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.)

Irish Craft Beer Festival 2014

I've just returned from the Irish Craft Beer and Cider Festival in Dublin and what a great festival it is. Organised by Beoir who champion craft beer throughout the land the festival is held in the RDS every November.  Unlike the Belfast festival, which is organised and run by CAMRA NI with the bar in the middle of the Ulster Hall, the Dublin festival has brewers themselves pouring the pints around the hall's perimeter. Forty-eight breweries, cider makers and whiskey distillers were present in Dublin, all ready to pour and wax lyrical about their creations.

One obvious change to the festival this year was the introduction of half pint glasses.  All entrants were presented with a mini glass upon entry and I have to confess, it was a great idea. Beoir's chairman Reuben Gray told me it was to encourage customers to try more beer while also promoting sensible drinking. I'm sure it was more cost effective too - maybe something for the CAMRA NI guys to ponder for future Belfast Beer festivals?

With more than 150 beers available to try over the three day festival there was only going to be a small number than I could sample during my 5 hour stay on the Saturday.  Every taste was catered for in the hall, from O'Hara's Blackberry Lager to White Hag's Black Boar 10% Imperial Oatmeal Stout. Oh yes, let's talk about that stout.  It was highly recommended to me on Twitter on the Friday night and I was hoping and praying that it wouldn't be sold out by Saturday afternoon.  So as soon as Mrs W and I arrived, we made a beeline for the White Hag stall.  And goodness me the oatmeal stout was sublime. Smooth and slightly chocolately but without that initial alcohol kick.  I say 'initial' as it started to kick towards the end of the half pint.  This is most definitely an occasional beer - for obvious reasons!

Another quality brew of note was Rascal Brewing's Ginger Porter.  At 4.8% abv it was smooth on the tongue but when it hit the back of the throat the ginger came into force.  Now I love ginger - and lots of it - so I was not disappointed when this lived up my expectations.  A blend of smooth porter with spicy ginger taking hold a second later.  Fantastic.

One massive benefit of having the brewers pour their own beer is being able to chat with them about the brews and their business in general (I'm a nosey sort, see).  So thanks to the brewers and brewsters I bored talked to, especially the guys at Mountain Man, Metalman and Kinnegar.

Next year we're staying the night in Dublin so I'm not held ransom to Translink's last train home (8.50pm!) - that'll allow us more time to try a greater selection of the fantastic beer on offer from all four provinces of Ireland.

Sláinte.

@roywillighan