New Irish Beers from Wicklow Wolf and Galway Hooker

I think I got these three in Molloy's on the Ballogan Road. I suspect the Wicked Wolf beers were around the €4 mark based on what I paid for the last two of their beers. No idea how much the Galway Hooker lager was, sorry.
 
Wicked Wolf American Amber  4.8% 50cl €??
 Didn't take notes so this from memory - don't remember much on the way of hops, but it was deliciously balanced and there were some tasty caramel notes. As with the IPA I would recommend it with a caveat on the price..
 
Wicked Wolf Locavore Blonde  4.8% 50cl €??
Love this. I have a chequered history with Blonde ales but this definiteley hit the spot. This is a seasonal brew described as "fresh hopped 2014 all Irish ingredient blonde ale". Lots of hops (for a blonde) and good body. Here's the blurb from the website - it's all true.

"This beer is made using all Irish ingredients. We start with a grain bill of 100% Irish Ale Malt from Malting Company of Ireland.  The beer is hopped using all of our own hops grown in Roundwood This years batch has a blend of Cascade, Perle, Nugget, and Prima Dona. The hops are added late in the boil to capture the subtle flavor and aromas from the hops. As this is a special harvest ale, the beer will never taste the same from year to year, as we plant newer varieties of hops and the harvest yields increase the brews will be unique every time."

Galway Hooker Irish Dark Lager  4.3% 50cl €??
I don't really care for the "classic" Galway  Hooker pale ale. It's a bit mild for me so I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was a very decent lager. Amber in the glass, good body/mouthfeel, decent head, bit of malt. I'll add this to the (quite) short list of good Irish craft lagers.

(India) Pale Ales - The Second Chronicles

During (and after) the extravaganza that was the inaugural (I)PA challenge (final post here), I realised that there were a number of (I)PAs I had come across that I should have included and one shop that I hadn't stripped of (I)PAs (Baggot St Wines). To that end I decided to pick another eight (I)PAs and run them off against each other in the standard knockout format.

The contestants in each quarter final are listed below and pictured above. I apologise if some of the pricing is a bit inexact as I forgot to get/take a receipt on more than one occasion.

Quarter Final 1
Left Hand Brewery Stranger Pale Ale 355ml 5%  €3.69 [Baggot St Wines] link
Rogue Yellow Snow IPA 355ml 5.8%  €4.99 [Baggot St Wines] link

Quarter Final 2
Howling Gale pale ale 330 ml 5% €1.99 [Dunnes] link
Anchor Brewing Liberty Ale 355ml 5.9%  €3.29 [Baggot St Wines] link

Quarter Final 3
Thornbridge Kipling 5.3%  50cl  €3.99 [Molloys]  link
Flying Dog - Snake dog IPA 355ml 7.1% €4.39 [Molloys] link

Quarter Final 4
Shepherd Neame IPA 50cl 6.1% €4.19 [Baggot St Wines] link
Proper Job IPA 50cl 5.5% €2.99 [Tesco] link

There were also number of contenders who didn't make it...
Dungarvan Mahon Falls Rue Pale ale 5.1% - Really tasty but seasonal, so excluded.
Crew Pale Ale 5.6% €2.99- Not bad, bit fruity but not much going on apart from that.
Monteith's Pacific Pale Ale 4.6% €2.49  - My first NZ ale. Unfortunately, even less going on here.
ODell 5 Barrell Pale Ale 5.2% €3.49 This was perfectly fine but not a patch on their IPA which won the whole schmozzle last week.

Note: I have also excluded some "super premium" (I)PAs that I have come across, these go for 6 or 7 euros a time e.g. Nogne, Mikkeller, etc. I think I will do a separate, limited trial of these beasts in the future.

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.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

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

Molloys Wine & Beer

Went down to Molloys on Thursday as promised to see what I could find of the wines I used to get when I frequented it, back in the day. I picked up the following (L-R):

Oyster Bay Pinot Noir 2007 - €16-49. This, as you can see was not cheap, but it should provide a reasonable alternative to expensive Burgundies as mentioned in the last post. I've had this once before and really liked it so here's hoping its worth the cash.

Vitae Sangiovese 2006- €12-50. We used to drink an awful lot of this and loved it. I was a bit apprehensive on opening this last night. oftentimes you come back to a wine you loved and are disappointed, either your palate has changed, see this post, or the wine isn't as good as it used to be. We were not disappointed. The bitter cherry flavours were in abundance, along with some other fruit, and it had a decent level of complexity and a long finish. Again, another wine I'd recommend with food, rather than without.

Trapiche Malbec 2007 - €10-99. Another old family favourite. We used to drink this by the bucket load but I have been unable to find it in a long time. This was my first Malbec, I can't remember if I bought it on spec or on a recommendation. Either way I'm hoping it won't disappoint.

I also bought a couple of "premium" beers to try from Shepherd Neame, both a snip at €3-29. I drank the Spitfire last night and it was indeed delicious. The blurb on the site says "In the mouth, the finely balanced flavour opens with a blast of rounded malt before the rousing, almost spicy hops follow through to provide a complex, multi-layered finish." Sounds about right to me.

I'll try the Bishop's Finger tonight and let you know, it's 5.4% abv as opposed to the Spitfire's 4.5 % abv so we'll see if that is a noticeable component in the mix.

**Update - The Bishop's Finger was delicious, stronger (duh) and a little more fuller flavoured than the Spitfire.