Dublin Beer Views

Devenney's of Dundrum have done it again The Christmas beer box, an ideal pressie for your beer nerd realtive. 12 specially selected beers, a snack (nuts etc) a branded glass (all nerds love branded glassware) and delivery of the wrapped box all in for €50. My darling wife ordered one up for me and it arrived mid December. I was NOT allowed go near it until Christmas day and whilst the kids dived into the wrapping paper, plastic, singing dolls and batteries, I eagerly unwrapped my box. I was very very happy with the contents. I'll blog each of the beers over the holiday period.

We've had a month of freezing temperatures and snow that has brought the country to a standstill. But snow is not without its uses !!!!

I know it says Lager on the label,m but forget that. Consider this a lighlty hopped Pils. Its about as moreish as beer gets. chewy mouthfeel, loads of yummy malt, and hop, not too much but enough to be fresh. I want to be in NYC with a pitcher of this. Available in the supermarkets, Tesco usually have a carry pack, 6 pack for €9.99. And well worth that.

Yes, thats right, Guinness Lager, no not Harp, its a black lager, on sale as a trial in Northern Ireland only. Its aimed at Guinness drinkers who are ashamed of a draft can whilst on the dancefloor apparently. More show than go. Thats how it tastes too, its ok, beats the usual "bud" but its too thin, too light, too , well icky. I drank all 4 like water, which is just about what it feels like. Not for me.

Now thats what I call hopped. I tried this last year and the hop was way way to acidic, it was raw lemon concentrate, it burned. This year it does not, I was advised to give it a second go and I'm delighted I did. The deal here is that the well established and respected Sierra Nevada, brewery, USA, take fresh hop, just picked and use it directly i the boil. No drying out, no use at your leisure. Thereby preserving ad utilising all that nature provides. It certainly works, ad this time its nicely balanced with good robust malt. Delivered in a large bottle, it makes for a pleasant evening. This was my treat to me, whilst the Mrs was at her Christmas doo with ladies.

Carlow Brewing take things even further. Brilliant. The best Stout on sale in Ireland. This, no debate, no doubt. The ultimate bottled stout. Have I made myself clear. On tap please boys, in every shop please.

Irish brewed. Deep red ale. Full of fruit, an intoxicating smell, its like dipping your head into an old sweet shop. At the very very top of my go to list.

Lovely porter. Straight off the shelf. Always of high quality. You cant go far wrong.

If you want a light drink with a fruit mixer, add some Bacardi or other rum (preferably) to some proper pineapple juice. A bottle of rum and cartons of juice will cost 20 quid, and last a month. Its not bad, but this stuff is pish.... yuck.

Snow beer. I bought this in late November, it snowed the next day and as I look out the window there is still patches of snow on the ground. The coldest December in Ireland, EVER . Sorry folks!!!! Its Erdinger so it will be good, its a Weiss, only less fruity undertones, less Banana. Easily drank, excellent.

I got duped, I judged the book by the cover. Pale Ale, yum, strong Pale Ale great. 4%.... strong??? Well it was malty and lightly hopped, wet, fresh, a tad sweet. Will I buy 6, doubt it.

It was November before I picked up any of the Paulaner Oktoberfest batch. It was quality as ever. Although not this years favorite. Anyway just needed to close that loop.

Christmas TV includes another show from Oz Clarke ad Hugh Dennis, this time traversing the UK and Ireland searching out "local" drinks for their one night only Pub. Its light hearted and fun, and it exposes the public to the wonder of the craft beer, wine, spirits available on their doorstop. A Scottish visit to a brewery that use "imported casks to add character to their Ale" could only have been and was a trip to Iniss&Gunn. yippee. I adore this stuff. I also remembered that I had recently tried two of their special batches, one made in Rum Casks, the other an IPA twist. The Rum was more-ish in the extreme, the IPA fresher but less exciting. I&G regular has a deep toffee taste, its pithy ale, but when you warm to it, the toffee shines through, all warm ad round. Sometimes I can take or leave hoppy stuff and just want warm malt, deep and chewy. Ad thats I&G. The Rum batch just kicks this on further with more complexity. Delicious.

Where to start? 18.2% ABV. Yep..... you read that right This porter, was brewed to be extreme and it is. When it was launched it was the strongest beer available commercially in the world, and it kicked off a "strength" war. I had this late one night, over about 4 hours, as it warmed, and had its fill of oxygen and as I sipped it developed into a stunning, deep flavorsome dark bee. However my first sips were difficult, the alcohol is burning. Whilst its heavily hopped to combat that, that heat and tang are hard on the pallet, it would be delicious to share, amongst 3, a dram, a night cap, on top of some heavy stout. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and thats it, it was an experience, not just a bottle of beer. Be warned, despite my 4 hours and snacks, I was a bit unsteady heading to bed, although I slept solidly :-) Tokyo, forms the basis of "Tactical Nuclear Penguin" which raised the game and outstipped a German rival. TNP is based on Tokyo, a batch is frozen 3...

Now for something different. The Zeitgeist brews from BrewDog are kind of, sub-brands, they come and go and bring something different to the mix, but you never really know whats likely to come out of the bottle. This was a hopped porter, dark, deep, bitter dark chocolate but a tad over carbonated for me. Maybe it was a bit young still. Its always fun to pick one up. Try, be brave.

The 3rd of the easily obtainable BrewDogs was 77 Lager. Its a lager, but with extra personality, its not designed to be served at zero degrees, hence eliminating any taste that might exist in your big brand pub "pint". It has actual taste, real flavour, more Pils than "brand_x-lite". This means Hop exists as a flavour, not just an ingredient. Tangier than Brooklyn Lager (see review to follow) This wasn't my favourite BresDog, its hard to go balls out with Lager, this didn't go far enough for me. 24 bottles in a box... nah, this yes though.

Properly tongue in cheek BrewDog are right in your face when it comes to advertising their beer. Have a read of the label of their Punked IPA. Many will be down right offended, if you are, stay well clear of the contents, because you may need hospital treatment or counsiling !!!!!!!!!!! If its got you wondering, or laughing out loud, delv on in. Its fabulous. Would I drink a half gallon of this watching the football, probably not. But at the end of a session, when lager melds into lemonade, this is a kick in the gut to wake you up. LOADS and LOADS of Hop, it zings along. Lovely.

As you may have noticed the picture of me at the top of this blog, depicts an excessively sociable chap holding 2 bottles of beer, it was not yet 5AM, but the beer was Brewdog. I'd managed to twist the lad's arms into selling me a few bottles at the August Beer festival run by Ruth at Deveney's. It was one of my favourites on the night and remains so. Its a red ale, a dark almost "Irish Red Ale" but with added Brewdog kick in the form of a heap of Hop. Lovely. Its malty and tangy, very refreshing. Right up there in my go to list now, especially as Superquinn, Molloys and may other high street sellers now stock it. Its pictured here beside a Dogfish Head beer, DFH are a US brewer, and yet they have developed a very similar drink. Also a hopped brown ale.

Coming soon - a review of the ever expanding,a nd expanding near you, BrewDog collection http://www.brewdog.com/ 28/12 - yet another long lull, must get out of this habit. Brewdog reviews above

I know, I know - I'll probably review again in another 6 months But listen up - 4 bottles for €3.99, get your backside down there

This is my brother's favourite drink. On the occasion of my birthday he supplied me with a bottle The honey is all there, right up front, on the nose and the pallet, a scrumptious drink, ideal at the end of a long hard day, feet up and savour before bed.

This was on offer at the "simply fabulous darling" Deveney's Beer Festival in late August, I'd never seen it before. We were busy making the most of our vouchers ad never ventured over. 2 days later, on a food expedition I spot it o the shelves in Dunnes Stores. Great Like all things ginger, its for sipping, but its nicely sweetened and made for a great Indian Summer conversation drink. Love it. I hope its still accessible come Spring.

Oktoberfest time... yippee, what a great excuse No Paulaner in bottles yet (I'm stalking Deveney's though) but this years brew on tap was delicious. Yes folks I managed a whole pint, in the city. Pity my football team then wet and lost!!! Erdinger (right - yes I know you can read) was good, not as good as last year to my mind, but then I usually just buy a box and by the time I'm finished I'm in love. My two marzen tipples (left) were different, in a good way. The Lowenbrau, was lighter, crisper but still fundamentally a seasonal special. The Hacker-Pschorr was fantastic, yes it lists "hops extract" as an ingredient, but I don't care, when a beer is this round, this chewy and this well balanced - mmmmm malty, hoppsy.... I must get more. AND, it was a swing top, so straight in the home brew pile

Found one last bottle hiding away down the back of the beer fridge, just on time for October. As ever, the quintessential Wheat beer.

So second niece's birthday, same house, different canned ale - Bass. Not sexy, not sophisticated, but 2 cans quenched a thirst. Available - everywhere Cost - buttons

Was presented with a few (way out of date) cans of Kilkenny draught a few months ago at a niece's party (more gems from that source to follow) Grand for putting the feet up and watching a match with. PS - d'ya like my new beer "jugs", €1.89 each in Ikea

Yea haar.... your favourite Porterhouse beers, on the shelf in your local supermarket, this is Superquinn.

But I have some tales to tell of a summer on the beer updates to follow

Latest supermarket super deal 5 X 500ml bottels of Franziskaner for €8 Get it while its in stock

After enjoying a few light ales and euro IPA style beers, such as Haviestoun's Schellalion and Adnam's Innovation. One of the recent warm weekends I had a hankering for some IPA. Might aswell do a spot of US IPA assesment then I suppose. In order of preference Goose Island By far my favourite. It had all that extra American hop taste but it still had soem malt flavour, it was round but clean. Very nice. Now top of my IPA shopping list Big Daddy - Speakeasy The comic bottle and cringey marketing aside ths was very passable. It was jut as the pic shows a little cloudier than expecting but the hop was still all there. Sierra Nevada - Torpedo I was led to believe that this was the king, the benchmark for US IPA. For me it went too far, it was all Hop and that meant it just tasted dry and powdery on the pallet. I really like some SN stuff, their porter is very nice. But this was a step (yeah I'll ay it), a hop too far for me.

I was given the heads up on St Bernadrus by a friend on another forum. He raved about their Apt 12. So I picked up some bottles of each Its a very typical Belgian Triple, smooth and spicey, and in this case it came with built in ice-cream... I jest, it comes in a champagne style bottle and as soon as I released the cage and cork it frothed madly... what fun. I sipped on this for a couple of hours and every pour led to loads of lovey soft foam. The beer is just right against this. I really enjoyed it. The Apt12 is still away, so I must find a world cup match to have that with.

Belzebub, extra forte - 13% Oh look its a very strong 250ml bottle of beer, very very strong, with a demonic name... oh and its well mmmm, well... boring. Yeah its strong but thats it. If I want strong, I'll just buy some supermarket own brand vodka. Not for me

My brother, raves about this stuff, so I ordered me up a couple. What a lovely, sitting by the fire type beer.... its warm and syruppy and the Honey flavour is there whilst not too sweet. Tasty

Williams Bothers is a Scottish brewer who I have blogged about previously http://dublinbeerviews.blogspot.com/2010/04/fraoch-20-year-anniversary.html They have wide range of weird and wonderful brews along the same lines as the Heather Ale, Fraoch. And a top notch range of lager, ale and stout to go with it. Here I have described a selction that I have tried over the last few weeks. Ginger I was a bit worried about this, I like ginger ale, real strong, spicey ginger ale, not Canada Dry, or Schwepps mixer strength soap. I was afraid this might be a bit limp NO CHANCE Its got huge, spicey warm ginger that trickles down your throat warming all the way down. Its fantastic, there is still malt there but the ginger shines through. Its absolutely fabulous Grozet Grozet is a light ale, which has been secondary fermented with Gooseberry. Now its a decent light ale, dry and fresh, but unlike the ginger, it seems to me a bit washed out. I didnt get any citrus as descirbed and certainly no gooseb...

I heard a rumour. The rumour said that Carlow Brewary were making beer for Aldi... hmmm, now Aldi (and Lidl) is great for beer, pick up a slab of lager for a BBQ - mini french bottles, something German, get some decent cheap Weissbeir or a tray of Guinness for the hoardes at a party. But own brand??? So as I was looking for something for the garden that was "on special" I spotted the rumour on the shlf. 4 33cl bottles of Aldi Traditional Irish Red Ale for €4.59... bargain. And yes it is brewed by Carlow. Result. And it tastes lovely, lots of caramel and lots of hop... Magnifico Its not as dark as the picture lends on though

A few years ago the Porterhouse celebrated an anniversary with a special stout brew. It has gone down in legend, the stores keep a single bottle for display purposes only. Now, with their new bottling plant they have released a 2010 Celebration Stout, et voila, here it is Its a lovely dark, 7% stout. less carbonation than some of their other bottles, which is good, the plain and oyster were both very carbonated, overly for me. This is just right. Its thick on the pour and choclatey and liquorice and just delicious. I have two more put away :-)

Beware the onslaught of the last months drinking escapades is on the way. IPA review Williams brothers mega review Plus a few little suprises

So had a look in the supermarkets whilst shopping this week Tesco €5 4X Hoegarden 330ml €5 4X Leffe Blonde 330ml Superquinn €10 4X Any Adnams beers 500ml they had in stock Innovation, Bitter and Lighthouse

Well last Friday night was Queen day - in Holland, so a coupe of bottles of Grolsch wheat beer spotted on the shelves in Tesco (€2.69) seemed like a respectful choice Its labelled as having won "world beer of the year - wheat beer, 2007" I may have missed those awards, I assume lots of celebs younger than most of my socks made fools of themselves etc etc ad naseum Anyway, its really kinda nice, in a plain sorta way. Its a wheat beer, its got lots of head, very very fine carbonation, amazing for just 4 ingredients... its got some of those indicative wheat beer flavours but its...well nice. Dare I say it, formulaic. I drank them both, enjoyed them and have now blogged them. Paulaner in future though.

This stuiff is magic, its a special co-op beer brewed by two fabulous breweries, Schneider Weiss from Europe and Brooklyn from over there in the US of A Its thick with huge body, pours like syrup and has the most amazing deep taste. All those wonderful wheat beer tastes, and bannan and chery, its stunningly delicious, and potent at 8.2%.... I made the mistake of destroying 2 in an hour, thats 4 pints down the pub and I felt it!!! As for value, the lovely people at Devenney's had them on special at €2 a bottle. I should have bought more.