#76: Second Tier Beer

OK, maybe I'm being harsh by referring to these next two beers as 'second tier', but in my defence, my previous experience of this brewer set expectations high. The brewer is the Carlow Brewing Company, and those past beers are described in all their lovely glory here and to a lesser extent here. As such, I suppose these following two are maybe not second tier in a general sense, but they certainly don't compare favourably to their brothers.

First up is Curim Gold, described as a Celtic Wheat Beer. When I first tried this as an innocent craft beer beginner, I thought I was getting an Irish brewer's interpretation of what I understood to be a wheat beer - a German Hefe or Belgian Wit. Alas, what you get is a simple wheat ale. It pours a very fizzy golden/amber, with a creamy, bubbly white head. On the nose I got faint bubblegum and lots of fruit, with a slightly grainy lager-like aroma throughout. The taste opens with malt akin to the English ale toffee flavour, and proceeds through refreshing, light citrus fruit to the metallic hops and biscuit finish. The body's light, and far too gassy for my liking. In fact, it felt like sparkling water at times. The website suggests that it would by a good accompaniment to hot, spicy foods, but I think I'd rather stick to a quality lager or IPA. 

This next one was always going to have it's work cut out. Generally, I don't go for an Irish Red, and the only one I think I've really enjoyed is the Fran Well's Rebel Red. This is precisely why this beer was the last to be purchased, but every beer deserves a fair chance, so let's get to it. O'Hara's Irish Red pours a surprisingly dark red, with lots of bubbles sticking to the glass and a very small bubbly head. On the nose it was hops first, and like the Curim above, they gave off a metallic note. Other than that it's very balanced between malty toffee and sharp bitter fruit. Here my notes peter out, and I describe the taste as being much like the aroma. Again the beer has too much carbonation for my own personal taste. It's not at all a terrible beer, but it's so very ordinary.

That being said, I reckon I'd pick it up over the Curim any day. Both are lesser beers than the Leann Folláin, Irish Pale Ale and Irish Stout.

#75: Double Bock

These are two beers that have been sitting in the cupboard for quite a while, and that I picked up on impulse during separate beer runs. Both are German, both come in swing-top bottles, and both are bocks.

First up is the Flensburger Frühlingsbock. It pours a slightly hazy pale gold, not unlike a glass of piss. Unfortunately, there's a certain urinal element to the aroma too, as the stingy yeast is what hits me first. Already I'm thinking this may be an off bottle. Grapefruit is very pronounced, as is the metallic bite, and both do their best to smother and hide the quiet caramel malt underlayer. The taste is practically the same, except that it has none of the yeastiness of the aroma, and packs a bit more malt into the finish. 

I'm finding it hard to find nice things to say about the beer, but really it's just not good. It may be an off bottle, though I can't help but feel I'm getting paranoid about 'off' beer. Maybe I sometimes need to admit that beer can suck. 

At least this one comes in a really nice bottle.

The Doppel-Hirsch is a completely different story. Yes, it too comes in a lovely bottle, but the contents are far more impressive. It pours a dark yet crystal clear brown, with a small slice of creamy off-white head. The aroma opens with a touch of something I pegged as tobacco, which is nicer than it sounds, followed by a hint of booze and a sticky sweet malt bomb. This can be divided into toffee, chocolate, brown sugar and maple syrup. In the taste, you get all those with added dark fruit, vanilla and wood. The body's nice and thick and completely coats your mouth, while the 7.2% ABV lends a touch of heat to the finish. 

This beer has surprised me, and I can already see it becoming a regular tenant of the cupboard. In my notes I signed off describing it as something like a Quadrupel with the drinkability of a lager, and I stand by this. I do concede that for some it may just be too much of one thing and not enough of anything else, but as someone who prefers the warmer, maltier beer, I have to say I bloody love it.

#74: Sally Brown

The second of the Italian craft beers that I was gifted for my birthday last month is Sally Brown, a sweet stout, also from Birrificio del Ducato. The imperial stout Verdi was good enough to spark my interest in the range, so I was looking forward to their standard aul' dry stout.

Sally Brown pours pitch black with a bubbly off-white head. I realise it's hard to make that out in the darkness of the picture, but you can take my word for it that that was pretty much how it looked in the glass. On the nose I got hints of smoke and light roasted malts, with a sharp fizzy sweetness to it that reminded me of the Porterhouse Oyster Stout. The taste has pretty much everything the aroma does, albeit with a touch of chocolate malt somewhere in the middle. The body's pretty light and easy-going.

Overall it's not a bad beer, but not great either. Certainly not worth the price I'm afraid.

#73: Big Feet Means Big... Hops?

Sierra Nevada produce some great stuff. Their Pale Ale is what I'd consider the standard in American IPAs, while their Torpedo IPA is probably my favourite of the range, being an affordable, available and tasty India Pale Ale of manly strength. Their seasonals have been good to me so far, and the Stout and Kellerweis were great and good respectively, despite lacking notes on the blog. All in all, it's a good range, and I've yet to try the rest. As such, I was very excited to finally crack open my 2012 Bigfoot, a barleywine-style ale from our Chico friends. 

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot 2012 pours with a big head, surprising for a beer of 9.6% ABV. It's a dark copper toned beer, and I have to say it looks good in the glass. On the nose you can't escape the waxy pine bitterness from the hops. It's exceptionally hoppy and fruity, yet the quiet malt undertones can be found if you pay attention. The taste delivers loud and sharp fruity hops, with that pine/peel bitterness present in the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Torpedo also showing up here. The hops seem to lend a sticky coating to the sides of your mouth, aided by the high alcohol content and chocolate malt notes. It's delicious and easy to drink, despite it's potency. As time goes on and the beer warms up, things start to get really interesting, as you get more complexity in the aroma and taste with deep toffee chocolate notes (not unlike those in a Black Chocolate Stout stout) somehow finding their way into the beer and wonderfully complimenting the citrus, grapefruit and herbal hop qualities already living there.

This beer carries a slightly higher price tag than others on the range, but for anyone who enjoys their hoppy Americans, it's certainly worth a go.

#72: Innis & Gunn Irish Whiskey Cask

I've only had one bottle of Innis & Gunn before, and that was their flagship oak aged ale, Innis & Gunn Original. I think I enjoyed it at the time, though it may be time for a reappraisal. Also, I've heard good things about their Rum Cask matured beer, so further exploration into the range may be warranted. 

This is their limited edition stout aged in whiskey casks from 'a famous Irish distillery'. Hmm. 

Innis & Gunn Irish Whiskey Cask pours pitch black motor-oil colour with a small off-white bubbly head. The first thing I notice about the aroma is that it really is exceptionally fruity. Belgian Quad-like fizzy sugary dark fruits dominate the nose, with deep and warm malt notes underneath. In fact, the coffee and smoke bitterness I'd normally associate with a stout is very subdued. Milk chocolate and toffee notes develop with time, but ultimately it's the dark, booze-soaked fruit that really stands out in the aroma. This Quadrupel-like fruitiness is in the front of the taste too, but here the woody toffee, warm caramel and chocolate elements come into play a bit more. The finish provides warmth via syrupy alcohol and caramel, and the whole drinking experience is enjoyable.

I must say, I liked this beer much more than I though I would. I can't stress just how much like a Quad it smells (for a stout), and it's definitely the fruitiest stout I've ever tasted. The roasted malt character that usually defines a stout is very muted, but flavour in this beer is otherwise loud, and worth paying attention to. 

This beer isn't cheap, and you could spend less on better, but if you've got the dosh, it's worth a go.

#71: O'Hara's Light and Dark

I'm going to be completely honest here: I hadf absolutely no idea that O'Haras made such good beer. I had their Curim wheat beer a long time ago, and I'm pretty sure I thought it was 'meh', while their Irish Stout was tasty but uninspiring. As such, I was never captivated by the range, and held off on exploring it for quite some time, despite being very widely available and quite affordable. Now, I realise I've been missing out.

First up is the most acclaimed of the beers, an extra stout with 6.0% ABV and a great Irish name. O’Hara’s Leann Folláin pours pitch black with a nice big foamy tan head, just like my kind of stout. Roasted coffee and smoke are the first notes I pick up on the aroma, and I can't help but think how Irish it smells. Underneath is a warm and smooth layer of caramel, with chocolate and syrup elements dotted here and there too. Bitter notes are offered  by the hops and coffee smells. The taste is beautiful, with a bitter coffee opening and potent hop presence falling away to chocolate and dark fruit, while the finish has a sweetness not unlike the Porterhouse Oyster Stout. Brilliant beer, and thoroughly enjoyable. This will definitely be a regular in the cupboard.

Next is a dry-hopped IPA that I chose over their Irish Red, because to be perfectly honest, I don't really get excited about Irish Reds - the only one that really got me going is the bottled Rebel Red. Anyway, O'Hara's Irish Pale Ale pours a gorgeous crystal clear golden-amber colour, allowing you to enjoy the activity of the sparkling bubbles inside. A small white foam caps it off, and I have to say it looks lovely in it's proper glass. On the aroma, I couldn't help but think someone had squeezed a bit of lemon juice in to my beer - very noticeable juicy citrus flavours hit first, with a nice oily hop aroma that gives off those American peel and pine notes. There are small hints of spice, maybe clove, while the whole thing sits atop a nice layer of bread or biscuit malt. Smells delicious! The taste is great too, with juicy citrus fruit opening with a more prominent peel element this time, followed by a hot pepper and herbal spiciness. The finish warms into a bubblegum-like flavour, while the the bitterness from the start and middle stays around long enough to round the beer out. The body's light without being wimpy, and the whole thing is nicely hop-forward. Great tasting sessionable IPA, one I didn't expect to enjoy this much.

#70: Chimay & Schlenkerla

As you may have noticed, I'm trying out a new look for the blog, complete with sensual beer photography backgound. In fact, I took that photo when trying out the first beer below, which was about two months ago. Also, I've added the dropdown 'Beer Seeker' menu so you can see what the Destrier thinks of your favourite beer, as well as the Followers gadget, so you can join the site. Please feel free to do so, and have a nice brew.

For this article, I'm catching up on some old notes for beers I tasted a couple of months ago, hence the rather unusual pairing.

First up is the Chimay Première, as it's named in the 75cl bottles. It's a Dubbel, and it pours a bronzed ruby-red hue, with a quickly dissipating off-white head. Carbonation is quite active, making it fairly bubbly, while the overall look of the beer is slightly hazy. I imagine this is from the small amount of yeast sediment in the pour. This is enforced by the very strong wine-like yeast note that hits first on the aroma, while malty chocolate, bread and red berries also make themselves known. It smells good, though not very complex. Wine yeast is to the fore of the taste too, with woody, nutty toffee following in the middle, accompanied by malty bread, with darker fruits signing off. The nice bread malt quality only improves with time, as the beer sits warming up in the glass. The mouthfeel is gorgeous, with a nice velvety fizz on a medium to full body, and only a touch of alcohol heat at 7% ABV. This is a nice beer, but I think I'd have the Tripel instead, and I'd definitely have the Quadrupel instead.

Next is one that caught my eye with it's oppressively German labelling: Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen looks brilliant in the bottle, and not too bad in the glass either. This smoked marzen pours like a Coca-Cola - clear red tinted black - and with a similar amount of carbonation. Unlike cola, however, it's got a creamy two fingers of off-white head that retains a film. I'd heard lots about this beer smelling like bacon and, well, it does. Smoke and meat smells dominate the aroma, and it's bloody strong too, but crucially it's not overpowering. Beneath the smoked bacon smell there's a stout-like coffee and roast malt aroma with hints of tobacco. Nice stuff, despite how it sounds. The taste is terrific, with the smoke lingering long after the swallow. Malt notes are more prominent, and the perceived stout qualities are more potent too. The mouthfeel is good, and isn't as overly carbonated as it looks, ad is actually pretty creamy. You still know you're drinking a marzen, though, as the drinkabililty is good and the beer's quite refreshing. I'll probably drink this one again, simply because it's just so different to anything I've had before. Looking forward to trying their smoked wheat beer, as well as their winter seasonal Urbock.