On the craft trail with a smoky porter and a hoppy micro, thanks to Kinnegar and Whiplash.

On the craft trail with a smoky porter and a hoppy micro, thanks to Kinnegar and Whiplash.

Kinnegar Smoked Maple Porter, 4.2% ABV, 440 ml can Bradleys

Kinnegar had to "poke around" quite a bit before finding the malt combo that gave them the right amount of smokeiness   “to ensure a caracterful yet very easy drinking beer”. 

You’ll come across that smokiness, think of sweet smoked bacon, in the aromas, and it shows too on the palate. They have added “a strand of maple syrup… to round out the flavour and enrich the drinking experience!” The Maple Syrup’s cameo is just that. By the way, the herbaceous Fenugreek (sometimes used to flavour cheese) and Maple are listed in the ingredients.

An easy drinker then that weighs in at 4.2% ABV. Highly Recommended but you’d better like your smoky bacon. I’d be surprised to see this make the jump from the Brewers at Play series to their core beer line-up.

The porter pairs well with glazed ham, bacon, and Belgian waffles and the Full Irish of course, the one with two of everything (especially, and essentially, rashers!)

Whiplash Northern Lights Micro IPA, 2.8% ABV, 440 ml can No 21 Cork

This hazy IPA from Whiplash comes in a light gold colour with a foamy short-lived head. It may well be micro in terms of ABV but nothing shy about the hops, both in the aromas and on the palate. There’s a full-on blast of citrussy fruits thanks to the generous input of Vic Secret and Mosaic hops. Big on flavour, low on alcohol, an excellent beer and ideal for a session. Highly Recommended.

The introduction of  ‘Micro IPA’ was “one of our proudest moments of 2018”, according to the brewery. “When we dropped Northern Lights at Hop City last April we thought we’d be crucified for bringing a knife to a gun fight of 10%+ IPAs. Instead, people came to us and said this stuff is rocking, fun, and accommodating of the sesh. We thought so too. So much was the fun of drinking our 2.8% hop bomb over those weeks that we decided, fuck it, let’s keep this beer on year round. That July we rolled out Northern Lights as a year round offering and man it’s fun to have around.”