Down on the Farm...

The past twelve to eighteen months have been fantastic for the Ulster beer scene. 

Alongside the established and newer breweries, since late 2012 this small part of the world has seen the introduction of Sheelin, Pokertree, Red Hand, ClearSky, Kinnegar, Muckish Mountain and Donegal Brewing (I referred to Ulster instead of Northern Ireland as I wanted to include the last three there from County Donegal). 

Add to that list the newest baby to the fold, Farmageddon Brewing Co-op.  Based just outside Ballygowan in County Down, they have just last week released three new brews to the eternally grateful Norn Iron following.  So how do they fare?  Let's start with the Gold Pale Ale.

This 4.2% ABV gold pale ale is well carbonated and light and floral on the nose.  The floral theme continues into the taste combining with elements of sharp grapefruit citrus.  The citrus continued to develop with each mouthful and although I enjoyed the Gold, I don't think it's a beer I could enjoy over and over again in one go.  If you're a fan of light ales that pack a punch of grapefruit flavour, then this is for you.

I was much more satisfied, however, with the deeper and darker India Pale Ale.  It has a higher alcohol content at 5.5% although it really isn't noticeable.  
What is noticeable though is the mellow sweetness of the India compared to the Gold.  Where the Gold has a citrus bang, the India is much more rounded and smoother.  Caramel tones exude from this beer and it's an ale that I could enjoy frequently in one session.

Finally the 5.2% India Export Porter.  I'm a fan of porters and I was looking forward to this one most. Excellent carbonation, a great dark brown colour with a not-overpowering aroma of coffee.  On tasting, dark chocolate and bitter espresso came to mind.  This was polished off in no time at all, another quality brew.

By their own admission, Farmageddon have big plans for the year ahead. They're planning specials such as a Cascadian Dark ale, Single.Malt.And.Single.Hop aka S.M.A.S.H (various different hop types) as well as a Rye pale ale, a dubbell, double IPA and Imperial stout. 

They've also planted 360 heritage cider apple trees and hope to reap the rewards of that in the next year or so!

I always thought 'armageddon' meant 'end of the world' but after tasting their three new brews I really hope that rather being the end, this is the start of a great new chapter for the Ballygowan business. Maybe they should be renamed ... Genesis?

Review of 2013 and onwards...

So 2013 is almost at an end.  What did we witness in the past 12 months?  The birth of Prince George, the death of Thatcher and Mandela, a Pope resigned for the first time in 600 years, Fermanagh hosted the G8 summit, Derry-Londonderry was UK City of Culture, twerking became the news and One Direction still haven't split up.  

Also this year Northern Ireland saw a rise in the number of microbreweries.  Beezer, I hear you cry!  Ten craft and real ale breweries are now dotted across our land providing more choice than ever to the discerning drinker who is fed up with the usual bland and over-fizzy gubbins that can be bought in every bar in town.

A revolution is taking place friends.  Alongside so-called established brewers such as Hilden, Whitewater and Clanconnel (who produce the McGrath’s range), other budding business ventures are being started up with vigour and gusto.  This year alone has seen the introduction of Red Hand and Pokertree from Tyrone, Sheelin from Fermanagh as well as Farmageddon from Co. Down and Clear Sky.

I love the name Pokertree and details of where the name came from can be found on their website (www.pokertreebrewing.co.uk). Based in Carrickmore they produce a very tasty bottle-conditioned Ghrian Golden Ale (brewed with coriander seed and lemon peel) as well as the darker Red Earl Ruby Ale.


Twelve miles down the road, Simon and Ciaran at Red Hand Brewing hope to have a Red Hand Pale Ale available to the Donaghmore public by January with a hope of expanding their 100L brewery by the summer. Unfortunately that means folk from outside the village will just have to visit McCausland's pub or the award winning Brewer's House to sample their wares until then.

Sheelin from Bellanaleck in County Fermanagh is run by the very personable scientist and self-confessed yeast enthusiast Dr George Cathcart. He has a blonde ale and a stout currently on the market and hopes to brew a red ale and IPA in 2014. (I really loved the IPA when testing it last August - please make it happen George)

Clear Sky (currently contact-brewed by Hilden) produce the very appealing Fulcrum wheat bear and is available in a number of good pubs across Northern Ireland while Farmageddon’s early 2014 plan is to have three brews in their core range (gold, IPA and porter) as well as up to SIX specials.  Watch this space for exciting news from the Farm.

Other breweries established in the past couple of years such as Ards and Inishmacsaint continue to grow.  Gordy Fallis from Inishmacsaint has done well to promote the brand name over the past year (no doubt helped by featuring in the BBC NI programme ‘Farm Fixer’ with Lord Sugar’s trusted aide Nick Hewer.)   A new Inishmacsaint Lough Erne Brown Porter was first seen at the Belfast Beer Festival in November and we shall see in time if that proves as popular as his original production.  A farmhouse ale called Muck Savage has also just been released and further plans for that in 2014 are unsure.

Charles from Ards Brewing is currently building a bigger brewhouse so hopefully 2014 will see more of Pig Island, Ballyblack, Rockin’ Goose and Cardy Man.  You may also see something new from them using the fresh and light Citra hop. 

As I said earlier, a revolution is taking place.  Never before has there been such a choice of flavoursome, interesting, LOCAL brews. Where possible encourage your friends to sample a Hilden Twisted Hop or Whitewater Clotworthy Dobbin.  Visit more craft/real ale pubs.   The more that is sold by pubs who have the vision to sell these beers the more they will want to CONTINUE to sell.  The more they sell, the more these beers will be in demand and consequently brewed by the breweries mentioned above.  Who knows what the December 2014 blog will feature?  Hopefully I'll be writing that One Direction have split up by then.

I'll drink to that - cheers!

Beer Place Names Part 4

It’s becoming more difficult you know.

In the autumn of 2012 I started a little quest to take as many photographs of locally produced bottles of beer.  Not just any old photos you understand but photos of a bottle in front of a road sign or placename that also bore the ale’s title.  Inishmacsaint beer on Inishmacsaint island in Fermanagh, Hilden’s Titanic Beer in front of the Titanic Museum etc.  In previous ramblings, I had collated twelve such photographs featuring Hilden, Ards Brewing Co, Whitewater, Inishmacsaint and Clanconnel.  They can be seen in earlier blogs on here and on the CAMRA NI website.

But there was always going to be a finite number of shots to take and I’d started to exhaust all local beers with a place name in the title.  However a couple more have been added to the list thanks to Ards Brewing and one of the new kids on the block, Sheelin Brewery. 

Based in the village of Bellanaleck just outside Enniskillen, the thatched roof Sheelin complex accommodates three businesses – brewery, tea room and lace museum.  Now I’m not much into the history of fabric but I am partial to a jam scone and even more interested in a flavoursome local beer.

So one August afternoon en route to County Mayo, Gillian and I called into Bellanaleck and were made to feel very welcome by owner and head brewer George Cathcart.

After the tea and scones were demolished in the tea room we had a whistle stop tour of his brewery before being handed a sample of the new fresh and light Sheelin Blonde Ale.  There’s one for the photo place names album I thought instantly.  Nice one.  

Ards Brewing Co is a microbrewery based outside Greyabbey on the Ards peninsula.  Established in 2011 and mentioned in my previous blogs they produce quality brews such as Pig Island pale ale, Ballyblack stout and Cardy Man stout.  Those three have already been photographed in front of Pig Island in Strangford Lough and Co. Down roadsigns for Ballyblack Rd and Cardy Road. 

A recent Ards brew was Bittles Citra Autumn Ale, exclusively available to Bittles Bar in Belfast.  This zesty 5.1% ABV beer has undertones of grapefruit and passion fruit and is highly quaffable.  If you haven’t grabbed one by now, chances are they’re already gone.  You can follow both Sheelin and Ards on facebook and twitter.

So I said at the start it’s becoming more difficult.  Further beer place name photo opportunities are few and far between now but if you have any ideas or thoughts of where I could go next, let me know here or on twitter @roywillighan

It's your round you say?

Cheers.