Irish Pale Ale Challenge - QF1 - On the Mountain

Quarter Final 1*
Mountain Man Green Bullet 4.0% abv 33cl €2.69
Mountain Man Hairy Goat  4.5% abv 33cl €2.69

I reviewed the Green Bullet before and liked it although I did opine that the flavour was quite delicate and that the Hairy Goat might be a better bet for the gentleman (or lady) who prefers a bigger bolder pale ale. Let's see if I was right...

Green Bullet
This ale is quite pale in the glass, a slightly cloudy lager colour.  As before the flavour is subtle but pleasant with some gentle hoppy notes, but the finish is a touch bitter. I suppose this would be a session ale at a light 4% abv and it's probably something you could drink a lot of, if you had a mind to.

Hairy Goat
This presents with a deep amber hue in the glass and there's a lot more going on here. Bigger, hoppier and with a fuller and more integrated hoppy finish. A solid IPA from the Corkmen.

Winner - Hairy Goat
There's not much in this, I have to admit but I'm going to go for the Hairy Goat because I prefer the bigger, beefier ales.

My next task is to assemble the 16 (currently 15) beers into a draw, and attempt to seed a few of my favourites...

*Both beers purchased from Baggot St wines

Irish Pale Ale Challenge - Intro **Updated**

Hola Amigos, I know it's been a while since I rapped at ya but I'm three weeks into a new job and I'm working my ass off and traveling to the farthest reaches of the planet (well Bristol, anyway).

Anyhoo, I've been thinking about another beer competition and given the recent explosion in Irish craft beers (see posts passim), and my love of Pale Ales, it behooves me to make the next contest one for Irish Pale Ales.

I think I'm going to allow multiple entries from one brewery, so where two IPAs are available, I'm going to run them off against each other in the first round. This might mean that one of the favourites, OHara's Irish Pale Ale could be out in the first round!

Note: It's obviously impossible to choose the best Irish pale ale. What I'm really trying to do, I suppose, is to find my favourite Irish pale ale. If your tastes in Pale ales are similar to mine then you should enjoy the journey, if not, well, I don't know what to tell you.

**Update - I've found a 16th Irish Pale Ale  - Boom IPA from the Stone Barrel Brewing company

So far I've got the following, and have provisionally paired them as follows:

Smithwicks Pale Ale 4.5% abv 50cl €2.80
Galway Hooker Irish Pale Ale 4.4% abv 50cl €3.19

Kinnegar Scraggy Bay India Pale Ale 5.3% abv 50cl €3.69
Kinnegar Limeburner Pale Ale 4.7% abv 50cl €3.69

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

O'Hara's Irish Pale Ale 5.2% abv 50cl €2.99
O'Hara's Double IPA 7.5% abv 50cl €3.89

Whitewater Brewery Hoppelhammer IPA 6% €3.47
Stone Barrel Boom IPA 5.0% abv 50cl €3.59 

Mountain Man Green Bullet 4.0% abv 33cl €2.69 
Mountain Man Hairy Goat  4.5% abv 33cl €2.69

Porterhouse Hop Head 5.0% abv 33cl €2.10
8 Degrees Brewing Howling Gale Ale 5.0% 33cl

Hilden Brewing Co Twisted Hop 4.7% abv 50cl €3.49
Galway Bay Full Sail IPA 5.8% abv 50cl €3.29


Other beers considered/discarded

Metalman Pale Ale (available in bottles?)
Galway Bay Voyager IPA (seasonal?)
Franciscan Well IPA (If I can find it)
Hilden Brewing Co Headless Dog (Is a Pale Ale?)

I'll be drinking them over the next few weeks...

The one in which I go mad for the hops

I got all  of the above in Baggot St Wines, apart from the Big Job, which I think came from Tesco, cos that's where I have previously purchased its little brother - Proper Job. The only new brewery to me here is Founders Brewery, from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Founders All Day IPA 4.7% abv  €2.99
Pours a deep amber colour. Wow! surprisingly big and hoppy; and delicious with it. Not sure I'd drink it all day but it's a solid entry in the Pale Ale pantheon. Probably one for those who dig American style IPAs, I reckon. 

Founders Dry Hopped Pale Ale 5.4% abv  €2.99
Well this is totally different. Subtle citrus hop flavours and a little malt to balance it out. To be honest, it's not doing a lot for me. I thought dry hopping added hoppiness but this seems a bit gentle for my rough and ready palate. 

St Austell Big Job 7.2% abv  €??
I really wanted to like this; I've had their Proper Job and it's OK, nothing special. Unfortunately this tasted like a slightly stronger version of the Proper Job, which is to say it didn't taste of a whole heck of a lot. Not offensive but a bit bland. 

Mountain Man Hairy Goat  4.5% abv  €2.69
I bought this because , although I liked their Green Bullet, I found it a bit delicate. The Goat is a bit beefier, a bit more flavoursome and I liked it too. Again, not an ale if you want a hop-bomb, but perfect when you want an Irish ale that's a touch subtle. 

BrewDog Dog Wired Imperial Pilsener 6.8% abv €4.39
This was a bit of a curates egg. A strong Pilsner with lots of atypical hops (Nelson Sauvin and Montueka). It wasn't unpleasant but it didn't work for me. Your mileage may vary.

Odell St Lupulin Extra Pale Ale 6.5% abv  €4.15
Perfectly fine but nothing to write home about. Some tasty hoppiness and good mouthfeel but there wasn't enough oomph for me, which I tend to expect from strong Odell ales. I had their IPA again recently and it is just divine.

Three new Irish Pale Ales

I bought these three pretties in Baggot Street Wines last week and am only getting around to trying them now. Herself is out, the boy is in bed and Moonrise Kingdom in on the telly.

I'm starting with the weakest in strength, which seems to me to be the logical and indeed the fairest approach. I'll freely admit that for me with IPAs, stronger is better. Not by definition, but historically I tend to prefer stronger IPAs to their weaker cousins.

Mountain Man Green Bullet 4% abv €2.69
With the above admission I'm not holding out much hope for this ale. However, I'm enjoying this. It's delicate but well balanced. The blurb on the bottle mentions "subtle notes of pine and lemon", and I'll buy that. It's not a beer for those who want a big hoppy citrus bomb (see previous posts) , but could be a welcome change of pace when something lighter is required. I must try their Hairy Goat which is an English style IPA, at a decent 4.5% abv and with hindsight would have made a better match for the two ales below.  

Kinnegar Limeburner Pale Ale 4.9% abv €3.99
M'colleague and I tried a couple of Kinnegar's beers at the recent Craft Beer fest and loved their Amber and Rye ales respectively. As expected, the extra alcohol gives this a little kick. It's slightly sweet, the fruit is understated; the hops, present and correct, but not bitter. I like it, it's light and refreshing but, if I had the choice I'd go for their Rustbucket Rye ale. 

Black's Kinsale Pale Ale 5% abv €2.69
Wow, lots of tropical fruit on the nose, and not a little on the palate, unsurprisingly. I like this style of pale ale (like Thornbidge Kipling and Kona Big Wave), but it may be too fruity for some.

The International Lager Challenge - Grand Final

So it's come to this - I've decided to blind taste the four lager finalists. A quick reminder of how the finalists got here.

Poland - The Zywiec had an easy Semi against the relatively unknown Warka and squeezed past the Tyskie in the regional final.

Germany -  The Krombacher had perhaps the hardest road to the final. I was able to find eight German lagers so the Krom had to win a quarter Final, a Semi Final and a Final. In the QF it handily beat the upstart Warsteiner. The Semi was a tougher affair, with the much fancied Veltins being narrowly dispatched. In the Final, I was tired and elected the winner more or less on a whim.

Czech Republic - The Budvar was always a favourite of mine so I never expected it to meet much opposition on the way to the final. Staropramen was defeated in the Semi and the Budvar came through in a tight contest against a resurgent Pilsner Urquell in the final.

Netherlands - The Grolsch - vanquished the surprisingly popular (in Amsterdam) Bavaria in the SF and then beat the southsiders fave Heineken 5% in the final.

So I asked Herself to pour the four finalists into identical glasses. I expected not to be able tell anything from the visuals - colour, head etc. and thus it proved. BTW I asked Herself to chime in also, she knew what the beers were but she wouldn't have the same prejudices, preconceptions and outright biases that I maintain. I know they aren't beer glasses but those were the only glasses I could find four of...

Lager #1
Herself said that she found it "gentle", I found it delicious and subtle, if I had to describe it, (and I guess I do, given that's the raison d'etre of the post). If I'm honest, it took until the second round of tastings that I really got this...
Guess - Krombacher.

Lager #2
Hey Mikey, she likes it!* I liked it too. Full falvoured and well balanced. I suspected it wasn't the Krom or the Bud so..
Guess - Zywiec

Lager #3
Herself preferred #2 and so did I. After the first two this came across as a bit bland.
Guess - Grolsch

Lager #4
Big, bold and beautiful.
Guess - It can only be the Budvar.

I'm batting .500 with 2 out of 4 correct. I mixed up the Grolsch and the Zywiec, speaking of which the Zywiec did not come across well. The Grolsch was pretty good, in third place, and surprised me by kicking some Polish ass.

Which leaves us with the Krom and the Bud, beauty and the beast, and I have to choose between them. Or Do I? Its my ball and I'll play with it as I see fit. In this case, I'm giving them joint first place.

If you want a delicious but subtle lager, Krombacher is for you. If, at another time, you need a big beefy, full strength lager lager then Budvar is your man.

Apologies for my equivocation, but when in doubt, do both.

* A very popular TV advertisement when I was growing up, on the "other side of the pond"

The Intl. Lager Challenge - Netherlands - Final 4 (of 4)

Final
Grolsch 5% abv
Heineken 5% abv

So back to the lagers. After drinking lots of lovely ales at the Craft Beer fest, I'm hoping these lagers don't seem underwhelming. It seems to me (and maybe this is just stating the bleedin' obvious) but there is much less variety in the world of lagers compared to ales.

I'm trying both of these from cans, for the record.  I've never seen the 5% Heino, in this country, in anything but cans and the fancy shmancy Grolsch bottles aren't that widely available, IMHO. I should say that in most of these rounds I've had a fair idea who was going to win. But here, no idea. Touch gloves and come out fighting...

Grolsch
I'm really digging this beer tonight. It's crisp and clean, refreshing, not a huge finish,but quite moreish. Maybe it's cos I haven't had a beer for 48 hours but this is yummy.

Heineken 5%
Hmmm, a little meh tonight. Smooth, with a decent finish, but not much else going on.

Winner - Grolsch.
To be cynical, it probably doesn't matter which I choose as I don't think either has a ghost of a chance in the final, but I'm going for Grolsch, it has marginally more cred than the much maligned Vitamin H, seeing as I've probably lost all my Ale cred doing all these mass produced lager posts.

Irish Craft Beer (and Cider) fest - report

This time last year I was in the middle of an ill advised beer-free (but not booze-free) period when I attended the Beer and Cider fest. That time, all I drank was cider. This time I wanted to drink all the beer. Alas, the only night I could go was Thursday, and I had work the next day and a stag in Killarney to deal with the following night, so moderation was required.

Me and m'colleague NP, arrived early at 5-30 and had the run of the place for a while. We  did a circuit of the stands and had lots of interesting chats with the various punters manning the pumps, apart from one, but more of that anon.

I kept a record of the ales sampled but not any tasting notes so the following is from memory...

1. McGraths IPA
Lovely hoppy ale, well balanced.

2.Galway Bay Voyager IPA
Tasty and strong as balls. Didn't try the Full Sail on draught unfortunately, as I love it in bottles.

3. Kentucky IPA
Had it once before on draught and it was super this time too. Tasted the bourbon ale but found it a little sweet for my palate.

4. Kinnegar Devil's Backbone Amber Ale
Had a nice chat with the lovely people here and decided on the amber ale as a break from the IPAs. Very smooth and easy drinking. NP had the Rustbucket Rye Ale, which I also sampled, and it was fantastic - I love this style of ale. 

5. Trouble Brewing Deception Golden Ale
An old favourite of mine, yummy on draught. They had various funky beers but I wimped out and played it safe. 

6. Franciscan Well IPA
A 7.5% beast, I left it 'til last on purpose. Big, hoppy, and the last nail in my coffin.

The only disappointment of the night was that we didn't manage to sample any of the 8 Degrees brewing beers. I particularly wanted to try the Cyclone IPA on draught and the limited edition Amber Ella. However, on our first circuit of the hall, we waited in vain to be noticed at the 8 Degrees taps for a few minutes and eventually left thirsty. We returned during the evening not once, not twice but three times. However on each occasion we were roundly ignored by the gentlemen behind the stand, who on at least two of the four visits appeared to be chatting idly with a single individual. Perhaps it was because he was on his own, or perhaps because he didn't like the look of us (he wouldn't be the first), who knows? At every other stand we were received graciously, and they patiently listened to my inane, and frequently ill-informed opinions on their proudly produced ales, and were offered many samples and tasters.

I thought perhaps I was being paranoid, but after I left NP stayed on and returned a fifth time to the 8 Degrees stand. Still no dice, (or beer). It's a pity, as I really like their beers and would have liked to sample them on draught.

Next year, I'm not going to plan any other events on this weekend and I'm going to literally drink all the beers.  By the way, I'm sure the ciders were fab, they were great last year but I had to narrow my focus.