#178: Bierhaus Miscellany #2

Sometimes I sneak to the Bierhaus for an afternoon beer, but I hadn't been in ages. What's more, they've installed a Randall since the last visit, so a trip was certainly long overdue.

Mountain Man's Green Bullet was pouring through the Randall, which was filled to the brim with Chinook. The immediate smack is not of piney bitterness as expected, but of a woody, green, leafy freshness. Herbal and floral notes come through on the palate, though nothing too strong to overpower the lightly sweet, sawdust-thick, biscuity grain base. Dry and incredibly drinkable as ever, I reckon I could get used to this machine. Sure, it didn't add a layer of hop brilliance, but as an exploring of 'things to do with beer' it's pretty spot on.

Next up was some bittersweet Mocha from Batemans, which suggested nutty chocolate, butter fudge and coffee on the aroma.  It tastes at first like sticky burnt chocolate, before turning to warmer caramel and finally onto a lingering whack of coffee at the death. All throughout, an unpleasantly sharp black marker character makes the beer feel coarse and overpowering on the palate, stripping from it the subtlety that would have made it otherwise an enjoyable drink. As it is, it's just not for me.

In between the two I was offered a taste of the already lovely Amber Ella, this time from draught. Of course, it was delicious. There was a bit more of a bubblegum nose to it, with plenty of sweetness on the palate while remaining very hoppy indeed, delivering some beautiful tropical fruit bitterness through the folds of the malt background. Perhaps even better than the bottled version.

Until next time.

#152: Shot out of the Green

When you're the kind of person that gets excited about beer, it's hard to beat new beer, especially when it's close to home. As such, I was delighted to try this pale ale from Ireland's latest craft brewery, Mountain Man. And yes, it's from Cork!

Green Bullet is the name, and from the get go I have to give top marks for the branding. The beer itself pours a surprisingly pale shade of gold, with a very short-lived head, looking rathe rmore like a lager than a pale ale. The nose is reminded instantly of Howling Gale Ale, with a similar tropical fruit character underpinned by a light sweetness, with the taste more or less following suit. However, what happens on the palate is a straight balance of gentle bitterness and soft sweetness throwing up tropical, citrus fruit hops here and sweet caramel malts there, before turning to a 'crisp' and 'clean' lager for the finish. I must say, the longer it goes one, the less I feel like I'm tasting. 

While not at all bad, Green Bullet leaves a lot to be desired in terms of flavour and, for the style, I'd be looking for around 4.5-5.5% ABV as opposed to the bordering-on-light-beer 4%. When Howling Gale Ale is the same price with a good fist more flavour and a nice full 5%, there's really no competition.

Still though, it's plenty drinkable and I look forward to seeing much more of Mountain Man.