Penny Pils

So I finally had to bite the bullet and placed an on-line order. Drinkstore.ie had quite a few beers from the list and Island of Ireland delivery for a not bad €6. A hint of a few things to come in the pic below!

So, first up is:

202. SlyFox Pikeland Pils
Style: Pilsner. ABV: 4.9%. From: Drinkstore.ie
Description: Craft in a can. Poured light yellow coloured, slightly cloudy, and a decent white head. Some grassy hops, and there's some light fruit there too (mango I'd say). Taste starts out with some fruit and sweetness, followed up by some grassy hops, a bready malt hit, and a bitterish finish. As it warmed up the fruit came through more. Light bodied, more sparkling than fizzy. 
Thoughts: Pilners don't tend to do a huge amount for me, but this was quite enjoyable. Light, refreshing, and quaffable. Tasty.
Score: 6.5

A couple of other beers not from the list to catch-up on:

161. Wild Beer Bliss
Style: Farmhouse ale?. ABV: 6%. From: Light House Wines
Description: Dark amber / light brown in colour, hazy, with a tight off-white head. A lot of spice in the aroma, nutmeg & cinnamon, and a sour twang in the background. Spice again in the taste, plenty of nutmeg and cinnamon, a hint of dried apricot. Quite light bodied.
Thoughts: Recommended by Stephen as something different... It certainly was that. I've not been that impressed by Wild Beer in general, this was one of the better ones - though more for autumn than this time of the year. Personally would have preferred more apricot but it was grand.
Score: 5.5

162. Beavertown 8-Ball
Style: Rye IPA. ABV: 6.2%. From: Grange Wines
Description: Cloudy light brown/dark orange with no head. Citrus and grapefruit aroma, some pine. Taste is caramel malt, grapefruit, and a little rye spiciness. Light but a little sticky.
Thoughts: Enjoyable but nots good as the Black Betty.
Score: 6.5

Had a wee day out mid-week too. Neill's Hill in Ballyhack produced some good food and an Anchor Liberty Ale to go with it. Then it was over to Horatio Todd's who now have Pilsner Urquell on draft, belfast beer scene keeps getting better doesn't it?

Cheers

Apples

Belfast has got quite beery hasn't it... A trip out in late January took in the Hudson, Aether & Echo, the Dirty Onion, the Harp Bar, Alley Cat and Bittle's Bar - with only the Harp Bar showing a real paucity of options. I mean a few of these places have beer menus... the place has come on a bit from the days of "Laurence", and long may it continue! 

 I'm not going to review the beers (I lost my note book somwhere over the course of the day... and almost my phone but it included the Kernel in Hudson, Flying Dog in Alley Cat, Bourbon County Stout in Bittles!) but cheers for a good days craic to the boys who traipsed around the town and thanks for putting up with me!

Anyway - following that I took a bit of a two week sabbatical from brews to give me, and my taste buds, a chance to chill out.

But tonight I thought, lets try something new.From outside the list:

129. Wild Beer Ninkasi Premier Cru
Style: Belgian Strong Ale. ABV: 10. From: Lighthouse wines
Description: Poured pale yellow, a little cloudy, small white head. Lots of tart green apple on the nose , with some sour yeasty esters, boozy but dry finish. Mid carbonisation. Did I mention apples?
Thoughts: Preferred it to Ninkasi I think. Not very "beery" with all the apple but quite refreshing. Boozy heat means this is a sipper. Nice, and I would drink again, but I don't think I'd go out of my way to buy it.
Score: 6.5



Hope for a few more beers over the weekend - and a run to the Lighthouse to check out there new offerings!

Cheers

A night out in the big smoke, and a smoky porter

So I had my first night out in Belfast for awhile last weekend, and thoroughly enjoyable it was too. Great to catch up with a few old friends, and I even got to try two new bars!

First up we hit the Hudson. Overall I was very impressed; good selection of beers (Brewdog, Sam Adams on tap and plenty of interesting bottles) and I really enjoyed the hearty food served in the adjoining café – I had chicken and chorizo stew! I didn't take beer notes but I enjoyed the Williams Brothers 7 Giraffes and the taste I had of the Whitewater whiskey barrel aged version of their Clotworth Dobbin. 

Next up was the Sunflower. Another proper pub with a good beer selection (Hilden's Scullions ale on draft, and again quite a few Williams Brothers beers and other interesting things in bottles). 

Really enjoyed both venues and hope to get back out to both soon. If you haven't been to either yet, go check them out – I’m sure you'll not be disappointed.

On top of all that I also got another beer ticked off from the list:

Beer 182 from “1001 Beers...”

• Alaskan Smoked Porter. Style: Smoked porter. ABV: 6.5%. Purchased: Lighthouse Wines

  
  Description: Powered dark brown, with a small but lingering tan head. Strong smoky/woody aroma. A little bit of toasted malt and grain (may be a little milk chocolate) to taste, but mainly its the smoky flavour that comes through. Lighter mouth feel than I expected but that helped with drink-ability.
  Thoughts: Really enjoyed this, perfect for a cold winters night in front of the fire. These beers can easily become “too much”, but actually this was really nicely balanced in taste (i.e. not too smoky) and body (not too heavy). Great stuff.
  Score: 8

Cheers