Another top beer from Templemore. One that those Bavarian monk brewers would appreciate. Whitefield Bock is Beer of the Week!

Beer of the Week

Whitefield Bock 7.0% ABV, 500ml bottle Bradleys

Another top beer from Templemore. One that those Bavarian monk brewers would appreciate.

Whitefield's traditional strong lager has a clear copper colour with a persistent and soft off-white silky head. There’s toasty malt in the aromatics and more on the rich, deep, and complex palate. There’s an old legend that Bavarian monks subsisted on bock during long spells of fasting and indeed you feel that some sweet malty sustenance is being delivered with every sip. Maybe that's where the saying "there's eating and drinking in it" came from😉.

The sweet, toasty, nutty aroma and flavour is an excellent addition to a hearty meal of veal, pork, or beef or a nice companion to an earthy cheese course.

Very Highly Recommended. Not altogether a surprise as Whitefield is consistently coming up with the goods, particularly when it comes to ales and lagers and bock is a form of lager.

The brewery kit in Templemore was made to make wheat beer. Brewer Cuilan expands: “So it comes as no surprise that our best sellers in both draught and bottle are Weiss beers. This makes it tricky to brew drier hoppy beers, so we focus on the malty styles of beer with plenty of sweetness.” And their Bock is a fine example, one that those Bavarian monks would recognise and appreciate.

Traditionally Bock is a sweet, relatively strong (6.3–7.6% by volume), a lightly hopped lager that should be clear, with colour ranging from light copper to brown, and a bountiful, persistent off-white head. That’s a summation from Wikipedia. Doppelbock is the bigger and stronger brother of Bock and others in the family include Maibock, Eisenbock, and Weizenbock.

Beer of the Week. 9 White Deer's Well Bred Stag Kolsch

Beer of the Week.

9 White Deer's Well Bred Stag Kolsch 

9 White Deer Stag Kolsch, 4.2% ABV, 500 ml bottle, O’Donovan’s

Stag Kolsch, by 9 White Deer Brewery in Ballyvourney, is our Beer of the Week.

See the fountains of micro-bubbles rise through the yellow/amber body towards the soft white head. This Stag Kolsch, with its high carbonation level and gentle hop character, is palate-friendly with an almost creamy feel. Easy to quaff and easy to see how this refreshing gluten-free and flavoursome beer (more malty than hoppy) has become quite a seller, widely available in both bottle and draught.

But what style is it? Some call it a lager, some call it an ale, others hybrid. Don't worry too much about it, just enjoy! It is a style that originated in Cologne.

The team in 9 White Deer have certainly cracked the style here. They have brewed with German Nobel Hops, Premium Irish and German Malt and German Yeast. Stag Kolsch gets “an extended lagering time where it can develop and mature into a classic premium European style beer”. 

The brewery had, still have, two big “factors” on their side when they set out to produce a Kolsch: the local water and a famous German brewmaster. The water, from the Cork and Kerry mountains, is really soft, just perfect for lager-style beers. 

And the guidance they got from Roland, then brewmaster of the well-known Munich brewery Augustiner and still a friend of the Ballyvourney brewery, could not have been bettered. Kolsch and 9 White Deer were on their way.

Beer of the Week: The White Hag Silver Branch Apple Sour 2023

Beer of the Week

The White Hag Silver Branch Apple Sour 2023

5.0% ABV, 375 ml bottle Bradleys

The Silver Branch Apple Sour, a complex sour beer, has a mid-amber colour and a thin white head. You certainly get the orchard aromas from the wild fermentation Irish Cider. And it is tart on the palate where the apple juice and the Golden Ale base combine to good effect. If you really pay attention,  you'll find slight notes of malt. Brewers White Hag have once again done a great job here and this complex sour beer, with a refreshing finish, is well worth your attention!

The brewery says that Silver Branch “is perfect served with some Tart & Fruity Desserts”. Didn’t have anything handy, other than a regular supermarket apple tart, a pretty decent one as it turned out, but I do think these two were not made for each other.

The White Hag, as most of you know, are well into their myths and legends. It is no different here: “In Irish mythology, the Silver Branch of the apple tree represented a passport to the Otherworld of Tir na nÓg. The effect of the apple in this beer can also be considered a gateway to magic and rebirth.”

Here’s how the magic came about. “For this one, we reached out to our friends at MacIvors and put our heads together. We made a Golden blond and blended it with wild fermentation Irish Cider from MacIvors. We started with our very own locally harvested wild yeast; brewing a beautiful golden sour ale, then blended to create an ancient Celtic ale made with spontaneously fermented Bramley apple juice from MacIvor’s cidery, aged in French Chardonnay Barrels.”

(Check our updated Beer of the Week Index here)

Silver Branch is now available from the brewery webstore and these stellar beer outlets around Ireland 

📍@bradleys_offlic

📍@bierhaus_cork

📍@brees_strandhill

📍@matsonswinestore

📍@shop.worldwidewines

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Our latest Beer of the Week, the impressive lil’ sibling of the Big Bangin’

Beer of the Week w/e 20.01.24

Rye River Lil’ Banging Session IPA, 3.8% ABV, 500 ml bottle

Introducing the impressive lil’ sibling of the Big Bangin’

This is the little sibling of Rye River’s Big Bangin’, coming to you, unpasteurised and centrifuged, at a smooth and sessionable 3.8% ABV (compared to 7.1%).

Aromas are ripe fruits, with a touch of sweet sherbet. There’s a posse of hops in there, all from the USA, so no surprise to find the more exotic fruits (tangerine included) on the palate. But don’t worry - it is not over the top, nowhere near it.

The colour is a golden straw, with a hazy background. This little IPA is well-balanced. And Very Highly Recommended. Be sure to serve it chilled.

Geek Bits:

Malt: Caramalt, Malted oats, Maris Otter, Wheat.

Hops: Amarillo, Cascade, Columbus, El Dorado, Mosaic, Simcoe.

See 2024 Beer of the Week Index here