A (Second) Visit to the Cellar

I finally made it back to The Cellar in Blackrock last weekend and picked up six more Irish beers  from their huge selection. I have to mind myself in there, I'd happily go in and drop a couple of hundred bills on beer easily. Luckily, I'm tight as a gnat's chuff...

Cotton Ball Kerry Lane Pale Ale 50cl 5% abv €4.25 link
Starting off - it's not bad. Cloudy amber in the glass with a fine white head. After a few minutes I'm beginning  like this more, maybe it has warmed up a touch but the finish is developing some nice complexity. There's not a lot of hops initially but  overall it's working for me. Not cheap though, at north of 4 notes for a bottle. For that money I'd want a bit more...

Clifford's Connacht Champion Irish Golden Ale  50cl 4% abv €3.99 link
Yummy. Pours with a thick white head and plenty of bubbles. Slightly sweet but there is a little tannic aftertaste that offsets it. It's got a lot of flavour for a 4% beer, and would make a good session ale, assuming that the sweetness doesn't become sickly. One for a sunny beer garden, methinks.

Brehon Brewhouse Stony Grey India Pale Ale 50cl 6% abv €4.25 link
Cloudy amber in the glass. Big and bold and yummy. Like it. 

Black Donkey Sheep Stealer Farmhouse Ale 50cl 5.6% abv €3.99 link
Nope. Tasted like a wheat beer to me.  (It's a saison - are the taste characteristics similar?). Either way I don't really care for it. Herself liked it, but she was weird taste; she married me after all.

Kelly's Mountain Revolution Red Ale 50cl 4.8% abv €3.79 link
Like this. Full flavoured with lots of caramel and a hint of fruit. I tried their Pale ale a while back but I don't recall if I liked it.

Jack Cody's Puck Pilsner 50cl 4.5% abv €3.69 link
Didn't care for it. Cloudy and dull and a bit resiny. Reminded me of Harviestoun Schiehallion craft lager, which I used to enjoy, but fell out of love with it all of a sudden, last time I tried it.

My Evil Twin

I was buying wine in O'Briens in Carrickmines and I came across an evil (twin) offer - four for a tenner on the above Eviltwin beers - not bad at face value. So I picked up a couple of each.

EvilTwin Brewing Falco India Pale Ale 35.5cl 7% abv  €2.80 (reduced from €3.69)
Strong and hoppy with lots of pine/resin. This is not subtle, however and there are better US pale ales out there, so I don't think I'll be buying this again.

EvilTwin Brewing Hipster American Pale Ale 35.5cl 5.3% abv  €2.20 (reduced from €2.89)
Hipster - should have had this before the Falco as its weaker (in alcohol and flavour). It's not bad, easy drinking, I guess. Grassy with some fruity/floral notes also. Not much of a finish.

Zero for two. Ho hum...

 **Update**
I was in O'Briens again tonight, after a particularly torrid week of work I decided I wanted to buy some nice beers to sup on over the weekend. I picked up four White Hag IPAs and four 8Degrees Amber Ella, both of which I bleedin' love, and also the ale above. It's an Evil Twin 'Hop Flood' American Amber Ale and it weighs in at a whopping 7% abv. 

This was part of the original 4 for a tenner offer but I don't think it was available last time, so I grabbed one and had it earlier this evening; in a nutshell, it's a beast. Big and very hoppy. It's bitter at the finish but it has a bit of sweetness in the mix too - I don't think it's quite balanced enough but I liked it for its takes-no-prisoners strength and its...balls.

Irish IPAs - Poker School Blind Tasting

So it was my turn to host Poker, and I decided to mix it up by MCing a blind tasting of four Irish IPAs. I attempted to pick four similar Pale Ales, in terms of style, abv etc. This wasn't a selection of my favourites, btw. Of late I have been loving White Hag IPA, and Herself has been guzzling the classic Brewdog Punk IPA.

Anyhoo, after we had been playing for a couple of hours I brought out the beers, in unmarked plastic (?) cups to Alan, Josie, Brian and Paud. The scores are below, although I was obviously not tasting blind...

	Beer1	Beer2	Beer3	Beer4
Alan	6	5	6	9
Josie	7	5	6	7
Brian	8	6	7	6
Paud	7	5	6	8
YHB	7	6	7	5
Total	28	21	25	30

There were some interesting comments too..

Beer 1 - "Flowers", "Fruity", "Pleasant"
Beer 2 - "Excrement", "Doesn't smell as good", "More Bitter. Less pleasant after taste"
Beer 3 - "Flowers", "Better than last one"
Beer 4 - "Mild taste of seamen" (sic), "Tastes like lager", "Sweetly interesting", "Bland"

So here are the beers revealed:

Beer 1: Black's Kinsale Pale Ale 5.0% abv
Beer 2: Trouble Brewing Sabotage India Pale Ale 5.5% abv
Beer 3: Galway Bay Full Sail IPA  5.8% abv
Beer 4: O'Hara's Irish Pale Ale 5.2% abv

The last comment is mine. After the bold flavours of beers 2 & 3, I found Beer 4 a bit lacking. And I really like O'Hara's, especially on draught, and although it did win, it would have fared better (with me) if it had come up before 2 &3. I liked the Black's IPA (as always) and the Galway Bay, which I tend to only drink when I am in Against The Grain but is pretty solid in bottles.

As for the Poker, I finished "up" on the night, courtesy of four bullets in the last hand, if you can't be good, be lucky.

Beavertown Pale Ales

Another horizontal tasting, this time from Beavertown, who I thought were American (mostly from the can designs) but are actually from London, innit. I had the Neck Oil once, late at night and quite liked it, so I decide to try all three Pale Ales at once. All in cans and all from O'Briens - link

Neck Oil Session IPA 33cl 4.3% 45 IBU €3.49
There is an uncomfortable looking cloudy and pale colour in the glass but has some lovely citrus fruits on the nose. It's a tough one, making an IPA that's high on flavour but low on alcohol. By god, this pulls it off. Lots of grapefruit, a decently bitter finish; it obviously doesn't have the malty sweetness you get from the higher abv. Fits the definition of  session ale and would be great on a hot summer day.

Gamma Ray American Pale Ale 33cl 5.4% 55 IBU €3.89
A more golden colour in the glass, bit more body, nice touch of malt. Not bad at all, but pricey for 330m, IMNSHO.

8 Ball Rye IPA 33cl 6.2% 65 IBU €4.09
Red (natch) and cloudy in the glass, really liked this, a pinch of spice and a lovely long bitter finish.

More Aldi Beers

Wychwood Brewery Bah Humbug 50cl 5.0% abv €2.49 link
Didn't like this at all. The cinnamon just didn't work for me and I found it sickly sweet and spicy. Down the sink.

O'Shea's Traditional Irish Ale 50cl 5.0% abv €1.99
I don't know why I'm surprised, but  this is pretty good. Rich in flavour with some nice caramel notes. It's supposably made by Carlow Brewing, who make O'Hara's. I'd have to taste it against O'Haras red but I reckon they're fairly similar, and I really like O'Haras red. Priced to move...

Bateman's Rosey Nosey 50cl 4.7% abv €2.49 link
Based on the label alone I wasn't hopeful but this is a decent red ale. Nice bit of malt, caramel and a hint of fruit. Not bad at all. 50c more than the O'Shea's though, and that's Irish.

Berliner Kindl Pils 50cl 4.8% abv €1.49
Very pale in the glass and a bit thin on the palate, I didn't really care for it. This might be OK on a hot day but I wouldn't buy this again even at this cheap price.

**Update**
So I was back in Aldi to buy more of their delicious Malbec and I noticed that there were some new O'Shea's beers (see above). I'll be reviewing them over the next few days.

O'Shea's Irish Pale Ale 50cl 4.3% abv €1.99
As I mentioned here, I read somewhere that the O'Shea's beers are made for Aldi with the difference on the IPA front is that the Aldi version is not dry hopped. I haven't had the OHara's for a while but there doesn't seem to be a huge difference, i.e. it's pretty good. And I'm sorry to always banging on about price but at €4 per litre, it's competitively priced. 

O'Shea's Irish Stout 50cl 4.5% abv €1.99
Like it, good body, lots of flavour, maybe could be a bit creamier? Goes very well with Knappogue Castle 12 yo, which I got for Xmas, from a generous Kris Kindle.

O'Shea's Irish Golden Ale 50cl 4.1% abv €1.99
I'm not a huge fan of golden ales, for me they often fall between two stools, Lager and IPA, with not enough of either to work for this jaded palate, but this was quite delicious. It was a couple of weeks ago that I drank it (this blog update is way late), but I remember being very impressed. It was light and refreshing with a suggestion of hops that worked for me. If you likes your golden ales, I suspect you won't go wrong here.

8 Degrees Pale Ales

I have a curious relationship with 8 Degrees Pale ales.  I never really loved their core Pale Ale - Howling Gale, which I found a bit bland and not dissimilar to a bunch of other Irish Pale Ales, which are fine but nothing to get excited about. However, whenever they tried something different; the "Hop Off" IPAs - Cyclone and Hurricane, Amber Ella, Vic's Secret, Simcoe Rye Ale etc. the results are all marvelous. All were touted as being seasonal or one-offs. What I couldn't undertand was why they wouldn't make one of the IPAs, at least, part of the core range.

Since then, it appears that Amber Ella and Hurricane have been added to the rotation, hurray! Recently the Full Irish has also arrived on the scene. Hopefully they'll keep making it, as the first time I tried it I really liked it. In my mind I couldn't distinguish what made it different to the Hurricane, so I decide to buy both and compare. While I was at it I figured I'd throw in the Howling Gale, and see how it held up against it's hoppier brethren.

With Herself away in warmer climes I enlisted the help of BigBog to provide some unbiased opinion. After a couple of Grolschs to warm us up we moved onto pale ales with a Bo Bristle IPA. For some reason I didn't include this in my Irish Pale Ale challenge. Anyhoo, it was perfectly pleasant, a little light for my taste but fine and well balanced. Next up the contenders 8 Degrees...

BB was tasting blind, I was not. Here are our tasting notes, verbatim.

Howling Gale Pale Ale  33cl 5% abv  €2.25
BB: Generic. Not as distinctive as BB. Grows on you. Smells like cheese.
W: Not bad, better than expected, but yes generic. Maybe a bit soapy?

The Full Irish Single Malt IPA 33cl 6% abv  €2.75
BB: Citrsussy. Quite nice. Dry finish.
W: Yummy yummy. Grapefruit, mango and malty sweetness, full flavour, very well balanced.


Hurricane IPA 33cl 5.8% abv  €2.75
BB: Harsher than #2. Like whiskey that is not as matured.
W: Lovely, but flavour is not as full or rounded as Full Irish.

So there it is, the Howling Gale is OK, the Hurricane is very tasty but the Full Irish is just fabulous. I hope this ale becomes part of the core range.

**Update - has The Full Irish again a week later  and was surprised just how much tropical fruit is going on. Lots is the answer, lots.

New Irish Beers!

I'm always happy to see new Irish breweries/beers and the three below represent two new breweries (to me) Brehon & St Mel's. The Kinnegar Black Rye IPA was on draught at the recent Craft Beer fest, but I declined to avail of it as I was feeling a bit full (and jarred).

Brehon Brewhouse Killany Red   50cl 4.5% abv €2.99 link
A darkish cloudy reddish brown in the glass, white persistent head. First taste is fruit followed by a light malty but lingering finish. I like it. It's only 4.5% but it tastes a bit bigger.

Kinnegar (Special)  Black Bucket Black Rye IPA 50cl 6.5% abv €3.99 link
Yummy. This was big and bold. Lots of hops, lots of toasty roasted malt and a nice hoppy lingering finish. I like the standard Rustbucket Rye Ale a lot (although it ain't cheap  €7-50 for a bottle in Kelly's Rosslare) and this

St Mel's Pale Ale 50cl 4.8% abv €3.99 link
Sorry - I don't like this, it's got that really sharp bitterness that I can't abide, and that I have found in a few beers, Dungarvan Comeragh Challenger for one. Down the sink.

Weird Beard Beers

I found a selection of beers from Weird Beers in Molloys on my last visit there, so I bought them all as an experiment, like. They are a London Brewery and seem to make a wide variety of ales. Link 

Five O'Clock Shadow - American IPA 33cl 7.0% abv €3.49
This is more like it. Big, bold, hoppy, malty. Like it a lot and will buy again

Hit The Lights  - Mixed Up IPA 50cl 5.9% abv €4.39
Hmmm. Crisp, light, not masses of hops. Orange flavours (like those effervescent vitamin tablets). A little bitterness at the finish. Maybe needs food. A summer ale I think. Expensive though as priced.

Fade To Black - Black IPA 33cl 6.3% abv €3.49
While this is nominally an IPA, it's not really. I've had a few black IPAs and while they have some nice coffee/chocolate and roasted notes, they are, at heart, hoppy IPAs. This is the opposite; a thick, rich, chunky porter with a little bit of hops at the margins. I shouldn't complain, because it is rather good. There is an extraordinary breadth of complex flavours on show here. I don't tend to drink much in the way of bottled stouts/porters but I will definitely buy this again.
**Update ** I bought it again and gave it to Herself and she loved it, a cracker.

Little Things That Kill 50cl 3.0% abv €3.99
A violently hoppy little beer. Smells nice. Its very fizzy - lots of big bubbles and a pale slightly cloudy hue in the glass. Reminds of Brewdog Dead Pony Club, low abv, no malt and lots of hops. I don't tend to like weak beers but this is a tasty session ale, I'd miss the malt though.

Mariana Trench - Transpacific Pale Ale 33cl 5.2% abv €3.29
First time around I had this with some hot chilli crisps and couldn't really taste it, so I decided to give it another try. so I liked it but didn't love it. It's well balanced, with some nice tropical fruits and a touch of malt, and its very drinkable. One for those who don't like their Pale Ales too big or hoppy, with perhaps a little subtlety.

Black Perle 50cl 3.8% abv €3.99
A Coffee Milk Stout. This is different; sweet, like milky mocha. Not sure I really like it though. It's a milk stout which is traditionally made with lactose to sweeten it. It resembles cold sugary coffee with a hint of vanilla. It is actually made with coffee - here's a blog post from the brewer on the history of this ale. Hmmmmm, worth a try for the experience but not one I'd buy again.

Autumn Ales from Molloys

Buxton Axe Edge India Pale Ale 33cl 6.8% abv €3.79 link
Yummy, yummy, yummy. A perfect balance of citrus bitterness and malty sweetness. Very similar to all those US IPAs that I bang on about (blogs passim)

Tiny Rebel Urban IPA 33cl 5.5% abv €3.19 link
Pine freshness and lots of it. I'm drinking thsi straight after the Axe Edge and it's coming off second best. Not bad, decent long finish but doesn't have the magic balance of the above. 

Mariana Trench - Transpacific Pale Ale 33cl 5.2% abv €3.29
Reviewing this as part of a separate Weird Beers post.

Beavertown Neck Oil Session IPA 33cl (can) 4.3% abv €3.49 link
Loved this. Loads of hops, malt full of big flavours. Very impressed that this level of flavour was present in  4.3% ABV ale. Would expect this level of flavour in a big 6%+ US ale 

Trouble Brewing Whistle Blower IPA 50cl 7.6% abv €3.99 link (seasonal)
I just went to get this bottle out of my beer fridge and it wasn't there. I'm getting a flashback to last Friday and a poker game in Naas. I think I enjoyed this but it's all a bit hazy, perhaps because this beers comes in at a whopping 7.6%, sorry.

Blackstairs Ruby Red IPA 50cl 5% abv €4.35  link
I tried this at the Craft Beer Fest this year and didn't like it, at all. But it was late I was jarred, my glass could have been dirty, yadda yadda yadda...I saw it in the shelf and decided I'd give it another shot. I'm glad I did, it's quite good. It's a deep reddy brown in the glass with a decent, healthy head. It reminds me of Kinnegar Rustbucket Rye which is quite a compliment. It's got lots of nice hoppy bitterness and a smattering of sweetness. If this is their first effort, bravo.

Irish Craft Beer Fest 2014

So this year, it was just me and Chester at the Irish Craft Beer Fest. The invitation had been extended to all of the FT boys but only five had confirmed. However, at the last minute, due to some shamefully egregious bad legs, our party ended up being but a twosome. 

Then there was a mix-up with the guest list, which was most excellently resolved (Thanks Ed!), So I curtailed my ticketing activities, sallied forth, and infiltrated the place of purveyance to negotiate the imbibing of some hoppy comestibles...

8 Degrees brewing Hurricane IPA 5.8% abv - Never had this is on draught, lovely as it is in bottles. A good way to start the evening and I sipped this as I wandered the hall, getting my bearings and waiting for Chester to hove into view. FYI I also sampled their Saison 7%, which I did not like at all, much too wheatbeer for me, but Chester loved it. Tasted the Alba Abú too but it was at the end of the evening, after many strong IPAs and I couldn't really taste it, sorry.

Stone Barrel Brewing Day Trippin American Pale Ale 5% abv - Hoppier, with more body than their previous IPA - Boom. Had a nice chat with the chap/brewer behind the counter. I hope they make this as a commercial offering.

Bo Bristle Imperial Red Ale 7% abv -Apparently the only Imperial Red Ale in Ireland - who'd a thunk it? It was a touch sweet but very moreish. A dangerous beer as it belies its abv.* 

O'Hara's Hop Heavy - Slightly Sweet but still tasty. Halfway between the regular IPA and the Double IPA.

Blacks of Kinsale Rocketship 6.5% abv - Really liked this, strong and hoppy. A turbocharged version of their standard IPA, which I like a lot and which won my Irish IPA Challenge. Chester tried the Black IPA and really liked it, which was nice.

OHara's Helles Lager 4.5% abv - I needed a break from all the strong ales so I plumped for a lager. Crisp and tasty, did the job.

Trouble Brewing Vietnow - very good, very hoppy. Like this a lot, even in my late evening beer haze.

Kinnegar Otway 4.2% - I decided to finish with something a bit milder, I didn't really care for this in bottles but it was perfectly pleasant, and what the doctor ordered at this late stage of the evening.

 *Recommended by Ed

Summer (I)PAs and Other Revelations

I'll be honest. I've been back from hols for 2 weeks (today) and I haven't yet mustered up the enthusiasm to tweet about beer, let alone do a blog post. Jet lag/Insomnia was a factor for the first couple of days and I've had a rotten cold for the last week or so, but those are not really a good enough excuses and so I don't have one, as such.

Anyhoo, I'm typing now so I may as well continue. When we arrived in Pittburgh PA, my brother had a fridge full of beer. Lots of Miller Lite (more of this anon) and quite a few of these Dogfish head 60 minute IPAs, nice. When we got to the Outer Banks NC, it was mostly lite beer, unf. I drank quite a few lite beers over there and most were awful; Coors Lite, Michelob Ultra, Busch Lite (ugh!). The Miller Lite was OK, surprisingly. Not great, but out of  can, cold, when thirsty, it's not bad. Not chock full of flavourm but it's an imperial IPA compared to the watery muck above

I also drank a lot of Sam Adams Summer Ale - it was the best thing on draught in the local (Karoake) bar. I will take the video of me drunkenly murdering "Friends in low places"  to my grave. Oh and Jameson! Lots of Jameson, everywhere we went they had these glasses (below), into which they would pour massive amounts of raw spirit.

Anyway, after weeks of cheap watery beer I needed some decent stuff so I popped into Molloy's on the Ballyogan road and grabbed a whole bunch of new (to me) beers. I'll be reviewing them over the next while so do check back...

Thornbridge Halcyon Imperial IPA 7.4% abv 50cl  €5.69 link
Very expensive and strong but didn't work for me. Plenty of hops but zero malt or balance.

Buxton Axe Edge India Pale Ale 6.8% abv 33cl  €3.79 link
Cloudy with a thick creamy head. Very well balanced, full flavour. citurs fruits verging onto the tropical

James Squire One Fifty Lashes  Pale Ale 4.2% abv 34.5cl  €2.79 link
No flavour whatsoever. Down the sink

Eviltwin Brewing Yang 10% abv 35.5cl €4.75 link
Haven't had this yet but found the Yin and it's a stout, who'd a thunk it? Supposed to mix both for a Black and Tan.

Tuatara Aoteoroa Pale Ale 5.8% abv 33cl €3.29 link
Yummy. American Pale Ale style and classic example of same. Will buy more.

Bath Ales Wild Hare Organic Pale Ale 5.0% abv 50cl €3.49 link
Pale gold, very white head, Crisp and clean - good summer drink.

Kinnegar Otway European Pale Ale 4.2% abv 50cl €3.79 link
Good bitterness but not a lot of malt. A bit unbalanced. Maybe expected too much at this abv but not great balance

Trouble Brewing Agent Provocateur 6.2% abv 50cl  €3.99 link     (seasonal)
It's gone from the beer fridge but I don't remember drinking it. Am I an alcoholic? Probably.


Also, for no good reason here are some capsule reviews on beers from earlier this year that I never posted:

Rogue Brutal IPA 66cl 5.8% abv €7.79 link
Underwhelming. Not bad but for nearly eight notes I'd expect to have my socks (or something else) blown (off). Perfectly drinkable but not patch on their Yellow Snow IPA.

Independent Pale Ale 50cl 6.0% abv €3.99 link
Liked this a lot, cloudy amber in the glass, lots of tasty citrussy  hops at the back of the palate and a long lingering finish

Kenmare Irish Pale Ale 50cl 5.0% abv €3.70 link
Disappointing - not a huge amount of flavour.

Beers from Marks & Sparks

I knew M&S did beers in the UK but for some reason I thought they didn't in the republic, for some reason. It was only after a chat with m'colleague Ed, who knows his beers, that I realised it was worth a look next time out.

It turned out there were a number of beers on offer, I ignored the dodgy fruit beers and assorted stouts and purchased the three at left. 

M&S Staffordshire IPA 50cl 5.5% abv - €3.09
Brewed by Marston's with whom I have a chequered relationship. I have had a bunch of their beers before but haven't been wowed by any of them. This ale didn't buck that trend. It was perfectly fine it poured a deep golden colour with a thin white head. Mildly hoppy with a little malty sweetness. I was underwhelmed but then the curry arrived and it worked very well with the strong spices. One to have with food I'll wager.
 
M&S Italian Lager 50cl 5.0% abv - €3.39
To give this its full title it's "Italian Lager brewed with Pure Mountain Water from the Italian Alps". My first thoughts were - wow this is expensive for a lager. €3.39 for 50ml or about €2.50 for a regular 33cl bottle; for that money I'd want something special in a lager. I guess there must be a market for Italian lager as I know plenty of folks who live on Perroni on draught, which I find a bit thin and insipid. (Moretti is my go-to Italian beer...)

This was quite pale golden in the glass with a decent head, helped by the robust carbonation. It was light and refreshing with some mild grassy flavours. A good beer for a hot day and will find favour with those who like Perroni and its ilk but probably not a beer I'd buy again.
 
M&S Czech Pilsner 50cl 5.0% abv - €2.49
Not much to say here. Drinkable, well balanced with a touch of hoppiness but a little wishy washy compared to my current fave Budvar. Would be interesting to blind taste it against Staropramen or maybe Pilsner Urquell; see if I am prejudging this beer.

New UK Pale Ales

Saltaire Cascade Pale Ale 50cl 4.8% abv - €3.49
13 Guns American IPA 33cl 5.5% abv - €2.99
Hardknott Infrared IPA 33cl 6.2% abv - €2.99

As I wandered back from Noshington's on the South Circular Road last weekend, away from that Hipster central of dodgy shorts, ugly shirts and handlebar 'taches I happened upon O'Neills Off Licence which had a rather fetching selection of Ales, so I grabbed three I hadn't seen before and away with me.

Saltaire Cascade Pale Ale link
The label describes this as having "intense citrus hop flavours". Hmmm - I don't think so, more like moderate citrus hop flavours, but it's nicely balanced.  It comes in at only 4.8% abv and reasonably moreish so it's definitely something you could sink a few of, if you had a sink.

Crafty Dan 13 Guns American IPA link
Another "American" ale from the UK. This one's a bit stronger  at 5.5% and a lot darker, this is a proper red colour and a nice frothy head. I like this, it's subtle but with a nice depth of flavour and a hint of bitterness at the finish.

Hardknott Infrared IPA link
Well it's red and quite bubbly, similar in colour to the 13 Guns. Unlike the other two this is not subtle. It's quite big on the hops, but there's a little malt to round out the flavour. And it's strong at 6.2%, which for me is a prereq for a very good IPA. Nice one.

Spanking New American IPAs

So I picked up a couple of new (India) Pale Ales in Molloy's the other night. Interestingly they are both in cans, which is claimed by some to keep the beer in better nick than bottles, we'll see. Also, the chap in the shop particularly recommended the Dale's. Both are pretty strong too...

From left to right they are: 
Dale's Pale Ale 6.5% abv 355ml €3.69 - Link
Sly Fox Route 113 IPA 7% abv 355ml €3.69  - Link

Dale's - Wow. I see what he meant. It's a hazy amber colour in the glass with enough fizz to excite the tongue. The taste is crisp and fairly hoppy with the bitterness lingering pleasantly on the palate. There's just enough light maltiness to make this extremely drinkable. It reminds me of my favourite American IPAs - Odells, Rogue, Goose Island etc which is quite a compliment. If this had been in either of the previous (I)PA competitions it would have given a good account of itself.

Route 133 - 
Hmmm - darker than the Dale's and also extremely tasty. It's a little more subtle;  the hops are more restrained here but the balance is exquisite. I think this is what the O'Hara's double IPA was going for, but it didn't quite pull it off.      

If you can find 'em, and you like big American style strong pale ales, you'll love these.

Irish Pale Ale Challenge - Final

Black's Kinsale Pale Ale 5.0% abv 33cl €2.69
O'Hara's Double IPA 7.5% abv 50cl €3.89
Mountain Man Hairy Goat  4.5% abv 33cl €2.69
Porterhouse Hop Head 5.0% abv 33cl €2.10

So here we are at last in the final. It has been pointed out that these beers represent very different styles of ale, and this is true. The entry criteria were that it had to be Irish (sorry Boom) and it had to have the words "pale ale" or "IPA" in the name. Hence we have a strong Double IPA, and three rather different styles of "pale ale". If I had, in fact, limited the competition to "actual" pale ales, it wouldn't have been much of a competition, numbers wise.

It's been said before, but it bears repeating. This is not, nor could it ever be, an empirical test of ales. All winners have done so based on my own personal tastes (or lack thereof) and if you yourself ran the competition you would probably get wildly different results. Here's how they all got here...

I feel sorry for the Full Sail which would probably have made the final if it had been in two of the other semi-finals and the Trouble Brewing which I like but tasted not at like an IPA at the time of tasting. I have discovered a couple or three "Pale Ales" that I might have included; McGraths IPA, Killegar Rustbucket Rye Ale, Franciscan Well IPA and others which I may review in due course.

As always, the final will be a blind tasting and I had herself do the pouring and preparing.  I hope colour won't be factor but I think at least one of them is quite dark. Anyway, here goes...(end Part 1!)

The contenders (after finalist 1 had been sampled)

Ale 1
YHB: Strong and sweet, this is almost definitely the O'Haras. Tonight I'm finding it a little sweet. Guess - OHaras
Herself: Interesting and she likes it.

Ale 2
YHB: Lots of hops, but not enough balancing sweetness. Nice but not a winner I think. Guess - Hairy Goat
Herself: Like it but prefers first

Ale 3
YHB: Yes, lovely, well balanced, hoppy. Ticks all the boxes. Guess - Kinsale Pale Ale
Herself: Really likes this, her fave of the four.

Ale 4
YHB: The only one with any head.A full deep rich flavour with some nice bittereness, halfway to a traditional ale I'd wager...
Herself: Doesn't like it.

For once, I got them all correct. I thought the O'Hara's would win, as I love a strong Double IPA and I swooned for it in the QF, but I'm finding it just too sweet tonight; perhaps the standard O'Haras Irish Pale Ale would have fared better tonight. The Mountain Man just doesn't have enough malt to balance the bitterness for me, so we're left with two...

As much as I like the Hophead (and I love it on draught in the Porterhouse) it's just not IPAish enough for me. So that leaves the Kinsale Pale Ale, and it's a worthy winner, it's suberbly balanced with just the right amount of hops and malt. I look forward to their forthcoming IPA and Double IPA. Well done, in fact, to all the finalists...

Irish Pale Ale Challenge - SF4 - I can't think of a snappy title with a pun in it based on the locations of the brewers, sorry.

Semi Final 4
Galway Bay Full Sail IPA 5.8% abv 50cl €3.29
Black's Kinsale Pale Ale 5.0% abv 33cl €2.69

I really liked both of these so I suspect this will be a close one. The Full Sail is one I have had regularly at the various pubs that Galway Bay own, whereas the Black's Ive only had twice, to my knowledge. By the way, the picture at left of the Kinsale Pale Ale is the old label. The new label looks like this.

Black's Kinsale Pale Ale
Yep, still got it. A good dollop of citrus fruit, a hint of malt and some delicious bitterness at the finish. A suggestion of tropical fruit around the edges completes the picture.


Galway Bay Full Sail IPA
Much darker in the glass this, almost a red ale colour. The hue is a clue to the flavour, which has much more earthy malts than the Blacks and a lot less citrus to the bitterness. But it is very well balanced and has a dynamite finish.

Winner - Again, there is nothing in it between these two and I'd be well happy with either but I'm gonna give it to the Kinsale Pale Ale.

The Line up for the final is as follows:
Porterhouse Hop Head
Mountain Man Hairy Goat
O'Hara's Double IPA 
Black's Kinsale Pale Ale 

Yummy! 

Irish Pale Ale Challenge - SF3 - Galway or bust, on the double.

Semi Final 3
Galway Hooker Irish Pale Ale 4.4% abv 50cl €3.19
O'Hara's Double IPA 7.5% abv 50cl €3.89 

Probably my favourite IPA from the QF, The OHara's against probablay my least favourite, The Hooker, which beat the very poor Smithwicks Pale ale in  QF7.

Galway Hooker Irish Pale Ale
This isn't bad. It has a nice little bit of hops, could maybe do with more alcohol/oomph/malt but it's a decent effort. It probably benefits from going first and so be it.


O'Hara's Double IPA
Yes. Full, rich, malty and strong. No contest.

Winner - O'Hara's Double IPA

Irish Pale Ale Challenge - SF2 - Boom vs the Hairy Goat. **Updated**

Semi Final 2
Stone Barrel Boom IPA 5.0% abv 50cl €3.59
Mountain Man Hairy Goat  4.5% abv 33cl €2.69

I expect another close run thing here. Reviewing the Quarter Finals (here and here) it appears I quite liked both of them. Both were moderately hopped and well balanced, so I guess it's down to which one I fancy on the night, not that that strategy hasn't got me in trouble before, mind you. I always drink the two contestants in alphabetical order, btw. That way there can't be any bias, intentional or otherwise. Who does this favour? I Dunno.

Stone Barrel Boom IPA
Yum, still good. Some nice hops and maybe a hint of malty sweetness and a little bitterness at the finish. It's nicely balanced and it works for me.


Mountain Man Hairy Goat
Now this is a different beast. It's a bit hoppier up front, but it doesn't have any balancing sweetness, but there's a little tinge of fruit coming through at the back of the tongue. It's less subtle but it's pretty tasty too.

**Update**
Winner - Em - It's desperately close again and there's not more than a hair between them. I'm gonna go with my gut...it's the Boom, because that's the ale that's working for me tonight. Your mileage, of course, may vary. Mountain Man Hairy Goat!

Kev from Stone Barrel DM'd me to let me know that they had decided to remove themselves from the challenge. Boom is currently contract brewed in the UK and as such does not meet the competition criteria of being an "Irish" Pale Ale. It's an honourable thing to do and I respect their honesty and wish them well in the future when the beer will be produced in Ballymount, I think?

So congrats to the Mountain Men and we'll see them in the final.

Irish Pale Ale Challenge - SF1 - Donegal Farmhouse Vs Dublin Porterhouse

Semi Final 1
Kinnegar Scraggy Bay India Pale Ale 5.3% abv 50cl €3.69
Porterhouse Hop Head 5.0% abv 33cl €2.10

While both of these were victorious in their respective Quarter Finals, I didn't love either one. It should be an interesting match-up which I hope will not result in the lesser of two evils going through to the final.

Porterhouse Hop Head
This a  a deep amber colour in the glass with a frothy long lasting head. Smells good, some hoppiness and maybe a hint of fruit. I have to say this is tasting really good right now. I'm digging the bitterness and this beer is working for me at this moment. Maybe it's because I haven't had any beer in 72 hours, who knows?

Kinnegar Scraggy Bay India Pale Ale
More of a cloudy lager colour with lots of fruit on the nose. This is a different beast altogether. Much more subtle but also well balanced. Ooh, this is a tough one.

Winner - Porterhouse Hop Head. It was very close, and it might have gone either way but I'm giving it to the Hop Head. Ceteris paribus, I'll always go for the bigger, stronger ale...

Irish Pale Ale Challenge - QF8 - The republic triumphant

Quarter Final 8
Black's Kinsale Pale Ale 5.0% abv 33cl €2.69
Trouble Brewing Sabotage IPA 5.5% abv 50cl €3-59

I suspect this will be a close run thing. I could maybe have drawn these apart but if an IPA is going to succeed in this endeavour, it will need to beat all comers, including some stiff opposition.

Black's Kinsale Pale Ale
There's a lovely citrussy nose here and some good solid bitterness up front. A decent amount of grapefruit but not as much tropical fruit as I remember from last time. Still, I like it, and while it's not one for the faint of heart, its right up my alley,

Trouble Brewing Sabotage IPA
This is much darker in the glass and the nose has more of a red ale aroma to it, with some yummy toasty caramel notes. This is delicious but it tastes to this reviewer like a red ale with some hops added, which is an attractive combo, but is not what I'm looking for in this competition...

Winner - Black's Kinsale Pale Ale