I was very interested in visiting as I'd heard that the O Brother guys were going to be in residence for the evening with their beers in tow, available to take home. I was interested as only a few weeks previous I'd been in The Porterhouse in Bray and happened on their American Pale Ale called The Chancer. Now usually I'll jump around the beers in a place like The Porterhouse, especially if they've a few that I've not had before, however I just had to stay on this one for more than one or two that evening, I was stopped in my tracks with how good it actually is.
With that in mind, I headed across the city to Baggot Street to pick up a growler-full of this ale so I could give it a proper appraisal from the comfort of my home.
O Brother are based in Kilcoole, Co Wicklow. Three brothers who obviously have a passion for their craft, and not the only recent addition to the Irish scene from that part of the world. I'll do a review of the Wicklow Wolf brews at a later stage too.
The Chancer pours a light pale yellow colour, with a nice white head that lasts down the glass. You are immediately struck with a piney-resiney hop aroma, it's definitely striking. Once you start quaffing you can definitely detect the malt in the background, but that hop profile is pretty up front. Not so much as in an IPA, but tropical fruits followed up by bitter grapefruit are allowed to take centre stage.
The underlying sweetness from the malts mean that bitterness is not taking over the palate - which is a very good thing, meaning your tatsebuds are just piqued enough to be left wanting more and more of this excellent ale.
It's one I will be returning to again and again, and I just cannot wait to grab a pint of it some sunny afternoon this summer, it will go perfectly with a fresh sea breeze in a warm beachfront beer garden.
At a time when the Irish Craft Beer scene is getting a slight bit crowded, O Brother are doing very well to stand out in the crowd.
