Drogheda's Finest

I paid a visit to the recently refurbished Kelly's Off Licence in Clontarf (Formerly Kelly's Wine Cellar), where the selection of craft beer and cider has greatly increased in recent times. Being relatively local to the area, I like to support businesses close to me, and if they are providing a great selection then I actively encourage that by making a purchase when dropping in.

On the night I visited there was a tasting of Lefevre Cidre, a French apple cider which is pretty nice. Probably one for later into the BBQ Season though.

I picked up three different beers from Jack Cody's, a recent addition to the Irish Craft Beer scene, based in Drogheda, Co Louth. A Cream Porter, an Amber Ale and an Pale Ale.

I'd be tasting these over the course of a couple of evenings and Blackjack Drogheda Cream Porter was first up. Cream Porter seems to be the less well known cousin of Milk Stout, but it shouldn't be on this evidence. Jack Cody's have created a porter that is dry with burnt malt at the start, but finishes off smooth and lightly sweet, but definitely more-ish.

When it comes to the stout/porter end of things, my preference is for big upfront roast, burnt and almost ashtray flavours from the deep black malts that are found in abundance here, however this is exquisitely balanced by the introduction of lactose which serves to round out and just save the ash flavours from becoming completely overbearing. What happens next is that the sweet Chantilly Cream pops in for a quick hello just as the porter passes the back of the tongue, just to let you know it's there and that it's not just on the label for show.

The second and subsequent mouthfuls mix the charred flavours into the sweet milky notes to give a much more complex experience than this porter presents at first.

This is a lovely balanced and complex porter, and at 4.6% is properly sessionable.

Next up was Smiggy Amber Ale. Pouring a very inviting deep amber, and with a pretty good hop aroma this looks and smells like a very nice beer. I think Amber Ales are what Irish Reds wish they could be. Flavoursome with a balance more toward the caramel malt than the hops, but without losing the hops completely. That balance is struck close to perfect here.There's no mouth-puckering hop bitterness, but the hops do still make their presence felt - meaning that the malt profile is given a chance to do some work. There's nothing overbearing here, and that follows through with the aftertaste - it disappears quite quickly, meaning that this beer has the potential to be paired with a lot of foods, indeed the label recommends it to be paired with BBQ Meats, Fish or Cheese. So, a bit of everything then. 

Because it doesn't overpower the palate and it's sitting at 4.8% abv, this means that you can enjoy a few of these at a social get together, over food. It also has an almost lager-like mouthfeel, the carbonation is quite high, with a small lacey head lasting down the glass

I would consider this a triumph of the style, and would defnitely recommend it to anyone looking to start off on a craft beer journey - or someone feeling a bit jaded with strong hop-bombs. Smiggy delivers enough flavour as to be respectable, but is approachable enough as to not scare off people new to craft beers.

Finally I cracked open the intriguing Duxie. A Grapefruit Tea Pale Ale. Full disclosure here, I love tea about as much as I love beer, I've probably as many loose leaf teas in my house as I have styles of beer, so to see a beer with tea on the ingredients bill.Grapefruit and lime are also listed, along with the trusty Earl Grey himself. Grapefruit, lime and general citrussy flavours are to be, of course, found wherever American Hops lay their head, however I couldn't get the unmistakable aroma of those flavours as I opened and poured the beer. It looks a nice colour and the head was maintained down the glass - and the beer has a really great mouthfeel.

Flavourwise, I wasn't getting the lime, but was definitely getting Grapefruit, both that sweetness and pithy bitterness in the finish. I can also see this being one for the warm weather.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed the Cream Porter the most, and the Grapefruit Tea Pale Ale does have character, while the Amber is an improvement on so many boring Red Ales.

Good work Jack Cody's! 

Anarchy from the UK

Some new beers to the Irish scene were to be launched in a Tap-Takeover of WJ Kavanagh's last week, so I paid them a visit. There were 4 beers on offer, three on tap and one from a bottle. The brewers were also visiting, so it was a good chance to chat to them and get some tips for my own fledgling brewing empire.

The brewery in question is Anarchy Brew Co from the far North East of England, and Simon and Dawn were the two brewers who popped in for the evening.

I kicked off with a Citra Star, a blonde ale that packs flavour from the Citra Hops. Peaches and limes,and some grapefruit sweetness are the order of the day here. This is called a blonde ale, but in reality it's a session IPA - an unbelievable 4.1% given the range of flavours in this beer, it is the perfect ale to take into a warm beer garden. The fresh hop flavours make this a refreshing and accessible hoppy ale. Slightly cloudy, deep yellow in colour, I would have had a few more if I wasn't there to sample the rest of the range.

I moved on to the AntiVenom American Pale Ale. Certainly a more full bodied character and richer maltiness than the Citra Star. The American hops beautifully balance out the caramel from the malts. At 6% this is a fairly robust beer, but don't expect a hop-bomb, this isn't an IPA, it's a very well done American Pale, the hops do deliver, but they are not in your face or completely dominating the flavour. More resinous and piney than the hops in the Citra Star, the bitterness is sharp enough to compliment the underlying malt sweetness.

The Sublime Chaos Breakfast Stout is as flavoursome and potent as you's expect from a 7% beer. Rich, chewey with the background espresso that isn't overshadowing the other essential flavours that you expect to find in a stout. The mouthfeel is smooth and treacley , with some burnt roast notes in the back of the throat - all finished off by a pretty forward hop profile.

In bottles was the Smoked Saison. I have to make it clear from the outset here that I'm not a huge fan of the slightly sour, yeasty flavours that mark a Saison. On the flip side of that, I'm a big fan of smoked beers, the famous German Rauchbiers are among my favourites. I've been burned in the past, however, with many beers boasting "smoked" on their label just not delivering on that promise. This one does deliver a lovely smokey bacon flavour, layered over but not completely masking the spiciness of the Saison - the mix is good.

To finish off, and for a bit of fun at the behest of Simon, we were invited to mix some of the Smoked Saison with some of the Sublime Chaos, to make "the best Black & Tan you've ever tasted". The smokiness definitely compliments the burnt coffee bitterness.

Anarchy beers make a welcome addition to the choices available on the Irish market, and top of the list is the Citra Star, the perfect beer for an afternoon spent at a BBQ or watching the world go by in a warm city centre beer garden.

It was great to meet Simon and Dawn, they are obviously very passionate about their art, and this shines through in the quality of the beers.

90% of their output is for the Cask market in the UK, so hopefully we might see something pop up around the Dublin cask scene - but even if we don't, do keep an eye out and pick up a couple of bottles of whatever style takes your fancy. You won't be disappointed.