Beer of The Year 2021. The candidates, so far!

Beer of The Year 2021

The candidates, so far!

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

Favourite beers in brew pubs:

IPA: Crew “Polly” IPA

Stout: Cotton Ball Lynch’s Stout

Cider: Johnny Fall Down Rare Apple Cider 2019 (from October)

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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%

A Quart of Ale± #74. On the craft journey with a session of Lineman, Dead Centre and Eight Degrees

A Quart of Ale± #74

On the craft journey with a session of Lineman, Dead Centre and Eight Degrees

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Lineman Sundrops Table Beer, 3.3%, 440 can Bradleys

A low abv beer, this from Lineman, a Dublin based independent brewery. 

Sundrops is the name and the colour is sunny, with much haze about.  The head sinks without too much delay. Aromas are rather special, thanks to the hops and yeast from down under. The Ozzie hop Topaz is bright and breezy and an efficient bittering agent while Nelson Sauvin, pretty popular these days, is known for its exotic fruits.

Sauvin is, I’ve read, shorthand for the white wine grape Sauvignon blanc (popular in New Zealand), and this beer certainly makes both the olfactory organs and the palate buds sit up and take notice before a lip-licking finish. All this with an abv of just 3.3! 

They are touting it as “A fantastically balanced sessionable beer” and I wouldn’t disagree! It is available in 440ml cans, is unpasteurised and unfiltered. Suitable for vegans.

Dead Centre Teeny Tiny Micro New England Pale Ale, 3.3%, 440 can Bradleys

A good early whiff of hoppy citrus indicates that this Teeny Tiny will be no weakling on the flavour side. Teeny Tiny, with its cloudy orange-y colour is, as its Athlone producers insist, ”a small but perfectly formed New England IPA”. 

Fresh and indeed loaded with flavour and an excellent balance between hops and sweet honey malt, I’d be happy to imbibe a few of these on a session or slip one or two in between some heavyweights.

Hops used are Citra, El Dorado and Idaho7 and its quite a beer at 3.3abv.

They say: Fresh, flavoursome and (wherever possibly) local ingredients are what give our beer its character. Cutting corners here is not an option at Dead Centre Brewing. We believe you get out what you put in…so only the best goes in.

Dead Centre have installed a beautiful copper clad brewery in their Brew Pub right on the banks of the River Shannon. “Serving a full range of wines, gins, soft drinks teas and coffees…our focus is first and foremost on great quality craft beer from our own brewery as well as local, guest breweries."

The brewpub is casual, laid-back and chilled. "We have four Dead Centre taps constantly pouring as well as 4 guest taps to make sure we always have a wide and interesting range available at the bar.”

Dead Centre Marooned Oatmeal IPA, 5.5%, 440 can Bradleys

An amber orange body topped with a foamy white head that tends to stick around, even from the can. Citrus elements figure in the aromas and on the smooth palate too and here the brewers give much credit to the locally grown and certified organic Kilbeggan oats. Flavours tend towards orange zest in the mouth before a classic bitterness takes over towards the dry finale.

Dead Centre is Westmeath’s first and only craft brewery. “Marooned, our flagship beer, has a silky smooth body, a result of using locally grown and certified organic Kilbeggan oats. This simple malt base delivers outstanding mouthfeel and gives the hops a perfect platform to shine.”

Malts:  Pale Malt, Red X and Kilbeggan organic oats.

Hops: Perle, Simcoe and Mosaic.

Eight Degrees Kveik Pale Ale 5%, 400 can Bradleys

This Pale Ale is named after a unique Norwegian Kveik that produces a tropical flavour and complex aroma. And I’m not talking about hops here. Kveik is a yeast. American Ale Yeast and the British Brett may be tops of the pops 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. Yeast is responsible for many of the flavour compounds in beer including floral, fruity and spicy notes.

Back to our glass. Colour is a hazy dark gold and a fluffy white head lingers. Aromas are mostly tropical. Tropical also on the palate, multi-layered with  tangerine and pineapple getting a turn as the sips roll softly in. Slightly spicy too and there’s a good dry finish. Very quaffable indeed and highly satisfactory.

They say: It is packed full of Mandarina Bavaria, Cascade and Simcoe hops: lots of fruit and citrus flavours, with a backbone of grapefruit and pine. We’re adding Hornindal Kveik to the mix, a Norwegian yeast that brings some lovely tropical esters to the party. Dry hopped with HBC 522 and HBC 630. (Terrible names, great hops).

This is the second of their 2021 Original Gravity series which celebrates ten years in business for the Mitchelstown brewery. They ran a competition looking for artworks and the winners are featured on this series of five limited beer releases, giving emerging artists a can-sized exhibition space.

The Kveik Pale Ale design comes from with Michael Donnelly of Woolly Mammoth. Michael’s joy at getting out into the great outdoors after the lockdowns is reflected in his design which “depicts the beauty that this country has to offer and the amount of activities we can do…”. Discover more of his work on Instagram:  @woollymammothdesign

As always, Eight Degrees have food suggestions: 

Smooth, snappy and just right for an aperitivo. Puglian taralli – those curled up, crunchy little breadstick bites, especially good when flavoured with fennel – are a great pre-dinner nibble to have alongside this beer. Make up a platter of your favourite crostini (topped with ’nduja and crushed peas) or bruschetta (tomato and aged balsamic for the win) to contrast with the tropical fruit flavours. If you’re heading into the great outdoors with this beer, try it with halloumi burgers, campfire fish tacos or a barbecued steak with piquant salsa verde.

Get social: #OriginalGravityKveikPaleAle

Beer of The Year 2021. The candidates, so far!

Beer of The Year 2021

The candidates, so far!

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

July final

Hazy IPA: Blacks Ace of Haze Battle of the Tropics DDH Hazy IPA 5.5%

Lager: Boundary Very Serious Situation Pils 4.8%, Mescan “Seven Virtues” Lager 4.9%,

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

Pale Ale: Rascals with Hopfully “Siamese Dream” Pale Ale 4.5%

Sour: Otterbank Brewing “Mates Rates” Tart Session IPA 4.9%

IPA:  Blacks Wild Atlantic West Coast IPA 4.5

Session: Blacks Ace of Haze DDH Cryo Hazy Session IPA 4.2%

Overall: Yellow Belly “Red Noir” Dark Red Ale

Previously...

June

Stout: O’Hara’s Irish Stout Nitro

Session: Brú Lager; Brú Cheep Flirt IPA

Pale Ale: Lineman Electric Avenue #2 Extra; Wicklow Brewery Hopknut; 9 White Deer “Stag Ban”; West Kerry “Blue Rose”; Whiplash Midnight Dipper;

Red Ale: Western Herd Atlantic

IPA: Brú IPA; O’Hara’s Hop Adventure Strata

Golden Ale: Sullivan’s Irish Gold

Non Alcoholic: Stonewell 0% Cider

Blond: Mescan Westport Blonde

Overall: O’Hara’s Irish Stout Nitro

May Favourites

White/wheat/wit: Heaney Irish White Ale

Rye Ale: Dungarvan “Mahon Falls” Rye Pale Ale

Lager: Western Herd "Loop Head" Pilsner 

Red Ale: Brú

Amber Ale: Kinnegar Devil’s Backbone 

IPA: O’Hara’s 51st State IPA

Session: Rising Sons “5th Horseman” session IPA 

Overall: Dungarvan “Mahon Falls” Rye Pale Ale

April Favourites

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

Brown Ale: Whiplash “The Ocean Wide” 

NEIPA: Heaney New England

Session: Blacks The Session IPA 3.5%

German style IPA: Rascals Wunderbar IPA

IPA: O’Hara’s Tropical IPA,

Stout: O’Hara’s Irish Stout,

Overall: Heaney New England

March Favourites

Lager: Wide Street “Mill Pils”

Session: Eight Degrees Bohemian Pilsner Lager

Red Ale: O’Hara’s Irish Red Traditional Ale, 4.3%

Baltic Porter: Whiplash Melodie Noir Baltic Porter

Overall: Whiplash Melodie Noir Baltic Porter

February Favourites

Lager: Eight Degrees “The Pilgrim’s Path”

Pale Ale: Blacks Kinsale KPA

Session: Rascals “Fruitropolis” Pale Ale, 4.3%

Overall: Eight Degrees “The Pilgrim’s Path”

January Favourites 

Pale Ale - Lineman Vesper

IPA - Hopfully Graciosa

Session: Whiplash Northern Light

Lager: Kinnegar Brewers at Play Rye Lager

Porter: Elbow Lane “Liberty”

Overall: Lineman Vesper

No lists kept for 2020 but the “winners” were

Stout: Brehon Brewhouse “Ulster Black” Oatmeal Stout 5.0%

Belgian Tripel: Eight Degrees Devil's Ladder Belgian Tripel 11.5%

Golden Ale: West Kerry Brewery “Béal Bán” Golden Ale, 5.0%

Imperial Stout: Lough Gill Dark Majik Imperial Oatmeal Coffee Cream Stout 11.0%

Pale Ale: Trouble Brewing Ambush Juicy Pale Ale, 5.0%

Session: Whiplash Rollover Session IPA 3.8%

Lager: White Gypsy Munich Lager, 5.8%

American IPA: Kinnegar “Crossroads” American Style IPA 6.2%

Saison: Third Circle “Unsocial Creatures”  Dry Hopped Saison 4.4%

White/Wheat: Mescan “Westport White” 5%

Cider: Highbank “Proper Irish Cider” 2016 6%

Sour: Yellow Belly Castaway Passionfruit Sour 4.2%

Red: The White Hag “The Fleadh” 6.8%

Hybrid: Hope Underdog Hoppy Lager 4.8%

Non Alcoholic: Highbank’s “Drivers” Cider

Overall: Eight Degrees Devil's Ladder Belgian Tripel 11.5%

The Beer of The Year 2021. The candidates, so far!

Beer of The Year 2021

The candidates, so far!

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

June

Stout: O’Hara’s Irish Stout Nitro

Session: Brú Cheep Flirt IPA

Pale Ale: Lineman Electric Avenue #2 Extra

Red Ale: Western Herd Atlantic

IPA: Brú IPA

Golden Ale: Sullivan’s Irish Gold

Non Alcoholic: Stonewell 0% Cider

Blond: Mescan Westport Blonde

Overall: O’Hara’s Irish Stout Nitro

May

May Favourites

White/wheat/wit: Heaney Irish White Ale

Rye Ale: Dungarvan “Mahon Falls” Rye Pale Ale

Lager: Western Herd "Loop Head" Pilsner 

Red Ale: Brú

Amber Ale: Kinnegar Devil’s Backbone 

IPA: O’Hara’s 51st State IPA

Session: Rising Sons “5th Horseman” session IPA 

Overall: Dungarvan “Mahon Falls” Rye Pale Ale

April

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

Brown Ale: Whiplash “The Ocean Wide” 

NEIPA: Heaney New England

Session: Blacks The Session IPA 3.5%

German style IPA: Rascals Wunderbar IPA

IPA: O’Hara’s Tropical IPA,

Stout: O’Hara’s Irish Stout,

Overall: Heaney New England

March

Lager: Wide Street “Mill Pils”

Session: Eight Degrees Bohemian Pilsner Lager

Red Ale: O’Hara’s Irish Red Traditional Ale, 4.3%

Baltic Porter: Whiplash Melodie Noir Baltic Porter

Overall: Whiplash Melodie Noir Baltic Porter

February

Lager: Eight Degrees “The Pilgrim’s Path”

Pale Ale: Blacks Kinsale KPA

Session: Rascals “Fruitropolis” Pale Ale, 4.3%

Overall: Eight Degrees “The Pilgrim’s Path”

January

Pale Ale - Lineman Vesper

IPA - Hopfully Graciosa

Session: Whiplash Northern Light

Lager: Kinnegar Brewers at Play Rye Lager

Porter: Elbow Lane “Liberty”

Overall: Lineman Vesper

No lists kept for 2020 but the “winners” were

Stout: Brehon Brewhouse “Ulster Black” Oatmeal Stout 5.0%

Belgian Tripel: Eight Degrees Devil's Ladder Belgian Tripel 11.5%

Golden Ale: West Kerry Brewery “Béal Bán” Golden Ale, 5.0%

Imperial Stout: Lough Gill Dark Majik Imperial Oatmeal Coffee Cream Stout 11.0%

Pale Ale: Trouble Brewing Ambush Juicy Pale Ale, 5.0%

Session: Whiplash Rollover Session IPA 3.8%

Lager: White Gypsy Munich Lager, 5.8%

American IPA: Kinnegar “Crossroads” American Style IPA 6.2%

Saison: Third Circle “Unsocial Creatures”  Dry Hopped Saison 4.4%

White/Wheat: Mescan “Westport White” 5%

Cider: Highbank “Proper Irish Cider” 2016 6%

Sour: Yellow Belly Castaway Passionfruit Sour 4.2%

Red: The White Hag “The Fleadh” 6.8%

Hybrid: Hope Underdog Hoppy Lager 4.8%

Non Alcoholic: Highbank’s “Drivers” Cider

Overall: Eight Degrees Devil's Ladder Belgian Tripel 11.5%

A Quart of Ale± #56 Another session on the craft journey with Lager, Pale and Dark Ale and Stout.

A Quart of Ale± #56

Another session on the craft journey. 

O’Hara’s Nitro Stout 4.3%, 440ml can Bradleys

Great visuals with this one. After the sound effects of the widget, you pour, at the 45 degrees of course and slowly, and then it clears, upwards, from a muddled mess to a shiny black mass with a steady and creamy head. The roasted aromas confirm the familiar feeling. Am I back in the bar or what? The magic continues on the palate, full bodied and impressively smooth and all the while that superb roast flavour, a hint or two of smoke there too. And then that traditional dry finish. 

Like the few words on the label: Chill Pull Pour Pause Enjoy. Pretty accurate! By the way, we finished (rather than started with this beauty!)

So what’s this nitro? Nitrogenation was used in stouts to approximate the smooth carbonation typical of cask conditioned ales and has become the norm for kegged Irish stout, giving a smooth creamy texture to the head.

And stout itself? While the term stout is reputed to have been applied to higher abv porters in Britain, it is said that the “stout” style that evolved in Ireland originates from the use of heavily roast malts introduced in Irish breweries after the famine in hardened economic times. While not strong in terms of abv the stronger roast flavoured malts lends a more robust flavour to the style giving a dry finish – hence the term Dry Irish Stout.

Geek Bits 

Plato °

10.75°

IBU

36 

Fermentation

Top fermentation

Availability

 (nitrogenated), Keg 50cl and 33cl, occasional 41L cask Can 44cl

Serving Temperature

6-10°C.  

Food Pairing

Excellent with seafood particularly shellfish and smoked salmon. Also pairs well with strong flavoured cheeses and dry cured meats such as Parma ham.

Glass

O’Hara’s tulip glass

Brú Lager 4.2%, 330ml can Bradleys

Very clear light gold colour.  Aromas are malty and on the palate it is the malt that comes through more than the hops (their website describes it as their love song to malt). It’s a light and refreshing lager, certainly more for recreation than meditation, more for a multi-person session than a solo hour. Enjoyable.

Details:

Hops: Tradition

Malts: Lager, Carapils, Munich, Crystal

They say: You can find BRÚ beers on the shelf or at the bar across Ireland in many pubs and restaurants and in your local independent off licence. We’re also stocked nationwide in some of Ireland’s finest retailers.

Lineman Electric Avenue #2 Extra Pale Ale 5.3%, 440ml can Bradleys

Treat this one fairly roughly at the start and you are rewarded with a big white head, with a bit of staying power. Colour is an almost totally clear light gold with many fountains of bubbles finding their way upwards. Take a sniff over that slowly shrinking head and you get the freshness of the hops. Dip your finger into the foam and you get a hint of what’s to come, a bit of bitter orange, as if you’d eaten a piece of the peel. That orange is still there on the palate but now there is a balance, a crisp and refreshing harmony all the way through to the finish. The label promises a bright crisp Pale Ale designed to let those delicious hops sing. I reckon they got it spot-on. By the way, after all that smelling and tasting, the head is still there but barely half a finger’s worth - no matter.

This March issue is the second in the Electric Avenue series which uses the freshest hop combinations on a base beer that allow them to shine. Hops used here are Talus and Hallertau Blanc. Talus is a new proprietary hop from the USA. 

They say: Hallertau Blanc has been a firm favourite here at the brewery but we hadn't got our hands on Talus before now. It didn't disappoint. We think this is a great pairing.

A relatively simple beer. Simply superb.

Their story: Lineman had been a long-planned project of founder/owner/brewer Mark Lucey. Having been obsessed with beer and heavily involved in homebrewing for all his adult life, it was always an ambition to open a brewery or have a commercial brewing project that would allow him to produce a diverse range of beer: Stouts, Belgians styles, IPAs and Mixed Fermentations.

It soon became a proper husband and wife team when Vivienne joined shortly before the first beers were released. Being a graphic designer with lots of commercial experience she was able to bring the look for Lineman together just in time for their beers to be released. Vivienne produces all the artwork and looks after the marketing side of things.

West Kerry “Cúl Dorcha” Dark Ale 5.0%, 500ml bottle Bradleys 

The name Cúl Dorcha comes from a local shore and means dark back (probably no lightbulb out the back). Dark red is the colour of this Kerry beer with its soft white head that reduces soon enough.

All’s dark then. Roasted malts on the nose, hints of smoke. The malt runs deep, caramel, chocolate, smoky peat; complex palate also has a sourish aspect and slightly bitter too towards the finish.

It is indeed a distinctive beer as we’ve come to expect from West Kerry where sculptor Adrienne is also the owner and brewer at Tig Bhric, the public house where the West Kerry brewery is based.

They say: Cúl Dorcha is a dark ale, with a deep maltiness that includes hints of dark chocolate. Hopped with English hops for an easy-drinking beer with a slight spice note to the finish.