Dublin Beer Views

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.