Eight Degrees. You can't help but love them. At least, I can't. When trying to think of an Eight Degrees beer that I didn't at least find 'great', I am brought back to their Aztec Stout. This is actually a decent, chocolatey, drinkable stout in that close-to-bland sort of way that springs a prickle of chilli heat upon the back of the throat at the finish, making for a weird experience, and in my eyes, killing the beer's drinkability. I also consider the Winter's Ale, with it's lightness and nutmeg-y oddness failing to strike a chord with me. But even these two beers have merit and are worthy of experiencing; both have unorthodox extra ingredients, both are limited in release.
Since inception the Mitchelstown outfit has only gone from strength to strength. Kindred Spirit. Ochtoberfest (please come back). Hurricane. Cyclone. Amber Ella. Russian Imperial Stout. Zeus Black IPA. The Full Irish (please stay forever). Horn8's Nest. Amber-Ella again. And now these two beauties.
.jpg)
Vic Secret seemed a questionable name to me before I found out that Vic Secret is indeed an Australian hop varietal, and this is the first in a range of single hop beers. Rather than brew a handful of blank canvas pale ales, there's some stylistic experimentation going on here too. This one is a black IPA, and it's the best I've had so far. As should be the case with any single hop beer, the hops are up front about their business; a veritable market's worth of tropical fruit and strawberry Hubba Bubba (I know right?) hit the nose hard. Things are rounder when it gets to the palate. Dark, silky coffee and liquorice caress the the inside of the mouth while never subduing the intensity of the grapefruit and mango highlights that burn bright and leave a trailing bitterness. There's a familiar burnt rubber twinge that interrupts the blackberry jam malts, as I find in many beers where thick, dark malts are forced to do battle with bright and bitter hops. Overall a truly scrumptious beer.
The next hop to get VIP treatment is Simcoe, residing in the comfortable and delicious accommodation of a rye ale. The nose finds notes of sweet Jesus. Razor-sharp lemon skin and pith bitterness slices your olfaction in twain, before onrushing orange marmalade - with bits, of course - does its level best to soothe you. Unsurprisingly, and rather like the Vic Secret, there's a bitter fruit attack on the palate. Grapefruit and yet more orange are the big players; pine needle and resiny stuff provides background harmonics. I don't get much grassiness or peppery spice from the rye, as it all seems rather pedestrian compared to the long-lasting coppery bitterness that dominates proceedings. At the very end (if you're careless with your pour) a muddy homebrew quality becomes part of the malt profile, but that doesn't take away from the beer's performance.
Two more stunning brews from Mitchelstown. Hon Cork.
Olé Olé, while perfectly drinkable, was proof that they're human.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was light to the point of being inoffensive, but crucially, I still enjoyed it. Can't say that about the Aztec and Winter's Ale. I don't think it fit into either group; a beer to praise or a beer to criticize.
DeleteYes I'm a big fan of Eight Degrees too - they're providing a great choice of exactly what the customers want.
ReplyDeleteUnlike Metalman who occasionally produce a stunning beer like Windjammer and then make it virtually impossible to find it anywhere in Cork ever again.
It knocks all their other beers into a cocked hat particularly that revolting collaboration with
Hardknott.
Bizarre.
I didn't mind the Yerba, but it was definitely just a curio; one half pint and I'm finished with it for good. Nowhere near the lofty heights of Windjammer. Hopefully in time Metalman will be canning or mini-kegging their beers.
DeleteI do like their beers but they're not available on draught in Limerick and I dislike buying 33cl bottles.
ReplyDeleteSurprised that they are no taps in Limerick, definitely worth dropping them a line or convincing your most craft-oriented publican to get it in.
DeleteI,too,am mystified by the total lack of Windjammer in any of the usual outlets around Cork this summer.
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely beer, not too hoppy and goes down a treat.I had a few pints of it in the Crane Lane about a year ago and that was the last I saw of it. Even rang the brewery to find out when it was coming back and got fobbed off,so to speak.
Shame because I find their ubiqitous Pale Ale just the usual American imitation with nowhere near the complexity of Windjammer.
While on the subject of American imitations I tried most of the new stuff at the Rising Sons brewery and ALL of them were rammed with hops,even the red ale.
Over-hopping beer is so last decade.
So,too, is ear-bleedingly loud music and eight television sets.
A massive disappointment.
I must say I love their Pale Ale, though it's been a while since I've had the pleasure. I liked the Rising Sons IPA, and the Grainú wheat was ok. Didn't get around to their red ale. I found the IPA hoppier than I'd expected but still not as hop-forward as most of the Eight Degrees stuff.
Delete