A Quart of Ale± #90. On the craft journey with Franciscan Well, Killarney Brewing, Trouble, Whiplash,Hope, and Wicklow Wolf.

A Quart of Ale± #90

On the craft journey with Franciscan Well, Killarney Brewing, Trouble and Wicklow Wolf. 

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Killarney Scarlet Pimpernel IPA 6%, 500ml bottle Bradleys

There is a statue of a priest, dressed in an older fashion, at an entrance to Killarney National Park. He is striding out, a man in a hurry. They seek him here, they seek him there - he is O’Flaherty, the Scarlet Pimpernel. And this IPA is named in his honour.

Pimpernel

It has a deep red colour. “Best served with a thick frothy head so pour with vigour.” I missed that bit of advice so my head, a bit like the Pimpernel, didn’t hang about. Got “rough” with the second one and a better longer-lasting head was the result.

Built “on a smooth malty base”, it is not a million miles away from our Franciscan Well. Aromas are moderate, citrus and pine. There’s a light caramel sweetness on the palate. Overall, a good balance is found, hop bitterness is moderate, and they boldly recommend it as “a perfect partner for full flavoured dishes”.

During WW2, Rome based Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty  saved over 6,500 people by hiding them in monasteries, farms, and other locations. After the war, he was awarded the US Medal of Freedom and Commander of the British Empire.

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Franciscan Well Chieftain Irish Pale Ale 5.5%, 330can O’Donovan’s

Franciscan Well Chieftain IPA, then described as “a great stepping stone into the land of big and bitter”has proved quite a popular beer since launched by the Cork brewery. Colour is amber, not a million miles away from their Rebel Red. Indeed, when I posted an early photo of the IPA, a reader challenged me saying I got it wrong, that is the red in the pic.

Certainly hoppy in the aromas, a burst of tropical.There’s a malty theme there too and both continue onto the palate. Citra, Tettnanger and Magnum are the hops and they make their presence felt here, with Pine and Citrus, but the malts (Ale Malt, Crystal Malt) ensure a flavoursome balance, meeting the brewer’s aim of “casual enjoyment” for the drinker rather than the “intense hoppiness” that some IPAs deliver, sometimes to the consternation of the casual craft drinker.

Serve at 6 degrees and pair with fried chicken. Mature Irish cheeses and cured meats are also recommended.

By the way, Franciscan Well is looking forward to the coming year. ‘ It’s been a long road for everyone over the last couple of years. Our focus has been on surviving but now we want to bring memorable moments and experiences back to the centre of what we do, ’  says Kate Clancy (right), marketing manager of the Franciscan Well bar. More details here, even the promise of a beer festival.

Trouble Brewing Nocturne Milk Stout 5.5%, 440ml can Bradleys

This limited release looks well in the glass. Black with a creamy tan head that is unhurried. A big whiff of coffee in the aromas. And the coffee again, with sweet chocolate notes now, on the smooth palate. Sip away all that delicious creaminess to a very satisfactory ending. Smooth and easy all the way. No Trouble at all!

Ingredients – Water, Malt, Oats, Wheat, Lactose, Cacao Nibs, Hops and Yeast

Founded over 10 years ago Trouble Brewing is a 100% Irish-owned and independent brewery, located in Kill, Co Kildare. “Everything we do is driven by the desire to produce the highest quality, best tasting beer for our fellow beer lovers. …We mainly brew hop forward, session beers to be enjoyed by all, but we’re always happy to experiment — only a few ideas are too dumb.”

Wicklow Wolf Moonlight Non Alcoholic Hoppy Ale 0.5%, 330can Bradleys

The search for a really good Irish non alcoholic beer continues.

Geek Bits

Hops: Cascade, Hallertau Blanc, Citra

Malts: Melano, Cara Gold 

Brewery News

Fidelity's Back

Holy moly it's actually happening! Fidelity, our beer festival, is returning to Dublin's Round Room at the Mansion House this July and tickets are flying out with the Saturday session just about sold out.  The first brewery announcement is landing next week and we don't expect tickets to last once that killer lineup drops so now if you want to join us in July, grab those tickets! The festival takes places on July 15th & 16th and each session will have a completely different lineup of beers. Tickets are €69.61 and includes all your beer and your festival tasting glass.

Tickets

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Hope Tours Return!

With restrictions lifted we're excited to announce our brewery tours are back. Come visit our state-of-the-art German brewhouse where one of our team will cover all aspects of the brewing process and at the end you'll enjoy a tasting of our beers in the tap room. A tour is €18 per person and requires a minimum of 6 people and a maximum of 15. Tours are available on Thursdays and Fridays at 5pm and Saturdays at 4pm.

Book a Tour ********* Wicklow Wolf Joining the Pack as number 24 and 25 in the Endangered Species Series are Apex Cherry, a Black Cherry Oatmeal Stout and Canis Rufus, a Red Rye IPA. Available nationwide this week in all good independent off licences and at the Wicklow Wolf Taproom!

A Quart of Ale± #86. On the craft journey with a session of Hope, Porterhouse, Treaty City and Journeyman

 A Quart of Ale± #86

On the craft journey with a session of Hope, Porterhouse, Treaty City and Journeyman

Hope Overnight Oats IPA 7.5%, 440ml can O’Briens Wine

A bit late to the party here. This is the 5th anniversary brew for Dublin’s Hope Brewery and was launched in the middle of 2021.  

They say: It was our Limited Edition 16 and you voted for its return as our official birthday beer! We brewed it using Norwegian Kveik yeast, flaked Irish oats (creamy) and our own home-made oat milk to give the beer a smooth body and hazy appearance.

It comes in an amber colour,  hazy (but you can see a crowded bubble scene, all on the up) while the head fades away soon enough. The aromas are modest but nonetheless complex with hints of the hops apparent. And it is certainly tropical on the palate, a quality for which the Mosaic hop (used in the dry-hopping) is noted. For all that, the sweet malt has its chance to shine in a very satisfactory anniversary beer indeed. For me, better late than never!

Founded in June 2004, Hope is now a proud local brewery at Howth Junction and drew its customers into the birthday celebrations, asking what would the celebratory brew be. “After all the votes were counted, Limited Edition #16 Overnight Oats IPA was the clear winner." Brewed in 2019 for the fruit time, the customers appreciated, among other qualities, the body and smoothness thanks “to the flaked oats and oat milk”. 

That unique Norwegian Kveik yeast also contributes to that tropical flavour and complex aroma. American Ale Yeast and the British Brett may be tops of the tops in yeast but Kveik is coming up fast, another illustration that “brewers and beer drinkers owe everything to these single-celled fungi”, that quote from Craft Beer for the Geeks. Kveik is getting popular here: Eights Degrees, Metalman, and Wicklow Wolf have been among its users in recent months.

Porterhouse Sundown Session IPA 4.0%, 440ml can O’Briens Wine

A light orange is the colour of this 4% Sundown Session from Porterhouse and it comes complete with a soft white head that hangs around for a spell. Not surprisingly, given that Citra, Mandarina and Simcoe are three of the hops involved, both the aromas and flavours feature citrus in a lead role. It is a little more complex than that though as you’ll also find no shortage of more exotic fruit plus a touch of pine at the finalé.

They tell us that it is refreshing and you can sense that yourself the second it hits the palate. So plenty of hops, flavour and refreshment all wrapped up in a 4% package. Not bad at all! May not satisfy the out and out hop heads though as there is little enough bitterness here - IBU is low at 10. Still, should be a popular session beer, which was the intention.

Geek Bits

Malts: Ale, Wheat, Oats and Crystal

Hops: Magnum, Citra, Mandarina Bavaria, Simcoe

Treaty City Outcast Juicy IPA 3.8%, 440ml can O’Briens Wine

Yellow, very pale, is the colour of this cloudy session IPA from Treaty City. It has a “massive” all-American hop line-up of Idaho 7, El Dorado, and Columbus (also known as CTZ), so expect pine, tropical (pineapple), citrus, dank, pepper and pungent in aromas and flavours. That is more or less what you get with quite a bit of fruit on the palate before a dry finish. And that US hop trio certainly lend it a hefty hit, no doubting its hoppy credentials. Overall, it is more than a satisfactory session beer though some would prefer a bit more malt input.

Malts by the way are: Pale Ale, Munich, Oats, Wheat

Journeyman Pale Ale 4.6%, 500ml bottle, Xmas gift

Amber/Gold is the colour of this Pale Ale from Dundalk; it’s got a soft white head with some stability. Hazy enough but not so much that you can’t see the shoals of bubbles rising. There’s a moderately intense scent, grapefruit and pine. And more of the same on the palate where the malted barley and wheat make their presence felt. Actually, it all comes together quite well. 

The producers of Journeyman, at the Pearse Lyons Brewery, say of this Cooper’s special batch: “You need a great barrel to make a great beer. Journeyman is steeped in the tradition and highly skilled craft of coopering, the process of making watertight barrels out of wooden staves.”

Beer of the Year 2021. The Reveal!

Beer of the Year 2021

Very difficult to separate the contenders but the nod for my Beer of the Year goes to the Brehon Brewhouse Oak & Mirrors Cask Aged Imperial Porter. Brehon: "Whiskey-aged porter from a collaboration with our good friends at TWO STACKS using their freshly emptied single malt cask to mature our brew. Of course, getting it right took a few tastings with the lads. This is a superior whiskey cask-aged imperial porter that will please the most discerning of whiskey-loving palettes. Limited edition.."

1 - Cask-Aged Brehon Brewhouse Oak & Mirrors Two Stacks Whiskey Cask Aged Imperial Porter

 2 (joint) - Yellow Belly “Red Noir” Dark Red Ale

                  Whiplash “Melodie Noir” Baltic Porter

4 -       Mescan Brewery Old Brown 

5  (joint) -   Western Herd Flora and Fauna 10 Hop DIPA 

                 - Hope “Limited Edition No 25“ Classic Gose

                 -  Dungarvan “Mahon Falls” Rye Pale

8 - Galway Bay NZ Pils Motueka Dry Hopped Pilsner

Mescan's Old Brown

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Below are more of my favourites from the past 12 months. I'm lucky to have a great supplier here in Cork City and virtually every brewer in the country will know of Bradley's in North Main Street. There's a wall of beer there but I'm conscious that quite a few others don't make it this far south and so I've used various online shops to broaden my scope. If you feel, your beer is missing out, do please let me have a DM with info as to where I can buy it.

Category favourites 2021

Pale Ale:  White Hag “Magic Mist” Juicy Pale Ale (from a very competitive section)

IPA (also very competitive!): Blacks St Tropez IPA Summer IPA 4.8%

Session: Eight Degrees Seisíun IPA 4.5%. No shortage of competition here.

Lager: Galway Bay NZ Pils Motueka Dry Hopped Pilsner 4.9%, from a crowded field

Less competitive categories, even sub-categories

Coffee and Oatmeal Stout: Dungarvan Brewing.

Cask-Aged: Brehon Brewhouse Oak & Mirrors Two Stacks Whiskey Cask Aged Imperial Porter 7.5%; 

Porter: Whiplash The Sup

Rauchbier: Kinnegar 20÷2 Anniversary Rauchbier 5%

Barleywine: Eight Degrees Irish Oak-aged Barleywine 12.2%

Old Brown: Mescan

Spon: Land & Labour Crimson Kriek Framboise

Baltic Porter: Whiplash Melodie Noir Baltic Porter

Wheatbeer/Witbier/Wheat: Curious Society Wheat Beer

DIPA: Western Herd Flora and Fauna 10 Hop DIPA, 9.45%

Black IPA: 9 White Deer Black Lightning; 

Rye Pale Ale: Dungarvan “Mahon Falls” Rye Pale Ale

Bitter: Lough Gill Five Candles Extra Special Bitter

Stout: Ballykilcavan Blackwell Stout.

Kolsch: Rye River Grafters Clocking Off Kölsch Style

Red Ale: Yellow Belly “Red Noir” Dark Red Ale 4.5%

Gose: Hope “Limited Edition No 25“ Classic Gose

Non Alcoholic: Stonewell 0% Cider

Amber Ale: Kinnegar Devil’s Backbone 

Sour: Wide Street “Peach Berliner”Sour or Wheat? 

Brown Ale: Whiplash “The Ocean Wide” 

NEIPA: Heaney New England.

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Favourite beer in brew pubs:

Crew “Polly” IPA.

Also enjoyed:

Cotton Ball "Lynch’s" Stout (Cork City); Elbow Lane's "Angel" Stout (Cork City); and Tom Crean's "Six Magpies" Stout in Kenmare.

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Favourite Cider 2021: 

Stonewell Cask

Also enjoyed:

Johnny Fall Down Rare Apple Cider 2019. Longueville “Mór” Cider 8%.

Others to note:

Mac Ivors Traditional Dry Cider; Viking Orchard Cuvée; Con’s Irish Cider; Viking Hop It Craft Cider; Highbank “Proper Irish Cider” 2016. 

Irish Perry

Cockagee Cider Piorraí Irish Sparkling Perry

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Beer of the Year 2021 - the short list!

Beer of the Year 2021

- the short list!

Cheers!

Not very short but shorter than it was! It is going to be a blanket finish. List below is in alphabetical order. Final result next week.

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Cask-Aged Brehon Brewhouse Oak & Mirrors Two Stacks Whiskey Cask Aged Imperial Porter 

Dungarvan “Mahon Falls” Rye Pale Ale

Galway Bay NZ Pils Motueka Dry Hopped Pilsner

Hope “Limited Edition No 25“ Classic Gose

Mescan Brewery Old Brown

Western Herd Flora and Fauna 10 Hop DIPA

Whiplash “Melodie Noir” Baltic Porter 

Yellow Belly “Red Noir” Dark Red Ale

 

Beer of the Year 2021 - the long list!

 Beer of the Year 2021 - the list!

Brehon Brewhouse Oak & Mirrors Two Stacks Whiskey Cask Aged Imperial Porter 7.5%

Dungarvan “Mahon Falls” Rye Pale Ale

Eight Degrees “The Pilgrim’s Path” Lager

Eight Degrees Irish Oak-aged Barleywine 12.2%

Galway Bay NZ Pils Motueka Dry Hopped Pilsner

Heaney New England IPA

Hope “Limited Edition No 25“ Classic Gose

Land & Labour Crimson Kriek Framboise

Lineman “Vesper" Pale Ale

Mescan Brewery Old Brown

O’Hara’s Irish Stout Nitro

Trouble Brewing Lights Out DIPA

Western Herd Flora and Fauna 10 Hop DIPA
Whiplash “Melodie Noir” Baltic Porter

Yellow Belly “Red Noir” Dark Red Ale

- Will be "working" on this long list of my favourite beers in 2021 over the Christmas break. Soon, a short list will be published and then my champ!

Will also name a selection across the various style.

December (short list)

Coffee and Oatmeal Stout: Dungarvan

Cask-Aged: Brehon Brewhouse Oak & Mirrors Two Stacks Whiskey Cask Aged Imperial Porter 7.5%

Porter: Whiplash The Sup

Session: Eight Degrees Seisíun IPA 4.5%

Rauchbier: Kinnegar 20÷2 Anniversary Rauchbier 5%

Barleywine: Eight Degrees Irish Oak-aged Barleywine 12.2%

Beer of The Year 2021 The candidates, so far!

 Beer of The Year 2021

The candidates, so far!

November: Mescan Brewery Old Brown

October: Western Herd Flora and Fauna 10 Hop DIPA

September: Galway Bay NZ Pils Motueka Dry Hopped Pilsner

August: Hope “Limited Edition No 25“ Classic Gose

July: Yellow Belly “Red Noir” Dark Red Ale

June: O’Hara’s Irish Stout Nitro

May: Dungarvan “Mahon Falls” Rye Pale Ale

April: Heaney New England IPA

March: Whiplash “Melodie Noir” Baltic Porter

February: Eight Degrees “The Pilgrim’s Path” Lager

January: Lineman “Vesper" Pale Ale

Toying with the idea of using Twitter polls to tie down

our beer of the year, maybe three qualifiers of four and

then a final poll of three. What do you think?

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Favourite beers in brew pubs

IPA: Crew “Polly” IPA

Stout: Cotton Ball Lynch’s Stout

Favourite Cider 

Johnny Fall Down Rare Apple Cider 2019 (from October)

Stonewell Cask (November)

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November final

Tough decision here with the Land & Labour and the Trouble Brewing DIPA also in the field. Not to mention the Stonewell.

Old Brown: Mescan

Spon: Land & Labour Crimson Kriek Framboise

Lager: Eight Degrees Original Gravity “Hoppy Lager”

Session: Trouble Brewing Little Monster Pale Ale

IPA: Larkin’s Drench, Wide Street Cashmere,

Wheat: Curious Society Wheat Beer

Coffee Oatmeal Stout: Ulster Black Oatmeal Stout 

DIPA: Trouble Brewing Lights Out DIPA

Cider: Stonewell Cask

October final selection

IPA: 9 White Deer Stag;

Wheat Beer: Clonakilty Inchydoney Blond;

Black IPA: 9 White Deer Black Lightning; 

Cider: Johnny Fall Down Rare Apple Cider 2019

DIPA: Western Herd Flora and Fauna 10 Hop DIPA

Session: Lineman Sundrops Table Beer, 3.3%; 

Pale Ale: Eight Degrees Kveik Pale Ale.

September Final Selection

Stout: Ballykilcavan Blackwell Stout

Session: Trouble Brewing Love Below Micro IPA 3.2%

Lager: Galway Bay NZ Pils Motueka Dry Hopped Pilsner 4.9%.

Wheatbeer/Witbier: Whiplash Il Veliero DDZ Witbier 4.8%

Rye IPA: Kinnegar Bucket & Spade Session Rye IPA 4.2%

IPA: Hope Handsome Jack IPA 6.6%

Pale Ale: White Hag Duo Series Idaho 7 & Citra Pale Ale 5.5%