#141: Alpha

As you may have heard, this beer is my favourite. Seeing as it just appeared on tap at the Abbot's, I had the chance to try it again. Between being broke, generally lazy and working nights, I don't get the chance to go out as often as I'd like. Thankfully, the guys at the Abbot's were very accommodating and filled a half-litre swingtop bottle for me.

Piraat pours a dark gold, or a perfect amber, whichever you like. The aroma is all malty sweetness at first, and is a bit subdued by the cold. It's bready and full of sticky caramel malt notes, with the honey note I found in the very first bottle in attendance here too. There's even a light hop presence, something I didn't really pick up on at the first tasting. The palate gets more or less what's promised, but with a more noticeable fruit character of peach and apricot, and a touch of pithy bitterness at the end that balances out the syrupy almond finish. The alcohol is pretty high at 10.5%, but it doesn't really show in the taste, just the warmth after the swallow, but that's to be expected.

I still think this is my favourite beer, although I do have some trouble categorizing it. I'm not the only one though, as I've heard this called an IPA, a blonde and a Tripel before. I would say the vague but sufficiently descriptive Strong Golden Ale should do it. It's not hoppy enough to be a Double IPA, and lacks the soft dryness and spicy, grassy hop character of a classic Tripel. It's a strange one, just like it's stablemate the Gulden Draak. 

One thing is for certain though - as long as the Abbot's keep this one coming, I'll be a very happy man.

Needless to say, fully recommended, as is the Abbot's Ale House.

#92: Franciscan Well October Beer Festival

Cork played host to the annual Guinness Jazz Festival this past weekend, so the city was packed to the proverbial rafters for the duration of the Fran Well's beer festival. I knew the event was popular, but I was completely unprepared for the fighting for standing space activity of the place. Perhaps I'm getting old, but I was very put off by the whole thing. It's difficult to enjoy a night out when you're so terribly antisocial. Anyway, below are the details of my own very short stay at the festival.

I&G Winter Treacle Porter

My first of the night was Innis & Gunn's Winter Treacle Porter, their seasonal for this time of year. I've had mixed experiences with this brewer in the past, but the name of this beer alone is what pulled me in. It poured black as you'd expect with a sugary sweet nose reminiscent of the Floreffe Melior I had a while back. Candy, cloying sweetness was the order of the day but unlike that particular beer, there was a touch of bitterness at the end to spice things up. Alcohol heat was just about noticeable too, but all in all it's a beer for the half-pint glass at most. I like sweet, but when I can't actually taste the malts, things aren't going great.

Poperings Hommel Bier

For the next one I went to the brilliantly selected Belgian bar, and opted for a Poperings Hommel Bier. Grainy, floral hops opens the taste on this one, before a nice sweet malt fullness unexpectedly takes control before returning to the lighter, fruitier characteristics of the beer to finish. Bitterness is lower than I'd expected, and there's an element of the wheaty farmhouse ale to this beer. In fact, I'd place this somewhere between a spicy Belgian blonde and a lovely wheaty Wit.

As I scanned the rest of the taps I spotted Piraat, and I couldn't resist another go. Notes on that beer are aplenty on this blog. Suffice to say it was as gorgeous as ever.

Upstairs, my better half went to try the bottled ginger beer they'd gotten in. Chalky's Bark is an accompaniment to their fennel beer Bite, and true to the suggestion, it was certainly bark rather than bite. There's plenty of nice herbal and spice qualities to the beer, as well as a hint of fruitiness, but there's none of the hot ginger notes you need in a good ginger beer. I was glad of the Piraat in my hand at this stage.

Lindeman's Framboise

By now, the bustle was getting to me, and I decided to throw in the towel. On the way out, though, I bought and sampled one more beer - Lindeman's Framboise. I was very excited about this beer, what with it being my introduction to the style. The first thing I noted was how much I loved the appearance of the thick pink head on top. The taste opens beautifully and not unlike a foamier, thicker version of the blackcurrant cassis popular in the Netherlands. It's very fruity, very sweet and surprisingly refreshing, before quite literally turning sour at the finish. It's not at all a bad taste, in any way, but for the uninitiated it's just weird.

I must stress that the only reason I didn't enjoy this visit as much as I should have is that I'm generally opposed to loudness, merriment and large social gatherings. The organization, promotion and range of beers was incredible, and for that the Franciscan Well deserves some serious praise. I'll definitely be coming to their next festival, and I strongly recommend you do too.

For me, it'll be a quiet afternoon trip next time.

A quick note...

I'm drinking Piraat now, trying to determine whether or not it really is as good as I thought it was at first. The plan was to take notes and create a new post, but I decided I didn't need to, not yet. Because after the very first sip I knew I'd be getting plenty more of this absolute stunner.

Piraat is pale ale perfection.

#30: When Ya Get Drafted

Haven't posted in quite a while, and since my last one I've tried 5 new beers and one familiar beer on tap. I know, the excitement! Two of these were from the Porterhouse, whose range I am slowly working my way through. The other three were Irish ales that I had yet to try, and that I found on tap in the Crane Lane's new 'Crystal Bar', specializing in craft beer.
I hadn't been out in a while, and I was dying to go see what they had at the Abbot's Ale House, so you might imagine my excitement when I went in to see Piraat on tap, right there before me. This beer is one of the most impressive I've had so far, along with Rochefort 10, but I had hitherto only enjoyed it from the bottle. This Piraat was not drastically different, however. It was served cool for one, something I wouldn't do at home but hey, what the heck. Caramel, fruit and yeast dominated the aroma, and the gorgeous malty, nutty, caramel and honey flavours are all there too. I'd like to try this one again - it was delicious, but there was something different about it that makes me want to compare it to it's bottled brother. Maybe that was just the chill though. Either way, I'm desperately hoping they get this back in soon, it's stellar.

In the Crane Lane I had a beer that I really should have tried a long time ago - Eight Degrees Brewing's Howling Gale Ale. Very well balanced, with biscuit and caramel malts giving way to bitterness towards the finish, it's a solid beer, and fairly sessionable. One I'd come back to, and one that I will, seeing as I've a bottle of it tucked away in the cupboard.
The next two got me very excited, as I'd never seen them available to me before, although I'd heard of them. Waterford's Metalman Brewing already have a great reputation after being established in 2011, and they were recently awarded second and third place in Beoir's Beer of the Year awards, for Windjammer and Metalman Pale Ale respectively. Both of these were on tap in the Crane Lane, and it was Windjammer I opted for. This is their summer seasonal amber ale, and it is packed with flavour - you really can't help but be impressed with the fruit in this. Grapefruit is what I pegged first, with pineapple and citrus being hinted at too. This is all balanced nicely with the nut and biscuit malt notes that prevent it from becoming overpowering.
Finally, I tried a beer I'd never heard of before. It was Bruinette, from White Gypsy in Tipperary. This was tasty too, but for me those banana flavours hung around a bit too long. Honey, fruit and bread all make a brief and muted appearance, but the flavour seems altogether too concentrated in the banana zone - which is fine, if you're into that kind of thing. I would have preferred more balance in a beer like this.
Overall, three great Irish ales - from a selection of around 6 - on tap in a popular city bar, surely bodes well for the Irish craft beer landscape.

#25: Them crafty Belgians

For this one I've decided to break away from my usual reviewing style, and there are a couple of reasons for this. First of all, of all the beer blogs that I read and enjoy, not a single one gives a full scored or marked review, and I realised that I prefer that style. I think my own formula of reviewing the beer in four categories and then awarding it a mark is enjoyable only for me, and no one else. As such, I'll try to be more inclusive and instead just write about my experience and stripped-down reaction to a beer. This way, instead of simply reviewing beers I'm sharing my journey through the craft beer world with you, which is what I wanted to do in the first place. Also, even though I won't be publishing scores no the blog, I still write them down in my notes. This way, when I read over my notes in months or years to come, I'll know exactly how I felt about the beer at the time. Sometimes your notes might sound more appealing to you than the beer in hand actually was, you see.

The first strong Belgian ale I ever had was Duvel (contrary to what I said earlier about La Chouffe). This shouldn't be a surprise because everyone knows and (mostly) loves the beer. I liked it when I first had it, and it pretty much started my love affair with Belgian ales and effectively ended my single-minded obsession with Hefeweizens. So recently I decided I'd get my hands on a few and see how they all compare.

First up is the Duvel. I had all these beers in the Duvel tulip, so the pillar of carbonation was always there. Also leaves a cool island of foam in the centre of the glass when the rest of the head has died down. Smells nice and fruity with hints of spice, with a good malty background. The taste is citrus and peach on the front, sweet malt in the middle and a long bread and nut finish. It's a fulfilling medium bodied beer and that famous dryness is always going to crop up. It's good, but it's not really mind-blowing. Will do some damage at 8.5% too. 

Next is a strong dark ale in the form of Gulden Draak. This one's from the Van Steenberge brewery in Ertvelde, the same brewery that makes Piraat, and comes in a bottle wrapped in white plastic, which in fairness looks better than it sounds. It's mahogany in colour with a very conservative head, and sweet toffee malt dominates the aroma, with elements of dark fruit sneaking in too. On the front I got a beautiful caramel flavour with bread maltiness and hints of spice and fruit following in the middle and finish. Really it's very very tasty, and I loved it, but I can see how people could find it too sweet - there's little in the way of bitterness here.Velvety smooth mouthfeel makes this one really enjoyable, and the 10.5% ABV warms you up. 

As I've said, Piraat comes from the same brewery as Gulden Draak, and I'm starting to think that the guys at Brouwerij Van Steenberge know their stuff, pretty damn well. Also, I promise I didn't buy this just because of it's name and label. Not just, anyway... It pours coppery amber, darker than the Duvel, more honey-tone. Interestingly, honey is in the aroma too, hidden beneath the bread malt, peach, yeast and spice. Also the 10.5% alcohol makes itself known, but not too much. The taste almost brings tears to my eyes. Peach and apricot, beautifully malty, slightly nutty, delicious caramel sweetness and hints, no, just a singular hint, of honey. I think. Either way, absolutely brilliant. It's full-bodied and very smooth, and easier to drink than it probably should be.

Overall, three good ales today. Duvel is always a reliable one, and is stocked in just about every decent off-licence in the country. The other two are a cut above, particularly the Piraat. It's one of those beers that I could happily drink exclusively for the rest of my life. Maybe Van Steenberge will sponsor that...