Brew Pub Bottled

Sometimes you just want a couple of beers, a couple of beers that aren't going to strip your tastebuds with powerful hops, or coat your palette with malty richness. Sometimes you just want something quaffable and familiar. At times like this you turn to Pale Ales. Not India Pale Ales, they'll kick you in the face, but something easier drinking. This evening The Beer Mistress arrived home with just such a beer, a Kerry Lane Pale Ale from The Cotton Ball Brewing Co.

The Cotton Ball is a pub in Cork's Mayfield, perhaps an unusual spot in which to find a busy Brew Pub, and they've recently start bottling their house-brews - of which they are producing four. A Stout, a Lager, a Pale Ale and an unusual Ale-Lager Hybrid "Summer Ale".

I was delighted because this was one of those nights. Just a beer or two after a long week in work to relax with on a Friday. It pours a lovely inviting golden-orange, almost amber colour, with a fluffy head. It's not overly carbonated, and the nose is reminiscent of English pale ales like Old Speckled Hen or Bishops Finger. The blurb on the label tells of "traditional" and "classic" hops, I'm assuming East Kent Goldings or Fuggles are in the mix, the typical English hops - however there is an obvious new-world addition too, lifting this ale away from the oftentimes flat and uninviting English bitter territory and into the realm of other Irish Pale Ales, and this takes it's place among them with ease.

Brewery Tour and Beer Chat

In my last entry, I mentioned the lovely people at J. W. Sweetman were one of a number of Dublin pubs who currently had a Growler system in place. Well, as it happened, I received an invite from them to pop in for the first Brewery Tour of 2015, which took place on a Wednesday evening. There were various beer bloggers, tweeters and writers present. Located on Burgh Quay, on the Southern side of O'Connell Bridge, Sweetman's has been a craft brewing institution in Dublin for well over a decade. Dublin's only (current!) Brewpub, you can see the Mash Tun and Kettle proudly on display as you enter the premises. Situated over three floors and a basement, you shouldn't ever be short of a place to rest your legs. I won't get into the history of the place, suffice to say that the Sweetman's name has been associated with brewing in Dublin as far back as the 18th Century.

Our two guides for the evening took us up to the top floor and began the evening with a short talk about the history of brewing in Dublin and the modern Craft Beer story. We then headed down into the basement where tables were set with small sampling glasses - 5 each, one for each of the current range of house beers that they have on offer, all brewed on-site - one brew per week.

We started off with a Kolsch Style Golden Ale. When I hear about "golden ales" I invariably turn to thoughts of bland ales, geared toward the macro drinkers who are looking to dip a toe into the unknown. They are a safe colour to start with (yellow and fizzy), and usually have a pretty safe flavour (ie, none). However, with this one you do get a little hop bite, and the digestive-biscuit malt flavour is not totally drowned out. This is definitely still in crossover territory, and it won't frighten off any lager drinkers. Equally, it won't be offensive to people seeking out a bit more flavour either. This is an excellent example of a brewer knowing his target market and hitting the sweet spot.

Next up was the Weiss. A German-Stlye Hefe-Weizen Wheat Beer. It's everything you expect from a Weiss. Cloudy, fruit flavours strong to the front, hints of clove and banana. I often find this style to be quite heavy, but this one is light enough as to allow you to not feel bloated or full. This beer should please the drinkers of the bottled Weiss beers that are more widely available, and also for anyone looking for something a little bit different this is worth trying.

After that we were presented with some delicious food to sample. Three trays of Pulled Pork, bread, braised red cabbage, pork scratching, pork rilettes, Bailey's & Apple Sauce, gravy and chips. A delicious interlude, and if the rest of the menu is up to that standard, then a visit to J. W. Sweetman's for the food as well as the beer would be a trip worth making.

At this point I should say that all the beer being served was poured from the J. W. Sweetman's branded Growlers. As I mentioned on the previous entry, Growlers are re-usable, sealable containers that enable you to take draught beer away from the premises with you, for later consumption at home. Or on the bus on the way home. The Sweetman's growlers contain just short of 4 pints of beer, and are filled for €12 (€10 with the Beoir discount).

Onwards to the Irish Red Ale. Malt forward, minimal hop character, easy drinking and a perfect example of all an Irish Red Ale should aspire to be. There is nothing wrong with this beer, it's just that the whole Irish Red style is never going to set tastebuds alight or cause anyone to go into raptures about deliciousness. It's a solid ale though, and for anyone who enjoys Irish Reds, this is one that has to be sampled. An excellent example of the style, drinkable, strong malt flavours and just the slightest hint of bitterness to balance it out.

I want to do the fourth and fifth beers out of order, for reasons that will become obvious. The last of the beers to be sampled was the Pale Ale. A great beer. Not as in-your-face, tongue-twistingly hoppy as IPAs, but there is still a pretty good flavour coming through from the Cascade hops, used both in the boil and in dry-hopping. With Cascade being the prominent hop, this is described as a California-style Pale Ale. I would rate this higher than most other Irish beers of the style, the hops are backed up by a kind of slightly toffee-ish malt profile. Very more-ish, and definitely worth a visit to the bar for.

Finally, we come to the Porter. I don't wish to seem fawning over the people who allowed me in to their premises, gave me beer and food samples and allowed me to stomp around the brewery. But for my money, this is euro-for-euro the best beer available on draught in Dublin.The perfect example of a roasty, dark porter. It's just nice. It's simple, unassuming and just gets on with delivering flavour and doing what it needs to do. Sure, there may be other beers that come more highly rated, but they aren't €4.70 a pint, on O'Connell Bridge. One qualm, it's served a touch cold from the tap, almost lager-like temperatures, if they could raise it a couple of degrees it would be the perfect pint.

Finally, we were taken in to see the brewery itself. As an avid homebrewer myself, this was very interesting. To see the various workings of a fully functional micro-brewery. I think an assumption may have been made that this particular group was well versed in brewing process - but it was still amusing to see containers, jugs and various other bits and pieces sterilising in a very familiar fashion.

All in all this was a very enjoyable evening, with a couple of excellent, interesting and talkative tour guides who were more than willing to answer questions. I would recommend anyone with an interest in Irish Craft Beer to book in and take this tour. Or if you don't fancy that, just pop in for a pint, it's right there in the middle of Dublin City and the quality of the house beers, and food, is second to none.

Take Home Hag

Having seen the set-up in Carry Out Tyrellstown I've been waiting to try the new Craft Beer Growler System for a while. I got the chance just last week when White Hag had a sampling event in the Carry Out off licence in Clongriffin. Available to sample, in draught form were Tuireann Bán - a White IPA, and Meabh Rua - an Irish Bog Ale (really, a high % Red Ale, or Imperial Red Ale).

I should probably rewind a bit and explain what a "Growler" is. Simply put, it's a way of getting draught beer into your home by non-nefarious means. A system of sealed containers containing draught beer to bring home and enjoy at your leisure. Craft Beer Growlers are the people behind the system in Off Licences, and various pubs across the City of Dublin are also getting in on the act. I personally have a growler from L Mulligan Grocer, and I know the Galway Bay pubs have their own now, as do J. W. Sweetman's.

The actual system supplied by Craft Beer Growlers looks just like a bar with taps, and kegs under the counter. There is a selection of 4 rotating beers to choose from, and the line-up changes regularly enough, so that most times you arrive back with your growler, you'll probably end up with something different to bring home to sample.

The Growler Filling Station

As this was a sampling night for The White Hag Beers, I'll give a review of both of these. I had a small sample of the Meabh Rua while in-store, and also took home a 1 Litre Growler of the White IPA with me, which I drank over the course of the rest of the evening.

To start with, the Meabh Rua packs a whopping 8.2% alcohol volume - so it's definitely a sipper. It's a Red Ale, in the Irish Style - which means lots of up front Malt flavours (well, the 8.2% means lots more Malt too!). This leads to a nicely warrming, complex sweetness. Intense dark berry fruits, treacle and a bitterness to balance. The alcohol is comforting and not harsh. The amount of malt that goes into the production of "imperial" or "double" Ales needs to be balanced, and there is some hop flavour coming through here - however, in line with the style, they are not overpowering the malt profile, but simply serve to balance the beer. As you make your way through the ale and it begins to warm up slightly, the complexity becomes even more apparent  - brown sugar, molasses, caramel and toffee are all vying for attention, leading to an immersive experience of flavour, aroma and warmth that is not to be missed.

This is quite possibly the best Irish Red Ale I've ever drank, and during this cold snap, I'll be stocking up on these - even better if they are on draught from my Growler.

Next up was the Tuireann Bán, a take on a Belgian Wit, hopped up with some American style hops. It's quite lightly coloured, cloudy lemon yellow. Citrus hop flavours dominate, but there is a cleaner, sharper hit with less of a malt background that pure IPAs. In the background you can definitely detect Belgian influence, some yeasty earthiness, even spices and herbs - nothing specific, but enough to properly differentiate it from just being a cloudy paler version of their IPA. This hybrid style is worth seeking out.

White Hag is a pretty recent arrival to the ever-growing array of Irish Craft Brewers, and I also sampled the IPA and Christmas Ale recently too. Again, both of those beers are welcome addition in their respective styles, and if White Hag can maintain the quality they'll become a mainstay of the scene for years to come.

With my new Growler ready and willing to accept new and exciting beers from taps I can't wait to see what comes next.