CorkBillyBeers #34. Craft Pale Ale with Wicklow Wolf, Whiplash, Lineman, Sullivan's

CorkBillyBeers #34

In the wild: Elevation at Lynam's Laragh

Craft Pale Ale with Wicklow Wolf, Whiplash, Lineman, Sullivan's 

 

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Wicklow Wolf Elevation Pale Ale, 4.8%, 440ml can SuperValu Mayfield

Golden Pineapple Delight

This light gold, slightly hazy beer pours with a mild hoppy aroma. The first sip reveals juicy pineapple flavours that lead to a moderate, yet noticeable, hop bitterness. The bitterness is balanced by the sweetness of the pineapple, making for a very refreshing and easy-drinking beer.

This beer is a sessionable crowd-pleaser, and it's no wonder that it's the brewery's best-seller. You'll have no trouble finding a can of this beer, and it's easy to find on draught in its home county.

A Beer for All Occasions

This beer is perfect for any occasion. It's light enough to enjoy on a hot day, but it's also flavourful enough to pair with a meal. Whether you're having a barbecue with friends or just relaxing at home, it is a banker.

This refreshing and flavourful beer is Very Highly Recommended.

They say: An incredibly drinkable Pale Ale bursting with juicy fruits of pineapple and grapefruit from an abundance of hop additions. Refreshing.

Geek Bits

Food pairings: roasted or grilled meat.

Cheese Mild or medium cheddar.

Serve at 8 degrees. It is unfiltered, unpasteurised and the IBU is 40.

Hops: Mosaic, Mandarina Bavaria, Calypso

Malt: Pale, Cara Ruby, Melano, Wheat.

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Whiplash Body Riddle Pale Ale 4.5% ABV, 330ml can, No 21 Coburg Street

Label Pic via Whiplash

A Citrusy Treat

The Whiplash Body Riddle Pale Ale is a light and hazy gold beer with a fluffy white head. The aroma is a blend of citrus fruits, with lemon, grapefruit, and orange leading the way. There are also hints of pine and herbs, which add a touch of complexity.

The flavour is even more citrus-forward than the aroma, with lemon and grapefruit dominating. There is also a touch of sweetness from the malt, which helps to balance out the bitterness from the hops. The finish is dry and refreshing, with a lingering citrusy flavour.

The Body Riddle Pale Ale is brewed with a blend of Lemondrop, Galaxy, Simcoe, and Ekuanot hops. These hops all contribute to the beer's citrusy flavour profile, while also adding a touch of bitterness and complexity.

This beer is perfect for a hot day or as a sessionable beer to enjoy with friends. It's also a great beer to pair with food, as the citrus flavours can complement a variety of dishes.

But don't worry. There’s more than citrus here with the other hops, Galaxy, Simcoe, and Ekuanot all getting into the action and helping in the balancing act.

Lots of hops but no domination - IBU is a very presentable 26 - making sure you get flavour galore without scaring away the newbies. Absolutely enjoyable, from start to finalé. Not too much more to say about this gem but, with me, that’s often a good sign. I’ve made up my mind early and the verdict is a major thumbs up for the little can. Best of goods in small parcels.

Very Highly Recommended. Good for a session too!

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Pic via
Sullivan's

Sullivan’s Pale Ale, 4.7%, 500ml bottle SuperValu Mayfield

They say: Fermented using our Sullivan’s yeast and our ‘No-Rush’ brewing process for a delicious, classic balance.

Complex, Refreshing!

This Kilkenny Pale Ale is a beer that defies expectations. The colour is more amber than gold, and the aromas are more resinous than citrus. The evergreen effect continues on the palate, with fruit flavours (peach, apricot) having a say, even a touch of marmalade. The malts are of course also in evidence, but they are not the star of the show.

This beer is complex and refreshing at the same time. The resinous hops provide a touch of bitterness, which is balanced by the sweetness of the malts. The fruit flavours add a touch of complexity, and the marmalade note gives the beer a unique flavour profile.

There's a lot to like about our Kilkenny Pale Ale. Very Highly Recommended 

Geek Bits

Traditionally brewed with Vienna and Pale Ale malts, chill-hopped with Amarillo hops.

Malts - Irish Ale, Vienna.

Hops - Magnum, Admiral, First Gold and AmarilloBrewery:

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Lineman Fluid Dynamic Extra PA 4.8% ABV, No 21 Coburg Street 

Mid gold is the colour of this Extra Pale Ale from Lineman, a beer that has been around for a while. It is slightly hazy but no problem in spotting the fountains of bubbles rising to the white head. Returning to a previous tasting, I’m glad to see I mentioned that it “could well have wide appeal”. 

Still going strong with citrus and pine in the aromas and with flavours from citrus to mango to pine with a peppermint hint thrown in for good measure on the palate.  Unpasteurised and unfiltered, the beer is a soft and pleasant one on the palate, brewed deliberately using barley and wheat malts to make it light and clean and let the hops take centerstage but without taking over.

It is named Fluid Dynamic and the hops chosen were the all-American trio of Citra, Idaho 7 and Chinook. They give it quite a supple touch yet it is well balanced with barley and wheat malt helping a light clean beer emerge that lets the hops shine through, a hefty drink to have in hand in the summer and autumn hours between sun and dark.

Very Highly Recommended.

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CorkBillyBeers #31 Craft Stout/Porter with Mescan, Wicklow Wolf, McGill's and Whiplash.

CorkBillyBeers #31

Craft Stout/Porter with Mescan, Wicklow Wolf, McGill's and Whiplash.

According to Craftbeer.com, the name stout comes from the term stout porter, describing a bolder permutation of the popular porter style during the 17th century. Stouts are considered to have stronger roasted flavours than porters but can vary in character from dry, smooth and sweet or strong and bitter, depending on the type.

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Mescan Seven Virtues Baltic Porter, 9.5% ABV, 330 ml bottle

Just over 12 months back, Mescan Brewery introduced their Baltic Porter: Baltic-style porters were that region's interpretation of Imperial Stouts - the very strong, dense beers commissioned from London in the late 1800s by Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia (who, in 1783, was not the last Russian leader to annex Crimea and adjacent parts of southern Ukraine). The Baltic brewers made their version at low temperatures using lager yeasts and locally available ingredients. As have we. The result is a strong, full-bodied, smooth and dangerously drinkable porter!

Mescan's porter, part of their Seven Virtues series, comes with a black body and a lovely soft-tanned head. Aromas of roasted coffee, chocolate and caramel rise from the glass. But it is the palate that really engages your senses, your taste buds joyfully aware that something exotic is spreading their way with a dense and pleasant lightness, sweet toffee apple flavours impossible to resist as they lift you through to the most satisfying of finishes. It looks very much as if Empress Catherine the Great knew her beer. Mescan certainly do.

Very Highly Recommended.

I wonder if the Empress paired it with chocolate tart and desserts. Ideal, say Mescan and go on to recommend their Baltic with blue cheese and other stronger ones.

Their full Food Pairing Suggestions list is:

• oysters

• smoked fish with good butter and nice brown bread

• hearty stews of slow-cooked dark meats

• sticky toffee pudding

• chocolate tart with sour cream;

• cheeses - particularly smoked cheese or creamy, washed rind cheeses

Serving Temp 4-6 °C

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Wicklow Wolf Another Nut (Pastry Stout), 5.5% ABV, 440ml can

A well-tanned head sits atop a dense black body when you’ve poured Another Nut, Wicklow Wolf’s Pastry Stout, into your glass. “Inspired by the infamous chocolate spread that we have all grown up with, we thought it would make for a very interesting flavour profile in a stout.” 

That is their excuse. Non-Irish speakers and those who have had forgotten their Irish lessons after the first class, won't know that the Irish (well, half-Irish) for Another Nut is Nut Eile (Nutella). If you’re explaining, you are losing, so I'll stop digging now.

And I’ll nose it instead. And it's chocolate and hazelnut and I remember I bought a hazelnut coffee at Christmas and didn’t like it at all.

But then, I drink Riesling even if it often smells of diesel. So there’s hope yet, even after the first sip. Sip number two more or less condemns it to my also-rans. Not the one for me.

Perhaps, as a peace baby, raised on ration cards in post-war Britain, I’m just not that decadent. No doubt though some of you won’t remember the hard times around the cabin door and can easily engage with this “delicious, decadent stout with lashings of chocolate and hazelnut aromas and flavours”.

Another Nut is brewed with milk chocolate, speciality chocolate malt, Tanzanian cocoa nibs, Milk Sugar and finished on Roasted Hazelnuts.

Geek Bits

Hops etc - Bravo, Sorachi Ace, Tanzanian Cocoa Nibs, Milk Chocolate, Roasted Hazelnuts, Milk Sugar.

Pale, Dark Wheat, Cara, Dark Crystal, Chocolate, CARAFA Special Type 3, Golden Naked Oats

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McGill’s Dark Sky Reserve Irish Stout 4.5% ABV, 500ml bottle Centra Waterville

McGill’s ‘Dark Sky Reserve’ is a traditional Irish Stout inspired by the Kerry International Dark-Sky Reserve. This region has been designated Ireland’s first International Dark Sky Reserve by the IDA. The Iveragh Peninsula is one of only three Gold Tier Reserves on the planet, and the only Gold Tier Reserve in the Northern Hemisphere.

The stout itself has that dark sky colour for sure. And aromas of chocolate, hints of coffee too. You’ll meet that chocolate and coffee again on the palate. Quite a lot of sweetness is evident in recent Irish stouts but this one is a little more bitter than you’d expect, nothing untoward though, and at 4.5% ABV it fits neatly into the session category.

Irish dry stout is based on the use of roasted barley. Here that emphasis with a moderate degree of roasted malt aromas defines much of the character. Hop bitterness is medium to medium-high.

McGill’s say each beer is unique to the area of South Kerry. “They reflect our local heroes, culture, and history. In our small brewery, we handcraft our beers with care perfecting traditional Irish beer styles using our state-of-the-art brewery system. We hope you enjoy tasting our beers as much as we do producing them. ‘Sláinte agus fad saol agat’ (Health and long life to you).”

Enjoy the stout (and that long life) all the better with oysters, ham and cheese sandwiches. Of course, when you cross the county bounds and hit Cork city, bodice is your only man with the black stuff!

Highly Recommended.

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Whiplash Keeping Porter 6.1% ABV, 440ml can Bradleys

This Whiplash Keeping Porter is a collaboration with the UK’s Left Handed Giant Brewing Co. 

This back to the future beer is a staff pick, according to Whiplash. “Left Handed Giant came to came to visit us in February and we knew we wanted to brew something more traditional - enter Keeping Porter, inspired by a recipe we found from the 1840s. We're both really into historical brews so this was the perfect chance to have a go at something like this. It's a beautiful beer, coming in at 6.1% and single-decocted to unleash these rich, dark sugarages."

The collaboration with Left Handed Giant, a nod to the shipping history between Dublin and Bristol, is loaded with coffee notes, the sweet kind, just under the limit as far as this palate is concerned.

Whiplash Beer was founded in 2016 by Alex Lawes and Alan Wolfe and is based in Ballyfermot, Dublin. What started out as a series of limited releases on the side for the two brewery professionals soon grew into a full-time brand with award-winning beers, “brewing in facilities across Ireland and wider Europe”. 

Their own brewery was officially commissioned in 2019 and produces three core beers, Body Riddle (a juicy American pale ale), Rollover (juicy hoppy session IPA) and Northern Lights (micro IPA), along with an ever-changing and exciting roster of special editions and collaborations.

Highly Recommended.

CorkBillyBeers #23. Craft Pale Ale with Whiplash, 9 White Deer, West Kerry and Dungarvan Brewing

CorkBillyBeers #23

Craft Pale Ale with Whiplash, 9 White Deer, West Kerry and Dungarvan Brewing

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Dungarvan Brewing Mine Head American Pale Ale, 5.5% ABV, 500ml bottle The Local, Dungarvan

Here we have a classic West Coast style American Pale Ale from the south coast of Ireland. Dungarvan say: This is a classic American style pale ale made using only cascade hops, and also dry hopped with Cascade to impart fresh hop aromas. Released in summer 2014, this is now a full time part of of our core range and available in keg, bottle and .. in can year round.

The dry hopped process means adding whole leaf hops into the fermenter. This gives more of a hop aroma to the beer, and a fresh initial hit of the hop flavours.

And it is citrus all the balanced way, a teeny touch of marmalade sweetness later on and nothing really bitter at that stage. A pleasant and harmonious bottle indeed, enjoyed at The Local in Dungarvan itself. 

Best served lightly chilled, from 8-12°C, and you’ll find it versatile at the table,  working well with lighter fish or with earthy meats such as lamb or beef. Also excellent with spicy Thai or Vietnamese food, or keep it American with a burger! Great with a creamy camembert-style cheese or a tart sheeps cheese.

Highly Recommended

Geek Bits - 

Style: American Pale Ale

ABV: 5.5%

Hops: Cascade

IBUs: 38

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Whiplash Under Ground DDZ Pale Ale, 5.4% ABV, 440ml can Bradleys

DDZ means Double Dry Zested. And the Whiplash crew mean it. Lemon zest is one of the ingredients. And then there’s Lemondrop hops. The producers say: Lemondrop hops offer strong citrus, floral, fruity, herbal, lemon, mint, green tea, light melon aromas.

Colour is pale, a slightly hazy lemon. Aromas are not overly strong at all but lemon does seep through. It is a velvety presence in the mouth, much smoother than anticipated (thanks in some measure to the oats). While the lemon doesn’t dominate the palate it is quite the lead act, a very pleasant one, velvety with no sharp edges. Quite a lip-smacking thirst quencher at the end.

Here’s what the brewers say: When we say DDZ we mean it, it's packed with delicious, refreshing lemon zest that cuts through beautifully. The base comes from Pilsner, oat and wheat for some very velvety vibes, backed up with additions of Cascade and Lemondrop.

Geeks Bits

Malts - Pilsner, Oat, and Wheat

Hops - Cascade, Lemon Drop, Lemon Zest.

Adjunct - Lemon zest.

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Highly Recommended

9 White Deer Stag Bán 4.5% ABV, 500ml bottle

I’ll let the brewers introduce this pale ale themselves:

This classic pale ale was our very first beer and we remain extremely proud of it. We wanted to brew something that felt uncomplicated, direct and true .

But there’s a real subtlety to it - and unlike some other pale ales, Bán is never bland. As with our entire range, it’s also EU certified gluten.

It has a beautiful gold colour, a myriad of tiny bubbles rising towards the top. There are moderately intense aromas, slightly malty. And the palate is along the same lines. It is crisp and refreshing, even lip-smacking, with a gentle spice and mild citrus influence from the hops.And a satisfactory clean finish.

Another excellent beer from the Ballyvourney brewery. 

Highly Recommended.

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West Kerry Béal Bán Golden Ale, 5.0% ABV, 500ml bottle, Carry Out Killarney

A dark, slightly hazy gold is the colour of this magical ale from West Kerry. Creamy rather than crisp (hinted at by the malty aromas), yet light and refreshing with malt prominent earlier on, the hops making a show at the finish. A distinctive beer indeed, very impressive. One to be sipped and savoured, no rush.

I drank this in 2012 at Blair’s Inn and also during a visit to Tigh Bhric where the brewery is based. It was then being described as a pale English style bitter. It was then, still is, a light and refreshing golden ale with a slight malty sweetness and a bitter finish, imparted by a generous helping of hops. Indeed, one could see why an English aficionado would feel at home here.

My last encounter got me spouting lyrical, maybe doggerel.

You savour the minutes you spend drinking this Golden Ale. It’s the languid time in summer: you have a glass in your hand and the sun is going down. Not quite there yet. Hanging on. Between pale and dark. Those golden moments. When the Blaskets and its seagulls are in silhouette. 

Sip and savour and put your arm around his or her shoulder. And whisper: “This is the best golden ale in the world”. And, if she or he is sipping the same paradisiacal beer, there’ll be no argument. For what you both are enjoying in these magic peaceful twilight minutes is truly the umami conjured up by the goddess from the Ballydavid brewery of the wild peninsula. Béal Bán, an beoir órga is fearr ar domhain. Draíocht an Daingin.

Béal Bán is one of their core range and like the others, Carraig Dubh (porter) and Cúl Dorcha (red ale), is called after local place names.

Very Highly Recommended.

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