methods are primarily the use of organic techniques in order to attain and maintain equilibrium and healthy vines.

Already on my next order: Ciabot Berton Barbera d'Alba ‘Fisetta’, also from Le Caveau.

A Short Walk In Sunny Ballycotton

 A Short Walk In Sunny Ballycotton

We were in Ballycotton for dinner at the Cush last week and had a little time on our hands so we took a short stroll from the pier to the start of the cliff walk.

As you can see it was a beautiful evening with the temperature reaching 18 degrees, swallows ducking and diving and seagulls soaring. That short but enjoyable stroll was followed by a superb meal in Cush.

Cush above and below with a couple of very early birds! We had a lovely dinner

here after the walk. Details on the blog here!

View from our table

The Mary Stanford lifeboat 1930-1959.
Now retired!

This little swallow looks on the hungry side.
It had landed on a wall just outside Cush window

Celtic Cousins Linked By Wine. Galicia's Albariño Very Popular Here

Celtic Cousins Linked By Wine. 

Galicia's Albariño Very Popular Here 

Our Celtic cousins in Galicia, in Spain’s North West, are thrilled to know that their Irish relations are huge fans of their Albariño wines from the Rias Baixas region. Believe it or not, we are the fourth largest importers of this particular wine in the world!

Lynne Coyle MW

It has all happened quickly and relatively recently.  “It is a young industry,” said Lynne Coyle MW one of our hosts at the Rias Baixas Tasting in L’Atitude last Tuesday, “In 1975 there were just 200 hectares of Albariño here, now there are over 4,000, lots of small holdings, cottage farming. Indeed, Lynne herself has made Albariño in Rias Baixas, on an 11 hectare vineyard “which is regarded as quite large”.

“It is not organic here”, she told us. “It is a difficult area to go organic and they focus more on improving sustainability.” One method they use is to grow the vines on pergola type horizontal trellises. This helps ventilate the grapes and also allows the farmers grow their cabbages underneath!

Our afternoon of tasting and masterclass began downstairs in the renovated and always impressive L’Atitude. Lots of chat and lots of bottles lined up on ice for a silent tasting. Not quite silent though.

Basque vines grown in "pergola" system

They had a few sparkling Albariños on show and I immediately gave a big thumbs up to the Bodegas As Laxas Sensum  Brut NV, a gorgeous opener, from a winery in the sub region of Condado do Tea. The same winery also had an excellent still wine from 2020. 

As Lynne Coyle indicated, there are few large-scale producers but Martín Códax is one and a very consistent one. The winery is named after one of the most important medieval Galician troubadours and was founded in 1986 thanks to the idea of a group of winegrowers; as a winery made by people for the people. 

Their 2020 is of medium intensity with ripe citrus notes and tangerine. On the palate it is fresh with good balance and the citrus is there right through to the finalé.

Bianca points to the rias

Soon, maybe not as soon as planned, we were seated upstairs and Lynne filled us in on the area and later Blanca Valencia would enthusiastically tell us all about the similarities between Galicia and Ireland and also about the food of the area. And the first dish up was a beauty and typical: Razor clams, Mussel and potato crisp and a lively Olive and anchovy combo.

Val de Salnés, towards the north, is the main region. And it was from here and its granite soil that our first upstairs wine came from, the Mar de Frades 2020 in an eye-catching blue magnum with a big white wave splash as a label, the blue chosen apparently to remind us that this comes from the Atlantic coast where some vines have their roots in the coastal sand. And that ocean influence was evident in this dry crisp and elegant whine. “No oak, really fresh”.

Number 2, the Granbazan Etiqueta Verde 2020, also came from this area. Citrus and floral, “with more salinity, a quintessential Val do Salnés. The other sub regions are Ribeira do Ulla, the tiny Soutomaior, Condado do Tea, and O Rosal. 

Terras Gauda is perhaps my favourite from O Rosal and their 2020 tasted very well. This is, by the way, a blend. Mainly Albariño of course but with 20% Caiño and 8% Loureiro. 

You can expect more fruit in O Rosal and Condado do Tea, maybe not quite as fresh as those further north. O Rosal still benefits from the ocean of course while planting at altitude helps keep the wines of inland Condado fresh.  One of the big takes from the afternoon was that we were learning that not all Albariños are the same, that is there is quite a variety.

Lynne is often asked what should they change to make Albariño more popular? More sparkling? The use of oak? More blending? She was emphatic in her answer: "More of the same!”

Now, as Blanca took her turn we enjoyed a plateful of mainly bonito and sardines. Delicious, as was the final plate of cured meats and Galician cheeses. She told us that the area inland was very mountainous. “But the coastal areas are vibrant and dynamic. The scenery reminds me of Ireland.” 

She invited us to visit and not just for the Camino. But if you do find yourself in Santiago di Compostela, then head for the market and choose the seafood. It is not expensive. “So you don’t have to do any penance to enjoy it!”

And if you want to spend more, then there are scores of Michelin starred restaurants in the general area, one with a menu at less than 30 euro. 

People are very similar to the Irish, “they don't like to say no!” Someone suggested the phrase “I will, yeah!” They love their vegetables and greens. Pork is important, veal too and the cheeses are mainly from cows milk. Albarino works fantastically well with Indian, Asian and Mexican food also.

Tetella cheese (DO)

By now we were making progress on the second flight of wines. I noted two, both citrus and dry, each lip smacking. One was the Señorio de Rubios 2020 (imported by Honest 2 Goodness), the other, regarded as a modern classic, the citrusy mouthwatering Pazo Señorans 2020 (imported by O’Briens). 

Great to be back at a full room tasting again after the Covid enforced drought, not so much a lack of wine but a lack of company. And good too to have experts on hand such as Lynn and Bianca, with Lynda and Sinead of Wine Tasting Ireland keeping it all together with a pour and a laugh.

Taste of the Week. Fermented Lemonade

Taste of the Week. 

Fermented Lemonade

Popular across cultures, fermenting food has made a comeback as a provider of 'good' bacteria that contributes to a healthy digestive system. BBC Good Food continues: Fermentation is an ancient technique for preserving food and drinks that has been practiced since long before the days of refrigeration.   

Read more here. Or visit the Midleton Farmers Market on a Saturday morning.

I visited Midleton Farmers Market recently and spotted some fermented drinks on the Ballymaloe Cookery School stall. I started asking questions and Aoife told me all about them. 

Most of you are probably familiar with sourdough where a starter is used to kickstart the fermentation. There were quite a few varieties of liquids on the BCS stall but I played it safe and bought the Lemonade one. Here a "ginger bug" is used to convert "sugar into friendly probiotic compounds". 

My little 250ml bottle is finished by now. I enjoyed a shot glass of it for a few mornings in a row. It is slightly sour, nothing major, and easy to swallow; indeed, it is similar to a very good quality lemonade. No miracles to report on the gut front but I'm open to trying more of our Taste of the Week and even some of those more far-out ones!

Not surprised that BCS is doing these drinks as fermentation guro Sandor Katz made a huge impression here during those marvellous Literary Fest years.