"New" Guinness porters

Guinness West Indies Porter 50cl 3.8% abv €3.29
Guinness Dublin Porter 50cl 6.0% abv €3.09

The only info I can find from Guinness/Diageo is here.  here's an excerpt - "Inspired by authentic recipes, whose origins lie in the historic GUINNESS’ brewers’ diaries from the late 1700s and early 1800s, the new beers will be available in selected pubs and retailers from mid-September."

I'm starting with the weaker of the two, which is normally the best way to go. It's either a feast or a famine here, the Dublin porter limps with an anemic 3.8%, while the West Indies porter swaggers in, sporting a muscular 6 percent.

Guinness Dublin Porter

Well it's not your regular Guinness, I notice as I pour. There's no distinctive boiling bubbles as it settles, but there is a thickish foamy head. Initially, its not doing it for me, it's a bit thin and slightly sharp. Not for me this one.

Guinness West Indies Porter
Better. More body, nice malt. Probably would try this again.

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: A Very Imperial Winter

Here's the link..all beers €3.09 from my friends at Baggot St Wines.

Belgian Dubbel 33cl 7.2% abv €3.09
Ah yes, it's that Belgian style of beer. I used to love it; Chimay, Duvel, Kwak etc., but for some reason I went completely off it; I found the fruity sweetness cloying,  I'm not sure what I was expecting here, to be honest. I got the Dubbel more for completeness sake, than out of a genuine desire for it. Having said that, now that I'm about half way through it, I think I'm enjoying it. Probably won't but it again but if you like this style of beer then why not buy Irish...

Double Irish Imperial IPA 33cl 9.0% abv €3.09
Another winner in the IPA dept. Strong (natch), hoppy and delicious. These guys can do no wrong at the moment. That's all I can say, if you like big IPAs, buy this. 

Russian Imperial Stout 33cl 9.0% abv €3.09
First off, Herself loved it. I have a curious relationship with Imperial Stouts. All the beer bloggers/purists/nerds bang on about them and I can see what the attraction is. Lots of alcohol and all that chocolate, coffee and whatnot. The problem for me, as a Dublin boy raised from the pram on Guinness, is that I don't like my stout sweet. So while I appreciate the quality, I'm just not convinced this style is for me, apart from an occasional dip in, like a few other things in my life...