Battle of the (India) Pale Ales - Quarter Finals 7 & 8

Quarter Final 7 - Battle of the Strong Silent Yankee types

Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA 35cl 7.2% abv - €2.79 
ODell India Pale Ale  35.5cl 7% abv - €3.79

I have had the Torpedo before, preferring  it to the standard pale ale from Sierra Nevada, so hope are high. The Odell I had only once, bought by Herself as part of a welcome home trousseau of ales. I remember liking it, but I was a bit pissed at the time, so a level playing field awaits tonight.

Note: I also purchased (long story) an ODells 5 Barrel Pale Ale (€3.29), which I have not included in the competition, through bad planning. I did include 2 Sierra Nevadas (they both lost) so I am being inconsistent, apologies. I put the Torpedo against the ODell as they are both extra* IPAs - 7%+ abv

I haven't mentioned temperature before but it's worth a few words now. IMHO most of these ales, especially the strong ones taste best when slightly warmer than fridge temp; maybe 20 or 30 minutes out of the cold seems, to this palate, to me about right. 

Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA 35cl 7.2% abv
Yummy, yummy, yummy. Strong, decently hoppy and well balanced, with some lovely citrussy fruit. This reminds me of the Goose Island, which is not a bad thing.

ODell India Pale Ale  35.5cl 7% abv
Whoa. I was wrong. This one is like Goose Island. Lots of grapefruit, not a huge amount of hops but great balance and very drinkable.

Winner ODell India Pale Ale. This was a very close one. They are both very tasty but the ODell just shades it.

* I'm not sure what the actual definition of an Extra IPA is, just Google it already.

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Quarter Final 8 - Ulster Vs Connaught 

College Green Brewery Headless Dog - 50cl 4.2% abv - €3.29
Galway Hooker Irish Pale Ale - 50cl 4.3% abv - €3.29

Both of these are Irish but I've not had the Headless Dog before; their Belfast lager is pretty decent if unremarkable.  I'm expecting two easy drinking ales, so let's see...

College Green Brewery Headless Dog
Pale amber in the glass with a lengthy head (steady!), This is...pleasant if a little mild for my tastes, not at all like the big bruising US ales.

Galway Hooker Irish Pale Ale
Similar, if a little redder in the glass, this is another mildish ale. Not a huge amount of flavour here, unfortunately. Not bad but not great.

Winner College Green Brewery Headless Dog

Battle of the (India) Pale Ales - Quarter Finals 5 & 6

Quarter Final 5 - Battle of the English Pale Ales

Timothy Taylor's Landlord 50cl 4.1% abv - €3.10
Thwaites Indus Pale Ale 50cl 4.6% abv - €2.99

I used to drink a lot of "Landlord" in Embra when I was over there, it was often the only Pale Ale in a pub so I ordered it by default, mostly in "normal" bars that didn't have a lot of casked ales. The Thwaites I haven't tried before but they do a couple of smashing ales namely their Double Century Celebration Ale and their Wainright Exquisitely Lovely Golden Ale. 

Timothy Taylor's Landlord
Amber and slightly cloudy in the glass, with a decent foamy head, this is a little underwhelming, not much on the malt front and with only a little bitterness. Hmm, I guess it needs to be on draught/keg to shine?

Thwaites Indus Pale Ale
Looks very similar to the Landlord in the glass but not at all cloudy. This is better, the flavours work better together and the bitterness of the hops add to the whole rather than sticks out.

Winner Thwaites Indus Pale Ale

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Quarter Final 6 - The War of Independence


Flying Dog Doggy Style Pale Ale 35.5cl 5.5% - €3.29
Thornbridge Jaipur India Pale Ale - 50cl 5.9% abv - €4.39

I had never heard of Flying Dog brewery before coming across it in Molloy's and Flying Dog seem to have quite a few ales, but I chose the Doggy Style as, by alcohol, it's in the ballpark with most of the "premium" IPAs. The Jaipur I used to drink from the cask whenever I could find it in Auld Reekie , it is wonderful "that way".

Flying Dog Doggy Style Pale Ale
Amber, almost red in the glass, there's not a huge amount of hops here, but there is a smidgen of malt. Nicely balanced but maybe a little on the mild side for my coarse appetites.

Thornbridge Jaipur India Pale Ale
Straw coloured and cloudy in the glass, with a nice frothy head. I do like this, lots of hops and some nice citrus flavours. Also nicely balanced but with just a little more oomph.

Winner  Thornbridge Jaipur India Pale Ale

Battle of the (India) Pale Ales - Extended!

So I knew there were lots (well eight or twelve or twenty) other (I)PAs out there in Dublin, at least, and I reckoned that having a competition with the first eight I could find probably wouldn't be fair to the others. So far, I have grabbed all the (I)PAs from O'Briens, Molloys, Dunnes, and Superquinn so far; Tesco has a couple of possibles, I think, and I still have to get into Baggot St Wines, so there may be a third round of 4 "quarter finals".

There are a couple of beers I have excluded, Nogne beers from Norway as they are about 8 squid for 50cl (too dear), Smithwick's Irish Pale Ale (too meh), Alpha Dawg from The Franciscan Well Brewery (too unavailable), etc. So I got eight more...

The following six beers were bought in Molloy's (Ballyogan) which has a surprisingly large selection of craft beers, given that the locals probably don't drink that much of them.

Timothy Taylor's Landlord 50cl 4.1% abv - €3.10 site  
Thwaites Indus Pale Ale 50cl 4.6% abv - €2.99 site  

Flying Dog Doggy Style Pale Ale 35.5cl 5.5% - €3.29 site
Thornbridge Jaipur India Pale Ale - 50cl 5.9% abv - €4.39 site

Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA 35cl 7.2% abv - €2.79 site
ODell India Pale Ale  35.5cl 7% abv - €3.79 site

These last two were purchased in Superquinn (Blackrock) 
Galway Hooker Irish Pale Ale - 50cl 4.3% abv - €3.29  site  
College Green Brewery Headless Dog - 50cl 4.2% abv - €3.29 site 

I will be performing the next four "quarter finals" over the next couple of weeks, maybe starting tonight if I'm feeling thirsty...

Battle of the (India) Pale Ales - Quarter Final 3

Quarter Final 3 - Scotland Vs Germany
Brew Dog Punk IPA 33cl 5.6% abv - €2.69
Crew IPA  33cl 6.4% abv - €2.99

Prior to this round I would have said that Punk was the number 2 seed. We used to go to the Brew Dog pub on the Cowgate in Edinburgh and we drank a lot of their beers and a lot of Punk on draught. The Crew on the other hand, I had never come across before the other day

Brew Dog Punk IPA
Straw coloured and slightly cloudy in the glass, the first thing that's noticeable is the fruit; not as much hops as I would have expected but enough to satisfy. As in QF2 I picked the standard IPA and didn't go for the monster that is Brewdog Hardcore IPA (9.2%).

Crew IPA
Amber, nearly red in the glass, this doesn't look like a pale ale at all. Unfortunately it doesn't taste much like a pale ale either, not enough hops, methinks or maybe the flavour is too subtle for me, it wouldn't be the first time. For the curious, the link to their site is here.

Winner - Brew Dog Punk IPA

By the way, this is my 300th post (go me!) I've been at this since March 2009, for those of you keeping score at home.

Quarter Final 1 is here 
Quarter Final 2 is here
Quarter Final 4 is here

Battle of the (India) Pale Ales - Quarter Final 2

Quarter Final 2  - All American
Brooklyn East India Pale Ale 35.5cl 6.9% abv - €2.89
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 35cl 5.6% abv - €2.59

Brooklyn East India Pale 
I'll be honest, I didn't know Brooklyn made a Pale Ale, let alone an East India Pale Ale, and at 6.9% its not one for the faint hearted. Amber in the glass with a healthy white head, this is hoppy but not in your face, and reasonably smooth. I like it.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
A similar colour to the Brooklyn, with a touch less head. Plenty of hops but not quite the same smoothness. Nice, but I'd prefer its rival.
Note: I could have chosen the "next one up" from Sierra Nevada, the Torpedo Extra IPA, which come in at a not inconsiderable 7.2% abv, but I decided that if a brewer offers more than one Pale Ale, I'll stick to the standard expression.

Winner - Brooklyn East India Pale Ale

Next Up - Scotland Vs Germany.  The number 2 seed against the dark horse from Munich. 

Quarter Final 1 is here
Quarter Final 3 is here
Quarter Final 4 is here

Battle of the (India) Pale Ales - Quarter Final 1

So I fell in love when I was working in Scotland, with India Pale Ales, oh and haggis. I've never had them together but it'd probably work.

I decided to buy eight (India) Pal Ales and pair them off in a knockout fashion until we have a winner.

Quarter Final 1 consists of:

Goose Island India Pale Ale 5.9% abv 35cl - €2-69
Porterhouse Hop Head 5.0% abv 33cl - €1-99

Before we start, I must admit that the Goose Island is one of my all time faves and the Hop head is something I have only had on draft in the Porterhouse itself, so I bought both to taste against each other.

First up the reigning champ; The Goose island is a pale golden colour in the glass and looks slightly cloudy with a nice white head. On the palate there's grapefruit, a little sweet maltiness and hops, lots of hops, but the best part is how smooth and integrated all the flavours are. If you have any interest in ales you really need to try this for some epic win.

Next  up, the Hop Head. For starters, the colour is a dark amber, almost red with an off white head. There are lots of bitter hops, not much on the malt side and not as much fruit. It's pretty decent, but it's not as smooth as the gosling - it's a bit more earthy and robust.

Winner -  Goose Island India Pale Ale

The Full Line up is as follows:

Quarter Final 2  - All American
Brooklyn East India Pale Ale 35.5cl 6.9% abv - €2.89
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 35cl 5.6% abv - €2.59

Quarter Final 3 - Scotland Vs Germany
Brew Dog Punk IPA 33cl 5.6% abv - €2.69
Crew IPA  33cl 6.4% abv - €2.99

Quarter Final 4 - Dunnes Big Ones
O'Hara's Irish Pale Ale 50cl 5.2% abv - €2.89
Fuller's India Pale Ale 50cl 5.3% abv - €2.50

The Ginger Beer Challenge

So, a while back, after my failed experiment with a beer-less life and the attendant quantities of cider that that necessitated, I decided to review some ginger beers, alcoholic ones*, that is. Having bought them some months ago they lay dormant in my beer fridge until I realised that they might be going out of date and that I should get my metaphorical skates on.

Note: I tasted all three from the same sized glass, refrigerated, with neither ice nor slice.

First up is Stone's Ginger Joe 4% abv.
I like this. It tastes like ginger ale with a shot added, which I suppose is the point. It's thirst quenching, although it remains to be seen how it fares against the next two candidates.


Next up is Wychwood Brewery Ginger Beard 4.2 % abv
Not sure about this. Tastes like some real root ginger initially but it resolves to a slightly unpleasant aftertaste. Don't think I'd buy this again.


Lastly Crabbies Alcoholic Ginger Beer 4% abv
Wow, very gingery and perhaps slightly sweeter than its rivals, but very drinkable all the same.

To be honest, I'd be quite happy with either the Stone's or the Crabbies's and if I find any more candidates I'll taste them and add them here.


* If you fancy a tasty non-alcoholic ginger beer, try M&S. They do a fantastic one that's replete with lots of lip-smacking root ginger. If you are feeling adventurous , try adding 2 shots of vodka and a squeeze of lime for a delicious Moscow mule, kudos to Nedward for that one...