Cheers 212201 Beer, Wine, Spirits with Porterhouse-Kinnegar-Lineman-Rascals-BeerCloud-O'Briens-Teeling

Cheers 212201

Beer, Wine, Spirits with Porterhouse-Kinnegar-Lineman-Rascals-BeerCloud-O'Briens-Teeling

Independent Breweries Ireland

 "Beer of the Year"

The results are in for #ICBIBeerOfTheYear

This is a new and unique competition where beers are judged by peers!

2021 Gold goes to

Porterhouse Brew Co.

for their Round the Clock Imperial Stout, followed by Silver to

Lineman

for Astral Grains Stout and Bronze to

Kinnegar Brewing

for their Thumper Double IPA.

The idea is that microbreweries each submitted one beer of their choice - these were then supplied unbranded to all the entrants who had a very enjoyable time judging each beer! You can read a little more here http://icbi.ie/beer-of-the-year/

#indieirishbeer #irishcraftbeer #craftbeer #microbrewery

Best greetings of the day to you all. The Breakfast of Champions 6.1% oatmeal stout is yours to buy! It’s an oatmeal stout like no other. We’ve made it with specialty coffee roasted by our Dublin 8 neighbours Imbibe. The base recipe of our new stout has a generous helping of chocolate wheat and café malt; we’ve also used plenty of oats and some lactose too. We’ve even added a few cacao nibs just because we know how well they’ll complement the beer. Combine all the ingredients and you’ve got the breakfast stout of champions!

Buy The Beer

BeerCloud Welcome to the January BeerCloud BREWSLETTER We're delighted to announce that, once again, we're teaming up with the Craic Beer Community to bring you the January Brews virtual meet-up. This (virtual) mini-festival kicks off at 7.30pm next Friday, 29th January. As well as plenty of beer-chat, we'll be joined by brewers from Hope, Larkin’s, Canvas, O Brother and Dead Centre to talk through some featured beers.  To book your place just purchase a Craic Box before Wednesday 27th. Attendance numbers are limited, so don't leave it too late!  WINES FOR NETFLIX NIGHTS with Lynne Coyne MW, O'Briens Wine If you are settling down to Netflix on these January lockdown nights, add to your relaxation and enjoyment by trying these wine and movie matches along with a simple, easy to put together plate of tasty nibbles. Champagne Piper-Heidsieck Cuvée Brut NV   Enjoying the antics of Bridgerton and their society parties? then Champagne is the perfect match. Champagne would have been flowing freely during this period, establishing itself as a luxury celebration wine. Piper-Heidsieck's history dates back to 1785 and now own 70 hectares of sustainably managed vineyards. Their signature cuvée Brut is round and vibrant with a richness from the high proportion of black grape varieties. With notes of almond and hazelnut to accompany lively bubbles and fresh flavours of pear and crunchy red apple, the beautifully balanced finish is delicate and long with a hint of citrus fruits.   Food Match - Rustic Bread & Black Olive Tapenade   Netflix Match - Bridgerton More of Lynne's wine suggestions here Teeling Got That Lovin' Feelin' Bring back that ‘Loving Teeling’ this Valentine’s Day! We’re hosting a virtual Valentine’s Cocktail class. Cocktails kits for 2 include - 4 cocktails, utensils including (2 mason jars & glassware) to accompany a live online demo. Book Now https://teelingwhiskey.digitickets.ie/event-tickets/32491?catID=11834&mc_cid=8df45c5bcc&mc_eid=6226262564

BLACKS - FULL OF CHRISTMAS CHEER & AWARD-WINNING BEER!

 BLACKS - FULL OF CHRISTMAS CHEER & AWARD-WINNING BEER!

 Blacks Brewery & Distillery Celebrate Prestigious International Beer & Spirit Award Wins  

 

Blacks Sour Sailor Cocktail

 

While this year has been challenging, Blacks, Ireland’s first co-located brewery & distillery, proved unstoppable, receiving international awards as a mark of their passion and dedication to their craft.

 

Maudeline and Sam

Located on the Wild Atlantic Way in Kinsale, Blacks have one simple mission, to escape the mundane of the mass market by producing beers with passion, personality and lots of hops, while also pushing the boundaries of flavour when crafting their range of spirits. Having just been announced as winners for two prestigious competitions - USA Spirit Ratings & the European Beer Challenge, Blacks are proving their mission complete.

 

A USA Spirit Ratings medal is the ultimate seal of approval in the global spirits industry. Blacks took home the coveted Gold medal for their Blacks Irish Gin, one of only two Irish gins to receive this accolade, and Silver for their Blacks Golden Rum at this renowned competition. The USA Spirits Ratings looks to recognise, reward and help promote spirit brands that have successfully been created to identify with and target a specific spirit drinker. These awards shine a spotlight on the spirit brands that consumers really want to buy and have a clear market value for trade buyers.

 

Spirits were judged in three categories; Quality, Value and Packaging. Only those spirits who scored consistently high across each of the three criteria were awarded medals. To receive Gold Blacks Irish Gin was awarded an impressive score of 90 - 100 points, with Blacks Golden Rum coming away with its Silver medal and 80 - 89 points.

 

Continuing this winning streak, Blacks, founded by husband and wife duo, Sam & Maudeline Black, were honoured to accept Double Gold at the European Beer Challenge for their innovative Maui Wowie High P.A. and also their World's End Imperial Stout. This unstoppable pair also proudly accepted silver for their flagship beer, Kinsale Pale Ale (KPA).

 

The annual European Beer Challenge brings together Europe’s leading beer buyers and top beers from across the globe against the backdrop of the dynamic and strategically important EU & UK beer market. This year thousands of samples from 39 countries fought head-to-head, with Blacks coming out on top not once, but three times. During the European Beer Challenge judging session each product is subjected to a rigorous blind tasting process which allows newcomers to compete fairly against the world’s leading brands. This is the highest level of recognition in the industry - the Oscars of the Beer World.

 

The award winning Blacks

Speaking with pride in relation to their award wins Blacks Brewery & Distillery Co-Founder, Sam Black commented, “This has been an amazing year for us at our Brewery & Distillery in Kinsale. While the global Covid19 pandemic threw a lot of challenges our way, the entire team rose to the test and we continued to produce exciting craft beers and spirits. To receive Double Gold, Gold and Silver medals for both our craft beers and spirits is recognition for the passion we have for our craft. It is a testament to the time and talent invested by all of our team in Kinsale, and to receive this acknowledgment on a global scale, especially when up against such long standing and established brands it was just phenomenal.’

 

Fancy sampling Blacks Gold winning Irish Gin over this festive season? It is delicious served neat over ice, or as a tall drink with a premium mixer, but if you like your spirits shaken not stirred why not try this Blacks’ signature Gin cocktail:

 

 

Blacks Sour Sailor

 

Ingredients:

 

·      60ml Blacks Irish Gin

·      30 ml Fresh Grapefruit Juice

·      15ml Fresh Lemon Juice

·      10ml Simple Sugar Syrup (This can be easily made at home by mixing sugar with water - 1:1 ratio Sugar : Water)

·      1/2 Egg White

·      Dash of Angostura Bitters

 

Method:

 

1.    Add all your ingredients, except the bitters, into a cocktail shaker

2.    Dry shake all ingredients for 10 seconds

3.    Add ice and shake again for a further 10 seconds

4.    Fine strain into a chilled martini glass

5.    Add a dash of Angostura Bitters

6.    Sip & enjoy

 

To find out more about Blacks award-winning Blacks Irish Gin, Blacks Golden Rum and craft beers visit www.blacksbrewery.com, or stay connected online at Instagram/blacksbrewery, Twitter @BlacksBrewery or Facebook/BlacksOfKinsale

press release

 

Barley to Beer a Path to the Future for Ancient Ballykilcavan Farm.

A Quart of Ale± #26 

Moving on over to craft with Ballykilcavan Farm

Barley to Beer a Path to the Future for Ancient Ballykilcavan Farm

"Ballykilcavan Farm has been the home of our family for 13 generations. We have lived and worked here since 1639, and diversification has always been important to keep our farm viable for future generations. When I took over Ballykilcavan from my father in 2004, my sole motivation was to try to sustain it so that someone else would be able to take it over from me. After farming here for 10 years, it became obvious that just growing barley wasn't going to give the security that I was looking for, and so we started to look at alternatives. The new brewery (founded 2017) and visitor experience are our attempt to keep the farm in the family."

I was in touch with David Walsh-Kemmis, brewery owner and 13th generation farmer, ahead of this post: "We're starting work on our new visitor centre, and that will be ready by April of next year (when hopefully we'll be allowed to have visitors to come and see it)." 

In the meantime, we can enjoy some of their specials. "We have a few limited edition specials out at the minute (which are or will be available in Ardkeen Superstore as well, and should make it to Bradley's in Cork). Our limited edition series is called Clancy's Cans - named after the Clancy family who have worked on the farm for five generations.  Can #2 is a double dry hopped IPA, Can #3 is a tiramisu dessert stout and Can #4 (out in early December) is a walnut whip stout.  We also have our annual fresh hopped beer out at the minute - 100% our own barley, water and hops from our small hop garden near the brewery."

David uses his own barley in the brewery. It is brewed up the road by Minch Ltd, another Laois firm. As you may have heard him indicate during an Ear to the Ground interview (19th Nov 2020). "Using our own barley and water (and hops in some cases) is a great selling point for us, both at home and abroad. Check out the programme  (Episode 5) here.

For all recent craft beer/cider posts, please check out the series of A Quart of Ale± posts.

I enjoyed my introduction to the brewery via three cans I bought from the Ardkeen Superstore in Waterford.

Ballykilcavan Bamrick’s Brown Ale 5.8%, 440ml can Ardkeen Store

A brown ale though the colour is close to black, an off white head is not inclined to linger. Aromas are coffee and caramel. And you get much the same flavourwise on the smooth and silky palate that stays rich all the way to finish. Superb. IBU 26

The label declares, not inaccurately, that this is a “Rich and malty American Brown Ale with notes of chocolate and burnt toffee”. IBU 26

So what’s an American brown ale? The New York Times says: 

Brown ales and like-minded styles — including straightforward lagers, pilsners and porters — to name a few, are very different sorts of beers (to IPAs). They occupy subtler realms, quenching thirst with pure flavors and perhaps a snappy zestiness in the case of pilsner and a rich depth in the case of porter. They are not flamboyant styles that wow with complexity or make themselves the centers of attention. They simply satisfy. It’s the kind of beer that gets left behind in our I.P.A. culture.

One of the best known Brown ales around here is the Newcastle version that has a yarn about going to see a man about a dog on the label. I always thought that going to see a man about a dog or "taking the dog for a walk" (especially if you had no dog) meant having a piddle in the bushes but in Newcastle it means going to the pub for a couple of these beauties.

Another Brown Ale I enjoyed, this about 3 years ago, was Lough Gill’s Mac Nutty Macadamia Nut Brown Ale.The guys at Lough Gill admitted to having hand-toasted “trays upon trays of macadamia nuts” for this. No doubt about the colour here, a rich dark brown. Rather handsome overall from the introduction that deposits bags of flavours. It has an excellent body and a nice balance of hops and malt. Must look out for that again.

Ballykilcavan Secret Passion Pale Ale 6.5%, 440ml can Ardkeen Store

With the fruit prominently highlighted on the label, I was a little apprehensive when I opened this beer from County Laois. Would it be too sweet? But I needn’t have worried. It turned out to be a very pleasant drink indeed.

A murky amber is the colour here, with a fairly short-lived white foamy head. The aromatics are faintly floral. That fruit, and there is real fruit used here (peach and passion fruit, and also a little lactose), comes through on the palate. But in quite a pleasant way. The brewer has found a happy balance and come up with a smooth and refreshing beer. Easy drinking. Hard to believe, even if it finishes dry, that the IBU is 55 or that the ABV is 6.5. Vic Secret and Huell Melon are the hops used.

Even though I enjoyed this on a cool November’s night, I could see that it would be even better in summer and, in fairness, that’s what Ballykilcavan were aiming for.

.

Ballykilcavan Line Blocker Pale Ale 4.9%, 440ml Ardkeen Store

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This County Laois pale ale has a light (and hazy) amber colour. The head is not inclined to hang around at all. Aromas are hoppy, but with a hint of sweetness. and that hoppy heart continues to beat strongly, without ever threatening to overpower, so the palate is balanced, and pleasant all the way to the finish. One Pale Ale that is is hard to ignore but easy to enjoy.

It has been double dry hopped with Citra, Mosaic and Amarillo and the IBU is 54. Oats is one of the possibly unexpected  ingredients here. Beer brewed with barley and water sourced from “out family farm”.

For all recent craft beer/cider posts, please check out the series of A Quart of Ale± posts.

More on Ballykilcavan

Ballykilcavan is a 440 hectare block of beautifully landscaped farmland and forestry in the heart of Ireland. We are very fortunate that our ancestors loved the look of the farm and left in almost all the landscape features, particularly the hedgerows and trees in the fields. We also still have our original 18th century stone farmyard and 19th century stable yard our walled garden and the gardener's tunnel as well as the champion black walnut tree of Ireland.

We also grow the barley we use to make our beers and a crop of barley for Waterford Distillery. Ballykilcavan is situated in prime malting barley growing area, just outside Stradbally, Co. Laois. We have been growing it here for at least three and probably five generations and our barley is malted by Minch Malt, just 11km down the road in Athy.

We have won a Boortmalt barley grower award, and won the first ever Best Barley Cup for Waterford Distillery growers. With the opening of a brewery at Ballykilcavan, we are now able to use our award-winning barley to produce our own beers.

A Quart of Ale± #3. An impressive trio from Thornbridge and one from Berkshire's Siren

Bliss

A Quart of Ale± #3

An impressive trio from Thornbridge
and one from Berkshire's Siren

Thornbridge are best known (to me anyhow) for their superb Jaipur, a classic Indian Pale Ale. They started life in a local stately home and are now based in Bakewell, a small market town in Derbyshire, and you’ll find them on the banks of the Wye.  Having associated the brewery with Jaipur, I thought they were long established and was surprised to see they started up as recently as 2005. Following an array of awards and national recognition, Jaipur (launched in mid-2005) catapulted Thornbridge into the spotlight and eventually into a brand new brewery.

Thornbridge “Shelby” India Pale Ale, 5.0%, 330ml bottle, Bradley's of Cork

Shelby, the official beer of Peaky Blinders the TV series, pours a golden amber, the white head vanishing as quickly as an opportunist thief. Surprisingly fruity nose and that continues onto the arresting palate. Here too the maltiness makes a discreet and pleasant appearance and there’s a citrus enhanced bitterness. Excellent mouthfeel too. This is full of flavour and character, and so much better than many celebrity drinks. 

Looks as if you were a beer drinker of 1919, the year in which the TV series is set, you did very well for yourself indeed. Once you weren’t doing porridge, of course.

Hops used are Fuggles and Bramling Cross while the malts are Low Colour Maris Otter, Crystal, Munich.

Thornbridge “Bliss Point” Hazy American Pale Ale, 5.0%, 330ml can, Bradley's of Cork

It is yellow and, just to confirm, a hazy one, more than slightly so.  Aromas see the hops float up with fruit coming through as well. Just a small little can but one with big juicy flavours from the backbone of a quartet of US hops, namely Cascade, Simcoe, Azacca, Citra. Malts, you may like to know are Low Colour Maris Otter, Wheat. Quite a combination. Lots of hazy stuff around nowadays but, clearly, this is one of the better ones. 

I see craftcentral.ie describe this as “extremely crisp” but I can’t agree with that assessment. This is as smooth as they come, packed with those expected tropical fruits, with the American hops performing prominently in both the aromatics and flavours. Relax and enjoy. This is what craft beer, good beer, is all about. Cheers!

By the way, having finished a wine session and feeling lazy, I drank this from a Lumin Arc balloon type wine glass and found it worked out very well indeed, the 330ml can fitting in precisely with room for a fine if short-lived white foamy head.

Thornbridge “Tupelo” Hazy Pale Ale, 5.5%, 440ml can

(in collaboration with Salt Beer) Bradley's of Cork

You can smell the hops almost at “social distancing” here as this hazy ale fills your glass with a pale yellow, a big white head too but, unlike the hops, that soon clears down to a sparse cover. Tropical fruits aromas come from the Sabro (“fantastic”) / Citra / Ekuanot / Galaxy / Chinook / and Centennial hops. Malts by the way are Maris Otter / Wheat / Oats.

The hops also make their presence felt later on but there is no jarring domination. The beer is harmonious, pleasant and easy drinking, quite an exotic fruity juice bomb in the mouth and refreshing for sure with a dry finish.

The Salt Beer Factory, the other party in this collaboration, are based in a disused power station in the Yorkshire village of Saltaire, about 90 minutes north of Thornbridge (which is in the Peak District). And Tupelo? Must be the city in northern Mississippi, most famous as the birthplace of Elvis Presley.

Siren White Tips Session IPA, 4.5%, 440ml can, Bradley’s

Pale yellow (hazy) is the colour of this session beer that lists wheat as one of the ingredients. The white foamy head beats a hasty retreat. Quite a lot of citrus, including sharp lemon, in the aromas. And, with the addition of a hint of clove, the story is much the same on the palate. Not surprising really, considering the brewers have added zest of orange, grapefruit and lime. Quite a distinctive beer to be fair and one sure to suit quite a few drinkers.  Yet there’s good harmony here and a lip smacking finish.

Siren brew this every spring and they say: “White Tips is our expression of a wit beer combined with IPA levels of hops. A traditional wit yeast works in harmony with the citrus peel and a healthy hop dosing to create a balanced IPA that is sure to pull you in wave after wave.”

Malts: Lager, Wheat, Malted Oats

Hops: Hallertau Blanc, Centennial, Cascade, Simcoe

Adjuncts: Orange zest, Grapefruit zest, Lime zest