Illness has thwarted by grand designs to take part in the most recent
Session, where hosts Boak and Bailey ask
What is the best beer you can have at home right now? When able, I'd like to rehash my planned contribution into a sort of post about the house beer situation. Spoiler alert, its liable to be a German lager.
But for now, we settle for reflecttion on the previous week's German lager, the highly regarded
Hopburgh Helles from the Alpine idyll of Smithfield, Dublin 7. It pours the colour of golden syrup and despite a fairly lively carbonation the head is loose with big wobbly bubbles that disappear all to quickly. That's about the last wobble of the evening though, because this beer is lovely; big stalky bitterness and, would you believe it, golden syrup on the nose. On the palate there's a suggestion of lemongrass and marshmallow, simultaneously bringing to mind not just native German helles but also Bohemian pils. In this way it's not unlike the
Leikeim Pils from a couple of weeks ago, although I would take the Hopburgh over that beer any day. Beautiful, and when it costs more than an Augustiner, it ought to be.
Not wasting any time we dive straight into the
Hopburgh Schwarzbier. I fancy all types of dark lager but this is probably the one I have the loosest grasp on. Like the Helles it pours perfectly clear but in the colour a dark and particularly reddish cola. The foam is slightly more stable on this one too which is a nice bonus. There's a hint of smoke on the nose, rather surprisingly, but this doesn't follow up on the palate, rather unsurprisingly. Instead it's a delightful twirl of raisin and chocolate, with Café Noir biscuit underscoring the finish. Over time the bitterness - always there but rather subtle to begin with - intensifies and combines with the sweeter malts to give a sort of liquorice effect. Beautiful.
Both of these beers are triumphs, and worth the admittedly eyebrow-raising price attached to them.
