CorkBillyBeers #37 Stronger Craft Beers with Mescan and Hope

CorkBillyBeers #37 

Stronger Craft Beers with Mescan and Hope

********************

Mescan Westport Extra, 8.5% ABV, 330 ml bottle

Mescan Westport Extra has an attractive golden colour with a white head and no shortage of bubbles rising. Spicy yeast notes and fruity esters are prominent. 

The first impression from the palate is sweet malt but soon the promised hop bitterness is confirmed and becomes even more pronounced as the first sip flows fully and gently across the mouth on the way to a long lingering finish. A superbly balanced beer, the high alcohol is smoothly controlled.

Very Highly Recommended. Exceptional.

A Belgian-style beer from Westport and well up there with the best of the Trappists. One of the best of the style and consistently one of the best brews in this country.

A lot of work and time goes into the production of this beauty. It takes almost a year from when it is brewed before this strong, well-carbonated golden ale will be ready for punters to sip and savour. 

Indeed, Mescan take their time with all their beers. Co-founder and brewer Cillian Ó Móráin: ”Our outstanding USP, which is genuinely unique to Mescan, is the long maturation process with a minimum of 3 months (up to 9 months with the stronger beers), between brewing and packaging. This unhurried process allows time for the flavours to develop, much like maturing a wine. These long conditioning times make the beers more expensive to produce but add greatly to the quality. The resulting depth and range of flavour make them particularly well suited to pairing with food."

“Enjoy with white meats or seafood,  and fruity, nutty desserts.” This robust beer is a real treat, and its warming alcohol is the perfect antidote to a bad weather day! Just musing on it there and am beginning to think this strong, dry, well-carbonated golden ale would be perfect with rabbit. Serving temperature: 3-6 °C 

********************

Mescan Special Reserve Dark Beer, 8.4% ABV, 330 ml bottle

Colour of this Mescan Special Reserve is dark, not deep black, but a deep ruby with some flashes of red in its depths. The aromatics feature caramel, mostly. And the palate is a five-star show of fruitiness (dates, figs), the malt still in evidence as this Mayo star maintains its amazing experience right to the finalé.

The Mescan website says this is a robust beer and I’d be loath to disagree. For me, despite the high ABV, this is smooth and quite accessible and well worth seeking out. I took my own advice here, sip not gulp, and my "patience" was amply rewarded.

A complex beer yet the ingredients list is simple enough: Spring water, barley, wheat, hops, yeast. Very Highly Recommended.

This full-bodied beer pairs beautifully with stews and game. Surprisingly, it complements chillies and spicy dishes. Also delicious with chocolate desserts or cheese. Full Mescan food wheel here 

********************

Mescan Westport Red Tripel, 8.0% ABV, 330 ml bottle

During a recent visit to Mescan, outside of Westport, they told us their well-known “secret”: ”Our outstanding USP*, which is genuinely unique to Mescan, is the long maturation process with a minimum of 3 months (up to 9 months with the stronger beers), between brewing and packaging. This unhurried process allows time for the flavours to develop, much like maturing a wine. These long conditioning times make the beers more expensive to produce but add significantly to the quality. The resulting depth and range of flavour make them particularly well suited to pairing with food."

  

"During our long conditioning process, the yeast settles out naturally, with no need to use finings for clarifying, and making the beers suitable for vegans. Simple, natural ingredients are used to create Mescan beers: spring water, barley, wheat, hops, yeast, spices and nothing else. Our beers are almost exclusively brewed in Belgian styles."

Red is the colour, of course. There’s not that much of a head but it does hang about a bit. Aromas are malty, fruity, nutty. It is smooth and complex on the palate and you know, if you didn’t already, that this is one to sip and savour. To gulp would be greedy, barbaric, showing a lack of respect for the maestros of Mescan.

So, tóg go bog é (take it easy) and enjoy the remarkable nutty and caramel flavours, the warming beer, its malty and fruity qualities, its complex and full-bodied experience on the palate and let it slowly take you to a rewarding finalé.

Very Highly Recommended.

They detail the route to perfection on their website. “This is our take on the strong beers pioneered by the Belgian Trappist monastery breweries. Tripels are strong, complex beers and are traditionally golden in colour. We decided to make ours red and the malts used to achieve this add even more complexity to the flavours on the palate.”

 

And a few more tips.

Serve 7-10 degrees.

See food pairing here https://www.mescanbrewery.com/food-pairing-for-our-beers 

Bottle conditioned in the Belgian style beer.

To enjoy the beer clear, store upright and pour into a glass, leaving the yeast sediment in bottle.

* USP - unique selling point.

********************

Hope West Coast IPA 7.4% ABV, 440 ml can Carry Out Killarney

“A classic West Coast IPA, this beer is a nod to the iconic beer style that helped launch the craft beer revolution. It’s brewed with four of the classic “C” hops: Cascade (grapefruit. Floral, Pine), Columbus (Dank, Pepper, PungenT), Centennial  (Blossom, Orange, Resionous) and Chinook (Grapefruit, Pine, Spice). The use of these US hops provides the style-defining flavours of citrus, pine, and resin.”

Hope are obviously happy that they’ve cracked it here!

Hops are used liberally in the kettle and in dry hop additions, giving the beer a robust bitterness and an intense hop aroma and finish. The malt bill is relatively simple. It is designed to balance the bitterness, while also allowing the hop flavours to shine through. This limited edition beer is no. 30 in the series.

The colour is golden/amber with hoppy aromas, citrus, pine and floral amongst them. And the all-American hop line-up, owns the palate, pungent with citrus and pine and a hint of dankness, on the way to a very fine lip-smacking finish. Quite intense, start to finish, yet the relatively simple malt bill has done the business here and the expected bitterness is well balanced, making this quite a beer with barely a hint of the high ABV.

Very Highly Recommended. 

Geek Bits

Hops: Cascade, Columbus, Centennial, Chinook

IBU 75;

Food Pairing: Burger, Tacos, Pizza

Visit

Chef changes in Cork. New chef, new name for Midleton's Finin's

 Chef changes in Cork.

 New chef, new name for Midleton's Finin's

Prawn starter at The Black Barrel (formerly Finin's)

Quite a few chefs on the move this past month or so. A recent appointment is at Liss Ard Estate who announced that the experienced Sean Doyle is the estate’s new Head Chef. Sean has experience at L'Ecrivain, Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud and the Merrion Hotel. The appointment of Doyle as is a significant coup for Liss Ard. He is a highly respected with a proven track record of success. His arrival is sure to boost the estate's culinary reputation and attract new visitors. 

He replaces Alex Petit who, earlier in the year, joined the Trigon Hotel Group (includes the Metropole and Cork International) as Group Executive Chef.

Ale in Black Barrel

And Good Day Deli are glad to have Chef Mark Ahern on their team in Nano Nagle Place: "We've admired + enjoyed Mark's cooking for many years, we share the same values on food sustainability + we're buzzing to collaborate." Mark is well known and respected locally and most recently worked in Pigalle in Barrack Street, so he's not moving too far!

And there is a new duo leading at Elbow Lane. Brothers Ronan and Harrison Sharpe have been appointed to the two top roles at  Cork’s iconic Smokehouse and Brewery as it moves to celebrate its 10th anniversary next year. 

Ronan (age 28), who is now the new general manager, joins his older brother Harrison Sharpe (age 30), currently the head chef of Elbow Lane, to lead one of the city’s best-loved eateries into its next decade.

Liss Ard's Sean Doyle

Not just a new name at 75 Main Street, Midleton. For decades, it was known as Finin’s and now it has been renamed The Black Barrel. It is very close to the local distillery where one of its most popular tipples is Black Barrel. 

Their new chef is Timmy Warne who has over 20 years of experience in the culinary industry (including working at local places such as Sage and Two Mile Inn). His recent appointment was welcomed by the restaurant who said “he has a passion for farm-to-table cuisine” and  “brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to our kitchen”.

The long-standing and popular Finin’s was taken over by Blue Haven of Kinsale and re-opened, after a period of renovation, under the same name in mid-2022. The downstairs room was full the other night.  The frontage, on the main street, is now painted black and the new The Black Barrel sign is hanging high. 

Black Barrel Chicken Liver Paté

You’ll still get your steaks and burgers here but there have been some menu changes since our earlier visits. We missed the Slow Cooked Oxtail Croquettes and the Pork Belly Chicharrones. No sign of the Toulouse Sausage or the French Onion Soup. Older customers will miss the artwork that Finin's had in abundance on the walls. It has been replaced by bright colourful paintings by Cork artist Alan Hurley (whose work also hangs in Greenwich in the city centre).

But quite a bit remains, not least the delicious fresh Kinsale ales from the tap. More importantly, the warm welcome was still very much in evidence. 

Plenty of info and help for customers. If you want your sauce on the side, just ask. A customer was given two samples of wines as she made up her mind and another customer, a young adult, was able to “specify” the ingredients for his own burger. It seems that their burgers along with Fish and Chips are very popular dishes here; the restaurant caters to family groups.

And, of course, whiskey features on the menu and if you’d like to indulge, they have quite a selection in the bar, along with wine, cocktails and beer.

Indeed, one of our starters was the Jameson Black Barrel Chicken Liver Paté. It was absolutely top drawer and very much enhanced with an outstanding plum and apple chutney. Our other starter was their Chilli & Garlic Prawns (quite a quantity) that come with a piece of warm sourdough bread to take up the sauce. That too went down well.

Will be interesting to see how the menus develop in the coming months, both here and in the other establishments as the new chefs settle in.

CorkBillyBeers #36. Craft Lager with Torc, Hope, Third Barrel and Rothaus

CorkBillyBeers #36

Craft Lager with Torc, Hope, Third Barrel and Rothaus

*******************

Third Barrel Stop the Clocks Pilsner Lager, 4.8% ABV, 440ml can Bradleys

“Our take on a traditional pilsner. This clean crisp and refreshing lager is brewed with Irish Malt and hopped with a hefty dose of German Saaz.” That’s the intro from Third Barrel.

The colour is bright gold with a soft foamy white head, and lots of bubbles rising. Floral and citrus notes in the aromas. And it is crisp and clean on the creamy palate where the famous Saaz hops (a noble variety) give it mild pleasant hoppy notes of hay and herbal. Easy drinking and seriously refreshing. As Third Barrel themselves say: “Nothing says summer like a good glass of Pils in the sun.” And this Stop the Clocks says it as well as any lager and better than many.

Very Highly Recommended.

Saaz, with its distinctive and classic aroma, is well known for its use in middle European lagers. And it also has a long association with Stella Artois

*******************

Torc White Tail Kerry Lager 4.5% ABV, 500 ml bottle Carry Out Killarney

“Sure to suit all palates, our classic style smooth Lager is brewed using Irish Pale Ale Malt and speciality German Carapils Malt.” That’s the confident introduction to their White Tail Lager by the folks of Kerry’s Torc Brewing.

It has a lovely gold colour and fountains of rising bubbles, rising though a thin film of haziness (it is unfiltered). The aromatics are a little on the shy side, with light caramel and biscuity notes. And there’s a hint of caramel and sweet biscuit also as it hits the palate and immediately a cleansing tide of refreshment. Excellent balance here and a good dry finish.

Torc says it pairs beautifully with seafood, pasta, pizzas, curries, burgers and salads.

Highly Recommended

The lager is named after the White-Tailed Eagle which was reintroduced into the Killarney National Park in 2007, having become extinct in the late 19th century. Before going extinct this magnificent bird of prey called Killarney its home, and returning this species to Irish skies is a significant step in restoring our natural heritage.

Geek Bits

SRM: 3.1 • 

IBU: 13.5 •

ABV: 4.5%.
Style: Lager •

Released: 2022

*******************

Hope Munich Helles Limited Edition No 27 5.3% ABV, 440 ml can No 21 Coburg St

Enjoy it in the garden, or with salty pretzels and bratwurst. That’s the advice from Hope. Amber is the colour of their Munich Helles Lager, with a soft white head and bubbles by the zillion. 

Helles is one of Munich’s popular lagers (another is the darker Dunkel), bright and light with a crisp finish. Quite a crisp and refreshing finish here also, even though the body is richer than usual and there’s an almost creamy mouthfeel. 

The malts certainly have an edge and no surprise since Hope tells us that their Helles “holds back on hops and bitterness to allow the sweet and full bready flavours of malt take centre stage”. 

This Munich-style Helles Lager nonetheless has a noticeable hop presence from the traditional German Hallertau used in the kettle and the whirlpool, which lend this lager subtle herbal and floral aromas.

Although the balance falls slightly on the malty side, the rich body and full mouthfeel do not inhibit this beer's drinkability, and the finish is soft and crisp. Enjoy it in the garden, or with those salty pretzels and bratwurst. Should also pair well with salads, shrimp, or fish.

By the way, would you like to see how this lager is made? Hope would love to you to join them “for the best micro-brewery tour in Dublin! Our brewery tours take place in our state-of-the-art German brewery in North Dublin where all aspects of the brewing process will be covered on the tour and will take approximately 25 minutes. Then the really fun part! You’ll enjoy a beer tasting of our core range of craft beers while enjoying a great view of the brewery floor.” More details here 

Very Highly Recommended.

I had an interesting head-to-head between this Hope and the To Øl  45 Days Mexican (in bottle). The verdict is very much in favour of Hope, a clear winner over the Danish effort in flavour and finish.

Helles is just one of a long list of German lagers (with no shortage of variations).

Perhaps the best-known are:

Bock,

Doppelbock,

Eisbock,

Dortmunder Export Lager,

Pilsner,

Maibock

Märzen

Munich Dunkel

And a few more, including Rauchbier (smoked).

.

*******************

Rothaus Märzen 5.6% ABV, 500ml bottle Bradleys

Traditionally brewed during the winter, Rothaus Märzen is a seasonal favourite now enjoyed all year round by German beer lovers. 

Give this German a robust pour and you’ll get a decent white head that hangs around for a spell. The important bit comes after that, the glowing gold body and the zillions of micro-bubbles in the ever-rising fountains. Herbal notes crowd the aromas, nothing too intense. The smooth body is more malt (rich and bready) while the German hops yield a modest bitterness. Still, this is quite a balanced soft-textured beer, supremely drinkable, with a very clean finish, and an enjoyable companion at either lunch or dinner. Or even better in a crowded noisy beer hall.

It is a full-bodied, luscious beer with the unique barley malt from southern Germany bolstering its character. Fresh brewing water as well as the famous hops from Tettnang and the Hallertau make the taste experience more or less perfect. So well done to the Rothaus master brewers who have produced a top-class beer that has been a favourite for centuries.

So where did Marzen come from? Beers of this type of brewing are traditionally more heavily brewed, as brewing was only allowed in the months from September to April. A beer with a longer shelf life was thus produced in March, which survived the five months and was produced just in time for Octoberfest.

According to the Beer Connoisseur, the Märzen style is a malty, amber, European-style lager that can trace the roots of its modern variants all the way back to 1841, when Spaten created the first recipe for the style. Märzen become the official beer of Munich’s Oktoberfest in 1872, a tradition that lasted over 100 years when it was replaced by the lighter-bodied, golden-coloured Festbier in the 1990 Oktoberfest. Yet many Oktoberfest beers are still technically Märzens.

As you possibly know, I go almost exclusively for Irish beer. But it is always good to see what else is out there and this Rothaus is a worthwhile detour. Another, according to Jeff Alworth in The Beer Bible, is the Paulaner Oktoberfest “that billows clouds of the stuff (fluffy heads!). “the beer itself is toasty, almost a little plummy, and sprinkled with palate-cleansing cedary hops.”

You can talk forever about malt and hops and ingredients but one that Aldworth highlights is called “rasa” a sense of celebration. “Marzens are infused with the spirit of festgoing….both the result and cause of merriment…drunk at a time when people are still hanging on to the relaxed mood of summer.” Hadn’t thought of that kind of ” ingredient”.