Irish Golden Pints 2016

There's an online thing that does the rounds in late December called Golden Pints or #goldenpints if you wanna be really nerdy.  It's where folk (usually English) who like beer enough to write about it vote for their favourites. But why should the English get all the glory?  The Irish beer scene, north and south of the border, is thriving and riding the crest of a fantastic hop-filled wave.  So it's time to throw down the stereotypical shamrock encrusted gauntlet, raise up a glass of non-Diageo stout and declare my Golden Pints #goldenpints for our emerald isle.

Best Irish Cask Beer - Lacada Utopian Stout
Irish cask is a rarity to say the least with only a handful of Irish breweries semi-regularly using this dispense method.  This stout from Portrush's co-operative brewery is a smooth blend of bitter coffee and sweet chocolate.

Best Irish Keg Beer - Galway Bay Change of the Guard
This fantastic triple IPA was Galway Bay Will's first brew after joining the brewery and Chris's last before he went to White Frontier in Switzerland, hence the name.  A very limited release, it made an appearance at the 1st Belfast Craft Beer festival in the spring and hop-bombed everyone out of the tent.

Best Irish Bottled Beer - McGargles Francis' Big Bangin IPA
McGargles didn't have the best introduction to the beer scene a few years back with less than favourable reviews but they've upped their game considerably this past year. Big Bangin' is indeed that.  Hoppier than a roo on a trampoline and with such a delicious citrus aftertaste.

Best Irish Canned Beer - I've not had enough Irish cans to make a decent comparison.

Best Irish Collaboration - Kinnegar Cage Fight
Donegal brewery Kinnegar teamed up with Belfast's Sunflower Pub and released Cage Fight to celebrate the popular bar's independence from Diageo and the like.  Also in keg but this porter is better in bottle, there's a bitter choc start with the faintest of sour cherry.  This is soon swept aside with a lingering but not overpowering chilli heat.

Best Overall Irish Beer 2016 - McGargles Francis' Big Bangin IPA
No more needs said.  Buy it if you find it.

Best Irish Cider - Tempted Festival Scrumpy
This deservedly won my best overall drink at the Belfast Beer and Cider Festival.  Smooth apple pie in a glass and all that was missing was custard.

Best Irish Pumpclip or Label - Yellowbelly
Astounding artwork from Odin Graphics' Paul Reck for the Wexford brewery.

Best Irish Brewery - Farmageddon, 
The Co Down co-op just pips bigger boys Eight Degrees and Galway Bay by the tiniest of margins (according to my Untappd ratings)

Best New Irish Brewery Opening 2016 - Bullhouse
Willy Mayne is the man behind this new Newtownards brewery that has already produced an impressive array of brews, including a potato saison and barrel aged imperial milk stout.

Best Overseas Draught Beer - Buxton/Omnipollo Yellow Belly
Not to be confused with the Yellowbelly brewery, this 11% ABV imperial stout is a collaboration between England's Buxton and Sweden's renowned Ominpollo. A beautiful beast.

Best Overseas Bottled Beer - Cloudwater DIPA v2
Everyone knows Cloudwater and everyone knows about their double IPA hype machine.  The first I had of theirs was in February and it was an eye opener.

Best Overseas Canned Beer - Evil Twin Even More Jesus

Best Overseas Brewery - Siren Craft and Cloudwater
I really can't split these two. Siren Craft's BA Caribbean Chocolate Cake, Hillbilly Wine and Blacklight Banana were all amazing as were Cloudwater's DIPA v2, v3, v8 and Three's Company

Irish Pub of the Year - Kiwi's Brew Bar, Portrush
This north coast haven wins for the second year.  It would be all too easy to pick a bar from Belfast, Derry, Dublin, Galway or any other city.  Portrush is a small seaside town on the north coast, not renowned in the past for craft beer or craft bars.  New Zealand born owner Kris is changing all that with a good selection of alternative beers served by great staff.

Best Irish Festival of the Year - Irish Craft Beer Festival RDS Dublin
I love this festival.  It has wide range of Irish brewers serving their own brews with great food sold out the back with a DJ pumping out some tunes while you eat.  Any festival that has music away from the main hall and not drowning out a conversation while you drink is on to a winner for a start.

Supermarket of the Year - M&S
Tesco? Asda? Sainsbury's? Nah, M&S just edge it though I'm not jumping through hoops about it.

Independent Retailer of the Year - 
Support local.  If you don't, your local indy stores will disappear all too quickly.  Neill Wine from Co Down opened a new premise in my Co Antrim town of Carrickfergus in late 2016.  That's why they get this award.  If you're in the area, drop in.

Best Beer Blog/Website - The Beer Nut
Always an informative and educational read from Dublin-based John Duffy.

Best Beer App - Untappd
Ratebeer is dead.  Very few folk I know use it any more, it's rarely up-to-date and is convoluted to use.  Step up to the mark Untappd.  I love it.  It's easy to use, make comments, add new beers and rate them (ironically).  Simplicity is the way forward.

Simon Johnson Award for Best Beer Twitterer - Beer Doodles
I love this.  Go see it now if you haven't already.

My NI Faves of 2016

In case you hadn't noticed, it's that time of year again.  Apart from continuing the strange ritual of putting trees in our living rooms and seeing plenty of overweight men in ill-fitting red polyester/velvet outfits, mid December means a review of our favourite Northern Irish beer of the past twelve months.  Of course I didn't have every single beer that was locally brewed this past year - though I did have a fair few - so this list isn't exhaustive.  It's also my opinion, yours will be different.  And that's good, so don't be gurning if your favourite isn't listed.

Best Porter -  KINNEGAR in collaboration with The Sunflower Pub - CAGE FIGHT

Celebrating the Belfast bar's independence from Diageo et al.  Although Kinnegar hails from Co Donegal, this has an NI influence as the bar staff helped in the brewing so it counts in this list.  Also available in keg but I preferred the bottle (yes I did have both to make a comparison).  A bitter chocolate start with the faintest of sour cherry but this is swept aside soon after with a lingering chilli heat that stays on the better side of tasty rather than overpowering. 

Best Stout - LACADA - UTOPIAN STOUT 

A cracker of a stout from the north coast co-operative, this appeared as part of Lacada's Limited Edition Salamander Series range.  Rich with hints of chocolate and coffee.  It's also available in cask sometimes if you're lucky - I prefer it in cask just marginally more but others prefer the bottle.  More on this later...

Best IPA - FARMAGEDDON - MOSAIC IPA 

This is also available in bottle form but it's a much better beast in cask, and I had the privilege of enjoying plenty of it in the Ulster Hall where it won overall beer of the Belfast Beer and Cider Festival.  Lots of smooth passion fruit and mango up front with a delicious bitterness that reminds you this is a beer, not a fruit juice.  Praise also for their Citra and Gorse IPAs earlier in the year.

Best Pale Ale - ARDS - HIP HOP 5

Ards Brewing Co from Greyabbey in County Down turned five years old this year (in 2011 Northern Ireland had 5 breweries compared to 30 today) and to mark the occasion, brewer Charles created - in my humble opinion - an improved version of his Hip Hop pale ale.  This one was brewed using five different hop varieties which made the beer a touch sweeter and more aromatic than the original.

Best Red - FARMAGEDDON/RENEGADE - RED EYE 

Collaborative brew between Farmageddon and English outfit Renegade Brewery.  Slight citrus fruits at the start give way to a great Columbus/Galaxy/Centennial hop bite with a slightly sweet biscuity malt remaining constant throughout. 

Best Amber - MOURNE MOUNTAINS - COAST 2 COAST

Mourne Mountains Brewery in Warrenpoint brewed this amber to celebrate the race event of the same name that starts in Co. Sligo and ends in the Mournes in Co. Down.  Tasty chewy hoppiness with a light caramel and butterscotch aftertaste.


Best Speciality - LACADA - IVY HONEY

Another one in the limited edition Salamander Series range, this was launched at the Belfast Craft Beer Festival at Custom House Square.  Shame it was in short supply as I found this to be an outstanding beer with the addition of ivy honey from brewer Laurie's own bees.  Could another one be on the horizon for 2017?

Best Irish But Not Northern Irish -  McGARGLES - FRANCIS' BIG BANGIN IPA

There have been so many great beers from across the border in the past year, coming from the likes of Galway Bay, Yellowbelly, White Hag, Brehon and Eight Degrees among others. But for me McGargles Big Bangin' IPA blew me out of the water.  Hoppy as you like with an aftertaste that oozes subtle citrus fruit - superb.

Overall Best Northern Irish Beer of 2016 - LACADA - UTOPIAN STOUT

If you're drinking this in the company of someone from Portrush and they turn to you and say "it's a wheeker, sham" then it's a good beer.  When I first had this in January I described its qualities as bitter, then sweet, then chocolate.  I've had it quite a few times since and still stand by those words.  A great stout from the Lacada co-op and deserves to be in its core range in future.

This is just a small cross section of the range of styles now available in Northern Ireland.  As well as the list above, expect saisons, sours, wheats, smoked oaks and many more.  And fair play to all the brewers brewing them.

Again I emphasise this blogpost details some of the best Northern Irish beers I had in 2016, there are plenty more.  Go find them!  

The Northern Ireland Class of 2016

It's been a great year for beer in Northern Ireland, with a noticeable increase in the number of beers brewed here and then being sold on shelves/tap, as well as the selection of imported beer from the rest of the world.  There's now such a wide range from so many NI breweries, both new and established - the future is exciting.

At my last count we have 24 physical brewery sites here in Northern Ireland with 6 contracts.

Interactive Google Maps NI Breweries 2016

COUNTY ANTRIM - 
Knockout, Boundary and Hercules (Belfast), 
Hillstown (Ahoghill), 
Barrahooley (Martinstown), 
Lacada (Portrush), 
Glens of Antrim (Ballycastle), 
Hilden (Lisburn) and brewpubs Brewbot (Belfast) & Speckled Hen (Black Mountain brewery, Derriaghy) 

COUNTY L'DERRY -
Northbound (Campsie), 
O'Connor (Greysteel), 
Walled City and Dopey Dick (Derry City)

COUNTY TYRONE - 
Pokertree (Carrickmore) and 
brewpub The Brewer's House (Red Hand brewery at Donaghmore)

COUNTY FERMANAGH - 
Sheelin (Bellanaleck) and Inishmacsaint (Derrygonnelly) - Sheelin has scaled down production recently and Inishmacsaint will make an announcement very soon about its future.

COUNTY DOWN - 
Mourne Mountains (Warrenpoint), 
Whitewater (Kilkeel but soon to be Castlewellan), 
Farmageddon (Ballygowan), 
Ards (Greyabbey),
Bullhouse (Newtownards),
Station Works (Newry - not a micro at all as it's owned by Alltech in the USA. Anyway, I believe it's soon moving to County Louth), 

Contract companies (registered in Northern Ireland but brewed at other breweries) include...

Heaney Farmhouse Brewing from Bellaghy (though currently brewed at Boundary in Belfast)
Clanconnel/McGraths (brewed by Rye River in Co. Kildare), 
Clearsky, (brewed by Hilden)
NightCap/Gallopers, (brewed by Sadler's near Birmingham) 
Cloughmore (brewed by Whitewater) and 
Sailortown (brewed by Carrig in Co. Leitrim)

Maltmeister from Bangor came and unfortunately went in the last year but there's a new brewery in the piepline a few miles down the road in Donaghadee - keep an eye out for Twisted Kettle sometime in 2017.  
I'm sure there are others on the way, let me know if you know.

Let's hope Northern Ireland's Class of 2016 will be able to sell directly to the public in 2017 if Stormont MLAs get their backsides in gear in the first half of the year.  Things are happening folks, slowly, but it's happening.  A Craft Drinks Bill has been launched in the Republic which is proposing a change in the law there to allow breweries to sell onsite.  With any luck and persistent social media contact, a #NICraftDrinksBill won't be far away. 

Ulster Newbies - from Mourne to Muff

Some new releases recently so let's get wired in.

From Portrush's co-operative brewery Lacada, branded as a North Coast IPA and recently pouring from cask at CAMRA's Belfast Beer Festival, Devil's Washtub.  5.2% ABV and actually a black IPA (perhaps this should be on the branding so not to scare anyone who's expecting a golden coloured IPA?)  As with most black IPAs there's a decent malty base with an aroma and subtle taste of smooth dark fruits.  The hops seem to be lurking in there somewhere but you'd need a torch to find them.  A decent enough beer and highly drinkable but needs a whack more hop action to satisfy the IPA hopheads out there.

Photo courtesy of Paul Donaghy

From east Belfast, Knockout Brewing upped its game considerably at the festival. Six beers were supplied - a stout and two variants (choc and orange/ginger) and a citra IPA and two variants (Vic Secret and Sorachi Ace).  I liked all six - I know, I know, think what you like - but for me the Sorachi Ace IPA really stood out above the rest.  It exudes a lemony bitterness but is counteracted by a soft, smooth orange flavour.  Joseph McMullan is the first craft brewer in Northern Ireland to put his brews into cans (it's the future folks) and hopefully this will see its way into them too.  Go on Joe, you know you want to.

Away from the festival, Warrenpoint-based Mourne Mountains Brewery ran a competition back in April 2016 to create a flavour for their new brew.  Andrew Hamilton was the lucky winner with his suggestion of Whiskey and Vanilla, the beer was duly made and poured into a whiskey cask in July.  Four months later it's in bottles.  I think at least a couple more months in the cask would have been beneficial as I'd have liked a bit more vanilla - you have to look for it but the whiskey is closer to the mark. Not overpowering at all and very subtle for this 8.2% ABV winter warmer. Nice one.

Next, practically sat astride the NI border is Bog Hopper Brewery from the Co. Donegal village of Muff.  So let's dive in *cough*.
Technically speaking their Hairy Bullocks American pale ale isn't a new beer.  It launched the brewery in late 2015 but it's the first time (I'll resist saying virginal...oops) I've been able to grab as bottle as it's just starting to become available outside of Inishowen.  So there.

First off this 5% ABV pale claims to be hop forward but I get more malt than anything.  Maybe the good folk of the area are unused or afraid of a good hoppy beer but this has the potential to be so much better.  It just left me wanting something....anything more.  Some slight citrus elements in there, granted, but just not enough to make me rush to Muff for a second one.  (Did I just say that?)  The label artistry for all Boghopper beers is fantastic though.

Finally for now, from Bullocks to Bullhouse Brewery near Newtownards, and Willy Mayne's newish barrel-aged Quest for the Milky Whey.  This first saw the light of day at ABV Beer Festival in early September and was greeted with critical acclaim among the beer fraternity.  I missed out as it was only on for one session but now it has returned, like some sort of pink coloured panther in the guise of a French detective.  This 10% ABV imperial milk stout made its way into 500 wax-sealed bottles... so find one if you still can.  There's little in the way of carbonation which results in a tiny head but the whiskey aroma comes through nicely as does a good whacking dollop of liquorice and datey-molasses on the first sip, followed by a generous milky-lactosey second sip. Another tip of the hat for the artwork.
If you're on Facebook, the history of QftMW can be seen here .

Fair play to all the breweries mentioned for continuing to expand their range.

Pick of the Crop

It was that time of year again, when around 130 real ales and cider became available at the Belfast Beer and Cider Festival.  One of the biggest single bars in Ireland was constructed over a couple of days inside the majestic Ulster Hall in Belfast - all done by Campaign for Real Ale volunteers.

An incredible sixty Irish beers, yes 6-0 (from North and South) were on tap from seventeen breweries.  This year pleasingly saw a noticeable increase in i) Republic of Ireland brews, and ii) keycasks/keykegs - thirty of which were available with the help of drinks distributor Prohibition.

Here's a quick resumé of some of the beer that caught my eye and tastebuds.  First off, 8:01 Mint Choc Stout (6% ABV) from Rascals Brewing Co in County Dublin.  When I initially had this on the first night the mint was quite subtle with the chocolate dominating, but when I returned to it 24 hours later the mint was more prominent and what I had originally hoped for.  To steal a line from an old After Eight advert, it's cool, dark and sophisticated.  It justifiably jointly won the Belfast Festival's new category of Best Irish Beer along with a Farmageddon/Renegade collaboration - Red Eye - a lovely hoppy red IPA.

Staying with the Farmageddon crew, last year their 6.3% ABV Mosaic IPA was my favourite beer of the festival - as you would expect from Mosaic hops plenty of passion fruit and mango with a delicious bitterness - and this year the judging panel crowned it overall Champion Beer of the Belfast Festival.  A superb achievement considering the competition.

Moving on to North Yorkshire and Rooster's Baby Faced Assassin, a delicious 6.1% ABV American IPA bursting with Citra hops that oozed mango, grapefruit and pithy orange.  Already an award winner from the Society of Independent Brewers, the Assassin was itself annihilated by the festival public and sold out quite quickly.

 

The festival saw the return of Pokertree's cascadian ale/black IPA, Dark Nirvana.  It had been off the radar for a wee while and was one of my favourite new brews of 2014. I believe it had a new improved recipe this time around and I have to say it's bang on the money.  At 6.5% ABV, there's a very faint smokiness - some coffee coming through but not overpowering (the way I like it) - and evokes a reaction that makes you open your eyes a little wider and smile to the person beside you while saying "Oh yeah!"  Definitely the best from Pokertree's range.

Then from Nottingham came Flipside's Russian Rouble, a 7.3% ABV stout that was as smooth as Roger Moore's one liners.  I could actually imagine him sipping one of these (if vodka martinis weren't his thing) enjoying the bucket load of roasted malt interspersed with a creamy chocolate and coffee blend.

So far I've given a little snippet of five beers that I really enjoyed at the Belfast Beer and Cider Festival and with a little trepidation I have to confess that this beer blogger's favourite drink in the Ulster Hall was .... um ... a cider. *where's the embarrassed smiley?*

I'm not the biggest cider fan but this just blew me out of the applewater.  From Lisburn, Tempted's 6.4% ABV unpasteurised and unfiltered Festival Scrumpy was just a beezer of a tasty brute.  It's based on their bottled Medium Dry, but with less added apple juice so the alcohol and flavour is more prominent.  Owner Davy Uprichard told me that night that half the bittersweet apples used in the festival scrumpy are French which gives a slightly more rustic and smokey flavour.  This flavour is then balanced by being sweetened so it ends up medium sweet as opposed to medium dry.
The end product is so smooth, no sharpness or tangy bite at all.  Just imagine a liquid apple pie that is missing a generous dollop of warm custard.  Yeah, that's where we are with this one.  I was so Tempted, I had a second glass.

(Honourable Irish mentions also go to Knockout's Sorachi Ace IPA, Lacada's Devil's Washtub, Eight Degrees Amber Ella, Mourne Mountains Festival Export Stout and Northbound's Magnum 70 IPA.)

#BigBeeryNight16

Cancer sucks.  We all know that.  We've all been affected in some way by cancer.  I've lost grandmothers, aunts, uncles and friends to the disease.  I learned only this week that my godmother is battling it.

So to highlight the issue, @BeerO'ClockShow in the UK and @IrishBeerSnob/@MrsBeerSnob in the Republic of Ireland have come together to help raise funds for two charities that deserve your attention, time and donation - and they're not asking you to give anything up.

The idea is simple.  This Friday, 11th November, is #BigBeeryNight16.

When having a beer this Friday, donate the cost of that beer to MacMillan Cancer Support if you live in the UK or the Irish Cancer Society if in the Republic.  Share pics of your beer on social media and use the hashtag #BigBeeryNight16

Be part of the biggest beer and charity initiative across the British and Irish isles.

Donate here for MacMillan Cancer Support or the Irish Cancer Society.

Cheers and sláinte.

Germany to Bangor - Auf Weidersehen Maltmeister?

I was unsure if I should write a review of some beers made by a brewery that doesn't exist anymore.  What's the point in reviewing products if the public can't get hold of them, but then I remembered that I managed to buy them a few days ago in Neill Wines in Groomsport, so there may still be a few bottles left.  Maltmeister from Bangor had hidden well below the radar of a lot of beer folk in Northern Ireland.  Brewer Geoff Nuttall started selling his German-influenced brews last year in the immediate locality but ceased production in the summer.

First off, Wheathaze, labelled as a 5.2% ABV Munich-style wheat beer.  Well carbonated but without much of the banana or bubblegum taste usually associated with hefeweizen.  Nevertheless, a decent start.

Next, Maybock, a 7.5% ABV bock variant. This practically leapt out of the bottle but the massive head surprisingly dissipated within a few seconds. A shade paler in colour than traditional bocks, this was the first maybock I'd ever had to my recollection.  It wasn't the best start, any original hop aroma in there was totally overpowered by the alcohol (and I say that as someone who absolutely loves a good 10% double IPA or imperial stout).  Maybocks are traditionally brewed in May so I'm wondering if this was brewed then and has gone past its optimum drinking window.

What I did finish with ease, however, was the 6.1% ABV spiced Icefire. A red ale with a warming hint, just a hint, of cinnamon and nutmeg.  The delicious sweetness of the honey faintly came through which meant this is a Maltmeister beer I think you could enjoy twice in a row without it being overly sickly.  Twice in a row, that is, if you can find any more of them.

Siren Sounds with a Pumpkin Alert

Siren Craft is a big name in UK brewing.  I first became aware of it in 2014 after having a very appealing Soundwave, a US west coast IPA.  Siren Craft hail from the west of London direction near Reading and three of their recent offerings had me praising any 1 of the supposed 5 made up patron saints of beer.  Religion sucks by the way.

First up Hillbilly Wine, labelled as a passion fruit and oak IPA. Damn they weren't wrong there, oodles of juicy passion fruit coming through and as you would expect, a light smokiness from the oak.  The 9% ABV is fantastically well hidden and this Hillbilly ain't no gormless redneck neither. Beautiful.



Next, the Cigar City collaboration 8.4% ABV Barrel Aged Caribbean Chocolate Cake.  I'm a fan of the original Caribbean Choc Cake which is like liquidising a Death by Chocolate dessert and ramming it in a bottle. Now imagine before the bottling process, sticking it in a bourbon barrel for a year. Maybe not to everyone's taste as the vanilla and bourbon may be a little sweet for some, but I love this style and I loved this.



Suitably salivating like a demented window-licker, the taste buds were equally in for a treat with another collaboration, this time with New Zealand's Garage Project for the 2016 Rainbow Project.  Blacklight Banana at a hefty enough 9.2% ABV has a lovely smokey aroma from the barrel aged coffee beans that lead into a subtly sweet molasses/banana combo upon tasting.  Crazy ingredients but wow do they work superbly.



Moving onto this year's pumpkin beers (or at least the ones that are available in Northern Ireland)... there aren't many.  I did a review of pumpkin beers a couple of years ago where I managed to track down five.  Alas this year I managed only two.  Thankfully my preference of the five was available again this time around - 7.2% ABV Stingy Jack by Beavertown.  What used to be a 660ml bottle is now a 330ml can and all the better for it.  Very fresh, slightly fruity with a sweet spiciness of maple syrup, nutmeg, clove and cinnamon.



Finally from New York, Brooklyn's 5% ABV Post Road Pumpkin Ale.  Nothing wrong with it, but it doesn't have that little punch of spicy excitement that comes with Stingy Jack.  A little nutmeg but a lot less boom for your buck.

Portrush - Land of Barry's, Chips & Beer Festivals

Make no mistake, I love Portrush.  It's where the family would take day trips when I was a child and it's where I now take my family for the same - driving the dodgem cars and sliding down the helter skelter at Barry's amusements, eating a 10% meat (probably) sausage supper in a chippy and generally enjoying life.  Life got even better last weekend when the town's co-op brewery Lacada hosted the 1st Portrush Beer and Food Festival in the impressive town hall. As well as the host, north coast local breweries Northbound, Glens of Antrim and O'Connor were present alongside Farmageddon, Knockout, Co. Donegal's Kinnegar, 8 Degrees from Co. Cork and Yellowbelly from Co. Wexford.  Add to that Bushmills and Long Meadow cider.

First was an interesting new brew released for the festival.  Lacada already have a sour, Eldersauer, but Sauer Beans has the addition of coffee beans in collaboration with Portrush's harbour cafe, Babushka.  Putting it gently - beardy hipsters look away now - I'm not the greatest fan of sours, but Sauer Beans (4.2% ABV) ticked some of the boxes that most sours don't tick for me.  It wasn't overpowering and there was a gentle belly tickle of coffee.  Mrs W really liked it and I must confess I sort of liked it too - it was interesting mix of light gooseberry and coffee bean (is there another Irish coffee sour on the market?)

It was great to see three well respected southern breweries represented and fair play to the organisers for securing them.  Kinnegar from Rathmullan in Co Donegal already have a very visible presence in Northern Ireland but less so Yellow Belly from Wexford.  The brewery lies beneath Simon Lambert & Sons pub and they brought a seriously impressive range of nine beers with them - from fruity sours and pale ales to imperial IPAs.

My choice of Yellow Belly's was the cask Imperial IPA Queen Lizzie (8.3% ABV) - a single dry hopped English ale. Some hints of citrus fruit at the start following on with a welcoming dryness. Congrats to Yellow Belly for their branding - every one of their pumpclips is, literally, a work of art.

It was also great to see County Cork's 8 Degrees at the festival.  Co-brewer Scott is from New Zealand and I wonder how much influence one of Lacada's founders, Kris of Kiwi's BrewBar in Portrush, had in their appearance?  Anyway, on tap when I was there on the Friday were the Amarillo IPA, Kolsch style Going Out Out, DIPA Supernova, which I'd tried at the recent Irish Beer Festival in Dublin, and the always tasty Full Irish - brewed using 100% Irish malt.

A tip of the hat to Michael O'Connor of O'Connor Craft Beer near Greysteel for the Game of Thrones inspired A Beer Has No Name.  He confessed that after brewing the amber he still didn't have a name shortly before the festival started.  However his GoT loving brother came up with the title, much to Michael's confusion as he doesn't watch the show.

Again congratulations to all involved with the creation and smooth running of the 1st Portrush Beer and Food Festival.  I've only mentioned a small snippet of what was available so if you fancy seeing more I'm sure the organisers are already planning 2017's festival ... aren't they?

It's great to see another reason for heading to the Port - man cannot live by chips and roller coasters alone.

Another Weekend, Another Festival

Another festival?  Boom, as Klopp would say.  Following last weekend's ABV festival in Belfast, this time it was the turn of the Irish Craft Beer Festival at the RDS in Dublin.  Hotel and train tickets booked, Mrs W and I were there on the Friday. It's a fantastic opportunity to see so many brewers in one place who have to listen to all kinds of gubbins from punters like me - the gubbins intensifies the more the night draws on.

Anyway, some top quality beers were had.  (Unlike the awful plastic pint glasses we were handed. Organisers, ditch them. They sucked.)  I'd compiled a list (you need a list) of brews that I thought the cocktail and red wine drinker would like and one for me too.  First up, Metalman's 5.3% ABV Raspberry Chilli Sour on cask.  "Fruity, light and refreshing with a nice kick" was her verdict.  That'll do nicely.

 

You know when most of your list comprises of beers at or over 7% ABV?  Yeah...  7% Lublin to Dublin first from O'Haras (collaboration brew with Polish brewery Pinta).  I'd heard plenty in the past but never experienced for myself.  Matter rectified - oh yeah - Choccy McChocface.

Next, down to see the Wicklow Wolf guys.  New 3.8% ABV session IPA Easy Lover was certainly easy going and a tasty sessionable beer for those who wanted a bit less of an alcoholic punch.

I love a good milk stout and hadn't had anything from Trouble in a while so was quite keen to get my chops around their 5.8% ABV vanilla and choc collaboration brew with Danish outfit Coisbo.  Another smooth chocolate milk stout that smelled stronger than it tasted.

Back up the hall for a sit down and then a welcoming yarn with the Carrig boys who I'd seen a couple of months back when I visited the brewery.  A swift half of their faintly peachy IPA Grand Soft Day.

Of course a photo opportunity arises when I'm sharing the Mrs' plum and ginger cider from MacIvors.

 

Next, a good blether with newish Co Dublin brewery, Hope Beer, and a try at their 6.6% ABV Handsome Jack IPA.  A decent double hopped IPA with a tasty citrus bite at the end.

O Brother next, and the return of the much anticipated dark IPA Bonita.  Their DIPA Brutus was my beer of last year's festival and I was eager to see if the 7% ABV lady matched up to the 9% brute.  Hints of fig and chocolate made for a tasty keg beer though I'd love to have compared it with the cask offering that was pouring the following day.

Finally it was over to torture, sorry chat to, Scott at Eight Degrees who poured me a quality new double IPA, Supernova.  Maybe it was because it was the end of the night, I don't know, but this DIPA seemed to be smoother than a lot of other doubles, yet managed to retain the massive hopkick. I'll have to grab some of it when it's released in bottles in a fortnight.

Didn't manage to complete my list, I missed out on cask offerings of N17's Chilli Porter and O'Hara's barrel aged Leann Folláin stout among many others so only one thing for it, I'll have to stay two nights next year!  Roll on 2017!

Sláinte.