#135: Franciscan Well Easterfest 2013

It's Easter Sunday, and that can only mean one thing in Irish Beerdom: The Franciscan Well Easterfest. Seeing as I got my festival over and done with yesterday, there's no time like the present to give my evaluation of it.

First impression upon walking through the arch was the feeling of relief, followed by joy and excitement. My last (and only other) festival experience here was a bustling mess, so to see the place so quiet and relaxed, with all kegs and casks full and ready for tapping put me in a good mood.

Kindred Spirit

Being from Cork, and being hopelessly biased, the first stop had to be Eight Degrees and their whiskey barrel-aged stout, Kindred Spirit. The last beer of this style I'd had was the understated Jameson Stout from the Fran Well, so comparisons were inevitable, and right away I can find more of a whiskey hit on the nose of this one. At 7.5%, it's even a little boozy. The taste is of a good, hearty stout, with roasty, toasty malts coming through at first, before some nice stickier malts, dark fruit and of course, whiskey follow through at the finish. The barrel-ageing process seems to have worked wonders here, as you can really pull the base stout apart from the vanilla and sweet woody malts of the barrel. Expect this to be bottled in the coming weeks, and I'd recommend you pick up a pair. It could very well be a nice one for ageing yourself.

Next stop was Dungarvan, who had their beers on cask. I'd tried everything else, so it was an easy decision to take their Mahon Falls Rye Pale Ale for a spin. Pouring a hazy copper with a weak, soapy head, it doesnt promise much in the glass. This effect continues with the subtle aroma that doesn't do much to describe what's happening inside, but at first tasting, things change for the better. It's light bubblegum-like sweetness does it's best to reign in a very hop-forward character, with fruity notes dotted here and there. I haven't got much frame of reference when it comes to a rye beer, so I didn't know what to look for in this. Perhaps the underlying graininess or hint of a spicy bite, but in truth, it's the hops that take centre stage here. The bitter aftertaste is lip-smacking, and the cask serving works wonders in showing off the freshness of the hops. Another one to try again.

Opus II

Moving onto the Galway Hooker bar, I found they had a tap of Opus II, a dark wheat beer brewed exclusively for Tigh Neachtains in Galway. Exploration is the name of the game, and explore I did. What I found was a very unusual beer, with roasted coffee bitterness playing off a potent fruit bouquet, none of which was suggested by the spritely wheaty aroma. It's nice enough and worth a try, but I don't think I could manage a pint, let alone a couple. I was hoping to try some Bonaparte Stout, listed on the menu, but it seemed to be absent from the bar.* Oh well, onwards then.

Returning to the hop-forward beers, I opted next for a taste of O'Hara's Double IPA. Reactions to this one appear to have been mixed, from what I'd been reading on Beoir, with many people suggesting that it was a little unbalanced and hopped to death. I can only say that I wholeheartedly disagree. While it truly is a hop bomb, with tropical fruit, citrus peel and even pine notes dominating, there's a gorgeous honey undertone that provides just enough balance to keep your palate intact. There's plenty to savour here, especially if you like your hops. I forgot to ask the brewer if this was to be bottled, but hopefully it will. I'll definitely be looking to try this again.

Tumbler

Heading upstairs to find out what the mystery keg of Sierra Nevada was, I discovered a row of apparently experimental casks from Sharps. Nothing caught my eye, so I went for the Sierra Nevada Tumbler on keg. I'd had it from the bottle before, but this is a completely different beer. A light grainy sweetness on the aroma belies a grassy, woody undertone in the taste, all of which is blown to smithereens by the very strong, almost peppery, copper-tasting hops. This was so potent that it made it very difficult pick out anything beyond the bitterness, even having an adverse effect on my next beer...

...which was White Gypsy's Mustang. I only went for a taste of this, seeing as it's extra alcohol points meant more money and less coherence, but it was actually a pretty good beer. Tropical fruit abound in this one, and there's a nice hop character, but ultimately, my tongue was still recalling the metallic hops of yesterbeer, making it difficult to enjoy. For what it's worth, it tasted like a more hop forward (and more American) version of Metalman's lovely Pale Ale.

Windjammer

Which brings us to Metalman. There were four iterations of their Chameleon on tap, as well as the Pale Ale, Alternator, and two versions of Windjammer. Tough decision, but I had to go for the Windjammer on cask, considering how great it was on keg last year. Anything hoppy on cask comes alive, and this was no exception. The strong, bitter, tropical fruit character you'd recognise from previous years is still there, while the whole thing is kept grounded by a slightly sweet, biscuit malt backbone. Very nice, I hope I can get this as regularly as I could last year. 

Stonwell Cider

Finally, for my last drink at my first succesful beer festival, I decided to try a cider. This was really a shot from the hip, my last cider being a Bulmers a few years ago. It could have gone either way, but with Stonewell Cider serving from keg and cask - both of which appear to be a rarity - it had to be done. I went for the cask, and boy was I glad. It pours hazy and very pale, with next to no head. To a beer drinker, it doesn't promise much. The taste, however, is sublime. My cider experience doesn't give me much flavour descriptors with which to enlighten you, but all I can say is that it tastes like the purest, most elegantly sweet and, above all, most beautiful apple juice you've ever had. Alongside so many great beers, I wouldn't have put my money on a cider to shine, but it really did. If you get the chance, I strongly recommend readers to try this wherever they see a tap. Failing that, their bottled Medium-Dry is closest to what I was drinking, and I'll certainly be picking up a couple.

It's impossible to pick a favourite from the eight drinks listed above. However, the Stonewell might have to be my find of the festival, because it truly was a revelation. The only down points of the day were the absences of UCC's brewery and the half-assed showing from the Porterhouse. Overall though, it was a great festival, and the Franciscan Well are great hosts. I'll definitely be attending in the future, and I recommend that you do too.

Next up for the Destrier? Dublin Round 2.

*Correction: It very much was on the bar. Curse these eyes.

#62: Birthday Drinks

It was my birthday over the weekend, and while I didn't do an awful lot of drinking, I did manage to pull together a decent beer haul, with the help of my Much Better Half. From her, I got a nice set of two Schneider Weisse Originals with the branded weizen glass to match. I have to say, it's classy as fuck. Also, two beers from a brewery I've been dying to explore - Verdi and Sally Brown from the Birrificio Del Ducato in Italy. The brewery has been recently added to Bradley's' shelves, along with a host of Odells, Flying Dogs, and other Americans that are really expanding the selection in there, not to mention the host of Belgians that joined the ranks a couple of months ago. Finally, a six pack of Budweiser Budvar means my girlfriend has me well supplied. So, good drinking to be done there in weeks to come.

 I ordered and recieved my first package from drinkstore.ie in anticipation of my name-day, and opened up a 6-bottle gift pack of Piraat, along with branded tulip glass. The box will lead you to believe that it's 9% alcohol, while the bottles will promise the normal 10.5% version. Really, I spent a good while online looking for an explanation of why there are two versions in the first place and found zilch, even from Van Steenberge's official website. One chap on an Aussie homebrew forum suggested the puny 9% beer was brewed especially for the Dutch market, and that's good enough for me. 

Why the box and bottle conflict each other is anybody's guess.

Despite how it looks, I wasn't just looking at beer over the weekend - I did manage to go out on the night and have a few pints. My first of the evening was the vocally locally brewed but otherwise secretive Mi Daza stout. I had heard nothing of this before I saw the tap in the Crane Lane, and even now on the net I can find little mention of it's very existence. Nevertheless I was intrigued. Maybe I was just full from the day's indulgence, or maybe this really was a tough drink to finish. I haven'd had a Beamish, Murphy's or Guinness in ages, but this seems to be directed at that crowd. It has the ridiculously thick nitro head in an unnatural shade of white, but beneath the surface it's watery and very low on flavour, with only a hint of general roasted malt. Granted, that wasn't helped by the ice cold serving temperature but I have to say  I didn't wait around to find out if it warmed up well. The pint was finished by a friend. 

For my second (and third) I went with a pale ale I'd only tried once before but loved to bits - Windjammer from Metalman. Lovely stuff that went down so much easier, but did so while still providing so much flavour. It's fruity and refreshing and the body has a bit of a punch to it - no empty water finish here.

In the mood for a Belgian, I went for one from the pub's newly acquired bottled range. La/Mc Chouffe were advertised along with Leffe, St Martin's Blonde and Fruh Kolsch. La Chouffe was the easy choice to make here, but alas, it was too good to be true. The bottles were nowhere to be seen and I settled for another Belgian, St Martin's Blond. It didn't have much going for it - yeast, slight bready malt character, stingy acidic fruit finish... I regretted not opting for the reliable Duvel.

Changing scene to the less trendy Fred Zeppelin's, my Irish craft beer tap range was taken away completely. Well, almost. After surveying the taps here, I realized there was really only one beer that called out to me - Rebel Red. And so I dug in. This was a beautiful pint, one I enjoyed much more than my first Rebel Red about one year ago. It was malt driven with toffee and caramel announcing themselves far before the fruit and hops bitterness got involved at the finish. Very refreshing and drinkable, yet retaining a good medium body.

All in all, not a bad weekend beer-wise. I do hope Metalman decide to bottle their wares in the future, the Windjammer is fast becoming my favourite session ale.

#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.