A Quart of Ale± #47. On the craft journey with Stout and Porter

 A Quart of Ale± #47

On the craft journey with Stout and Porter

O’Hara’s Irish Stout 4.3%, 500ml bottle via Radical Drinks

The 2014 edition of the Beer Handbook acknowledges the O’Hara’s family expertise in stout such as this “medium-bodied, drier end, near-black..”  But gives the big thumbs up to their Leann Folláin.

O’Hara’s, trading as Carlow Brewing, were part of the first wave of Irish craft brewing. They started in 1996 before expanding into a new brewery in Bagnalstown in 2009. 

They say of this stout: The flagship of the O’Hara’s brand, this uniquely Irish stout brings one back to how Irish stouts used to taste. First brewed in 1999, it has since been awarded prestigious honours for its quality and authenticity. The combination of traditional stout hops with an extra pinch of roast barley allows us to stay true to Irish tradition, recreating a taste so often yearned for by stout drinkers.

The Handbook may say near-black but its black as far as I’m concerned, black with a fluffy cream-coffee coloured head. Aromas too of coffee, rich and complex. And that follows to the mouth, with sturdy roast flavours it flows smooth and full-bodied on the way to a dry tart finish, again with that coffee prominent. A classic that leaves me looking forward to trying the Leann Folláin (which is in my queue, not a very long one!).

Geek Bits

Style: Traditional Dry Irish Stout

ABV: 4.3% 

Plato °: 10.75°

IBU: 36

Fermentation: Top fermentation

Availability: Keg (nitrogenated), Bottle 50cl and 33cl, occasional 41L cask.

Serve: 6-10°C.  For our bottled version, some enjoy this stout served in the traditional way in southeast Ireland at room temperature “off the shelf”. 

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

O Brother “The Nightcrawler” Milk Stout,  4.5%, 440ml via beercloud.ie 

O Brother introduce The Nightcrawler as “our darkly delicious Nitro Milk Stout. Spreading darkness into the beery world from today! Dark brown to black in colour.” 

From my can, colour is more black than brown with a coffee-dust coloured head that hangs around for a spell. Not at all thick and creamy as you might read in the blurb (perhaps they’re talking draught). And there’s a touch of lightly roasted coffee about the aromas. On the palate it is mildly smooth coffee, chocolate and vanilla notes and a lightness in the body that is more typical of porter. Pretty good balance and nothing too bitter at all in the finish. 

You’ll sometimes see this billed as a Nitro. But O Brother themselves clear this up on their Facebook page: “We can't get the nitro effect in cans or bottles so it's draught only I'm afraid.”  Pleasing enough from the can though.

They say: We’ve been working hard, pushing ourselves to get even more fresh, interesting and exciting beers out the brewery door. We've been having an amazing time working with some of our fellow brewers and a host of talented artists on our 'Off The Wall' beer series too...

Porterhouse “Plain Porter”, 4.2%, 500ml bottle via Bradleys

Black is the colour. Head? What head? Aromas are plain enough: coffee and chocolate. Flavours are just as obvious and the mouthfeel is smooth on the way to a dry and slightly bitter finale.  

I reckon Scaldy (by Dublin’s Whiplash) and Liberty (by Cork’s Elbow Lane) are among the top porters at present though I’m always aware of the old saying: different strokes for different folks. And this beer has gold medals to its name!

And the name? Well, when “…no rashers grease your pan / A pint of plain is yer only man.”

They say: Our Plain Porter – porter is a lighter version of stout – is a double gold medal winner. We brew for taste and in the brewing we look carefully at how we do it

Geek Bits

Food Pairings: Beefy Stew, Roast Lamb

Malts: Roast barley, Black Malt, Flaked Barley

Hops: Galena, Nugget, East Kent Goldings

Galway Hooker Irish Stout 4.5%, 500ml bottle O’Donovan’s

Galway hooker Irish Stout is available on draught and in 50cl bottle. My bottle poured black with a short-lived off-white head. Aromas are coffee dominated. Coffee too on the palate along with dark malt flavours and it stays strong all the way to the finalé, dry on those lips.  

This one may well find its place at the table. They recommend matching with hearty meat dishes, hard cheeses or as an after dinner drink.

Quite a tradition in this country of people drinking lighter beers (mainly lager) in summer and the darker ones in winter. Galway Hooker maintain a blog and have a post on the subject: 

Darker beers usually contain slighter higher carbohydrate levels and perhaps that is the reason our primordial brains seek out this additional nutrition at a time when food was historically hard to come by. Whatever the reason, there is no doubt that stouts and darker ales become more popular at the expense of paler lagers and ciders during the winter period.

More at Galway hooker Blog: http://www.galwayhooker.ie/blog.html.

Direct from the Cocoon, Round Four of our Irish and Belgian Beers

Round Four, direct from the cocoon, of our Irish and Belgian Beers

#4

Canning line at Kinnegar

Kinnegar “Crossroads” American Style IPA 6.2%, 500ml bottle

Colour is close to amber, plenty of bubbles rising (naturally carbonated), white head hangs around for a while. Good hoppy backbone carrying tropical fruit flavours across the palate and into the very satisfying finish. One of the best bottles of IPA you’re likely to come across and you can taste why this is one of their core range. 

You may see natural sediments at the bottom of the bottle. Avoid, if you wish, by pouring carefully.

Kinnegar’s craft beers are brewed in a new brewery in Letterkenny.  “Our roots are deeply embedded in the hilly fields and farms of northeast Donegal. This is the perfect environment for the way we make beer. We don’t filter or pasteurise, and we let our industrious little friends, the yeast, carbonate the beer naturally during fermentation.” We visited the brewery last autumn and you may read all about it here.

O Brother “The Sinner” IPA 6.2% abv, 440ml can

A light gold colour, white head (for a shortish stay). Aromas fruity (citrus, exotic) and floral. Lively and fruity (those soft fruits again) with malts and hops balanced on the palate, before a dry finalé with the hops to the fore. Different, somewhat drier, compared to the Kinnegar and another for my short list. Going well tonight!

This is unfiltered, unpasteurised, unadulterated and you are advised to drink it fresh with the recommended serving temperature at 8°- 10°. 

Barry, one of the three brothers involved in the independent Co. Wicklow brewery, tells me The Sinner was their third beer ever, after The Chancer and The Fixer (now retired), back in 2015, and remains part of the core line up.

“Originally brewed with the clean Chico yeast strain, with a pronounced bitterness, over time we have switched fermentation to the Vermont yeast strain, for a softer fruitier profile, but still retaining the strong bittering and structure of the original recipe.”

All O Brother beers are now being packaged exclusively in cans (as of March 2020).

Chouffe Blonde 8.0%, 330ml bottle

This award winning beer comes in a golden robe, and a big white head that stays around for a while. It is a beer with oomph and, the story goes, might well have been named something like that until Chris Bauweraerts, co-founder of the Achouffe Brewery (now under the Duvel wing), came out with the word Chouffe. ‘“What does that mean?” colleagues asked. Sweet FA was more or less the answer. But it now means a high quality beer with an 8.00% abv.

Not that you really notice the alcohol as you drink. Instead, there are calm citrus notes and a slightly hoppy taste. Indeed, the beer seems light,  the balance of flavour and alcohol is more or less perfect and has seen Chouffe win many awards, including this thumbs up from me.

You’ll note quite a lot of humour (be sure and check their Facebook page) in the hype surrounding this beer. For instance, the website gives three reason to drink it:

01 - Awaken the gnome inside you. (They have a gnome on the label instead of the usual jolly monk)
02 - It makes unicycling easier (try it and see!)
03 - You can officially be part of the CHOUFFE community

Enjoy, as I did, and let your inner gnome shine. By the way, I’m second on the right, red nose and all, as you come into the garden,.

 Brouwerij Bosteels Tripel Karmeliet 8.4%, 33cl bottle

Colour of this lovely three-grain beer is a mid gold, slightly cloudy with plenty of bubbles, and it holds its white head well. Aromas of banana, even a little clove I thought. A really smooth beer, fruity (banana and citrus), light and fresh and no jarring evidence of the high abv. That creamy smoothness may be coming from the oats. A surprising delicacy and harmony all the way to the highly satisfactory finish. One for the short list!

The Carmelites from Dendermonde in East Flanders were brewing a three-grain beer in the area in the 1600s. This information, published in a recent book on local brewing history, happened to come to light after Brouwerij Bosteels (located in Buggenhout) had decided to start brewing a three-grain beer as its next specialty. It was only after the beer was created that the name of the Carmelites was linked to the beer.

They say: Tripel Karmeliet was launched in 1996 and was received to great and fully-deserved acclaim. It is a Tripel (8.4 % in volume), but brewed with barley, wheat and oats. It could even be considered a six-grain beer as each of these grains is used in their raw as well as malted form. Steiermark hops  (from Austria) has good herbal flavours. It owes its fruity character (banana and vanilla) to the home-cultured yeast.

They recommend serving at 6 - 7°C on the website, a degree or two higher for the upper limit on the bottle. Food pairing note from the brewers: The citrus aromas and the ripe fruits are beautifully complemented with ginger. This beer makes a perfect pairing with mussels, served with black and white rice for example. It can also be used in the preparation of certain dishes, for example to add to stock for cooking mussels. We tried it with a fish pie (packed with great fish, mostly from Star Seafood: salmon, trout, and white fish), and it proved an excellent match.

Serving Glass Video link: https://youtu.be/BagJTUwFMuQ