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...

New Beers!

I had occasion to patronise Tesco on Upper Baggot St last night and they had a 5 "posh" beers for €11 offer on the go. Note 1- this used to be 5 for a tenner. Note 2 - One of the beers I selected wasn't part of the offer, apparently, so I ended up spending the guts of €15 notes on 5 beers. Nuts.

Mariestads Export 5.3%
Imported from Sweden apparently. Nice malty flavours, and a lovely crisp taste. I savoured this, I have to say. The official site is here, by the way, for those who speak Swedish. I would/will buy this again if I can figure out the arcane details of the 5 for €11 offer. 

Proper Job IPA 5.5%
I thought I had blogged this beer before but I could find no trace on blog or  twitter feed so there we go. Hmmm, I know "powerfully hopped" is relative but I definitely expected more hops than was present.  It's not bad, a perfectly pleasant IPA, but more like moderately hopped. This might be a good place to start for someone coming exclusively from a lager background but I don't think it would satisfy the die-hard.

Arcobrau Pilsener 4.9%
Pale yellow colour and a surprisingly durable head. This pilsener has a slightly sweet character that I like and a lovely crisp finish. I'm not sure if I'd drink it all night but its pretty tasty right now.

Tesco Beer - Five for a tenner...

Tesco surprised me a couple of days ago. I was searching for icing sugar and I came across a rather large selection of foreign / craft beers. The advertised offer was any five for a tenner* so I picked five, seemingly at random.

Belfast Lager, Whitewater Brewery 4.5% abv.
I decided to move from light to dark, by starting with the only lager in the bunch. The Blurb on the bottle says "Crisp and full flavoured this refreshing continental style premium lager is brewed with the finest Saaz hops giving a beer rich in aroma and taste". Hmmmm. There is some nice crispness and a little hopiness but it feels a little dialed back. I think needs more flavour and more alcohol. It's not bad but it's not enough.

Marco Pierre White The Governor 4.1% abv
As above, not bad but not great. It's a light, amber ale with some nice flavours. As above it's a little underwhelming,  I think it could do with a bit more jizz (not literally). It goes down easily but is not especially memorable.

Greene King IPA Export 5% abv
Hmmmmm. IPA, eh? Not really. I thought this was half IPA and half normal ale. Certainly the colour is a lot redder than I would have expected. And the taste didn't really work for me.  At least it was strong.

Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier 6% abv
"This beer is an institution: the Oktoberfest Bier® from Paulaner, with its full-bodied, pleasant taste definitely pairs beautifully with the hearty delicacies along with Hendln or Schweinshaxen. Its alcohol content of 6 % volume makes it somewhat stronger than the usual lager beer. The original gravity of the Oktoberfest Beer is also slightly higher, starting at 13.5 %. With a hint of malty sweetness the Oktoberfest Beer possesses the perfect balance."

Hmmm. Not quite sure what to make of this. It's pleasant, and as described there's some a malty, fullish flavour. Not a huge amount else but pretty decent. One for the beer drinker who is not too adventurous, I'll wager.

Weihenstephaner Hefe-Weissbier Dunkel 5.3% abv
"Soft, malty and full bodied. The well balances taste is our weiss beer's great strength"
I've had bad experiences with Dunkel (dark) beers before, there was an episode involving the card game spoons (for shots) and a couple of real life drag queens (shudder).
Update - I don't know why I bought this as I don't generally like Weiss beers and I didn't like this. So there you go...


*I had actually paid full price for each beer (€2.69 each) at the till, before noticing this on the receipt**. It turns out the Paulaner wasn't part of the deal (or something) but Customer Service graciously refunded me the difference anyway. Nice one.

** I obviously picked up something in Scotland...