Up the Kriek

Ok, it’s been awhile. I have a child at THAT age, which means when she finally goes to sleep I just want to relax. This can involve having a good beer or two, but the effort to take decent notes and then write them up into a post seems too much at the minute… In order to keep some semblance of momentum up I’ve tried to catch up on the few beers from the list I’ve had since the last posting…

235. Kriek De Ranke

Style: Kriek ABV: 7% From: Drinkstore.ie

Description: Poured a dark ruby red with a nice pink head – pretty clear actually. The aroma is all tart fruit and twangy sourness – cherries mainly but there some tart raspberries in there too. The cherries stay for the taste, along with some cranberries maybe? This isn’t sweet though – more face puckeringly sour. Mid-bodied and a little sticky.

Thoughts: Another great beer from De Ranke, this one balances fruit, tartness and sourness really well into a complex but drinkable beer. Go for it.

Score: 8

236. Left Hand Sawtooth

Style: ESB ABV: 5.3% From: Lighthouse Wines

Description: Amber in colour, actually its almost brown. Poured clear with a small white head. I’m not getting too much aroma wise, a hint of sweet toffee apple combined with something distinctly more pub toilet. Thankfully that latter smell doesn’t follow into the taste, there a definite biscuit malt vibe, some toffee, back up at the end by a very light citrus/grapefruit bitter note. Light to mid bodied.

Thoughts: ESBs generally don’t do a lot for me, this was actually pretty sinkable – once I got past the strange smell – does the job but doesn’t require much consideration/effort. Not sure I’d go out of my way to buy again though.

Score: 6

237. Left Hand Milk Stout

Style: Sweet/Milk Stout ABV: 6% From: Lighthouse Wines

Description: Jet black with a decent tan head. Aroma is mild coffee, light roast, with a hint of lactic milk chocolate. Mocha latte coffee flavours, and a hint of chocolate milk. Quite light and thin for my taste.

Thoughts: I was really looking forward to this – it sounded very me, but it just didn’t quite deliver. The flavours were fine, if a little understated, but the lack of body really let the side down.

Score: 6.5

I also had the Left Hand’s “Nitro” version of the Milk Stout, which was kind of similar to the above, but maybe not even as good. Victory’s Headwaters Pale Ale (Lighthouse Wines again) was a great wee example of the style - basically my notes are summed up by the phrase “Actually this is pretty damn good” - and one worth trying.

Farmageddon’s Mosaic SMASH is the latest beer from the boys from Comber, and one that seems to be getting good reviews. I personally thought it was much better than the Tomahawk version – there’s lots of tropical fruit here and a nice resinous body the reminded me (a little) of Of Foam and Fury. However, I was still getting something TCP/Dettol like on the finish. While not overpowering this time, it just left an unpleasant aftertaste at the very end that down rated the experience for me. I know others who have said they aren’t experiencing the same thing, so maybe its psychological or maybe I’m just being unlucky. Still I think the improvement is there for all to see, next one should be a cracker!

Cheers

Local beer for local people

(Note: this has been edited a bit as I wasn't happy with it - still not really sure it conveys what I'm trying to say but hopefully its closer!)

There's been a bit of discussion recently (on twitter and on Belfast Beer Blog) about the local brewing scene. In one of my early posts I highlighted how I believed the beer scene in NI had come on quite dramatically. Since then we have had the addition of even more local brewers (Farmageddon, Pokertree, Fulcrum, Sheelin, Cloughmore, etc.) and there even more to come soon (see here and here!). Added to the existing Whitewater, Hilden and McGrath’s it's clear the scene is expanding - though this interesting post from  Belfast Barman(ager) highlights the issue of actually getting people to drink the stuff! 

Though, even given these developments, there's been a bit of discussion about the quality of what’s been brewed locally. In its defence, there only been one beer produced locally that I have sinked (coming soon...), and almost all of the production is superior to the mega-brewers that dominate the pubs and off-licenses. However, to me some (but by no means all) of the discussion on quality has centred around - for want of a better term - how "adventurous"/exciting the beer is. Though I do think there are genuine concerns about how good some of the production is. (However, quality - like flavour - is a bit subjective, what I like, what I think is quality/flavoursome, may be different to your opinion and that makes this a tricky discussion.)   

With this in mind I looked forward to trying two new beers on the local scene - special "geeky" beers from Farmageddon at that:

 The first one I tried was the Cascadian Dark Ale (Style: Black IPA. ABV: 6.7%. From: Grange Wines). Poured deep ruby red / brown with a tan head that reall din't hang about. Aroma of burnt toast, pithy citrus and treacle sweetness. Taste-wise there's some molasses, toasted malt, brown sugar, orange, and grapefruit. Mid to full bodied, oily, and a decent bitter finish. This was really nice, a bit like their India Export Porter and then some. As good as anything I've had locally. Score: 7.5

Next up was Tomahawk S.M.A.S.H. (Style: IPA. ABV: 6.7%. From: Grange Wines). Poured a dark/burnt orange with a fine off-white head. Pithy orange aroma but that gives

way to something chemical. Again the taste starts off pithy and bitter, but if gives way to iodine, TCP, and something very astringent. Mid-bodied and sticky. While the antiseptic quality was rather muted to begin, as the beer warmed up it overwhelmed everything else to the point of being undrinkable. I assume they were aiming for something like North Peak's Diabolical IPA, it didn't work out though. It's fair to point out some people have loved this beer (according to twitter/untapped anyway). Maybe it's just me or maybe there some consistency issues. Score: 2 (mostly for the effort).

So in summary, one of these has probably overtaken Whitewater's HoppleHammer as my favourite local beer, the other was - quite frankly - a mess (if it was meant to taste like that at least). I applaud the effort if not the execution of the SMASH (though conceptually I'm not a huge fan of the single hop same malt base type beers - it kinda works for the likes of brewdog in the IPA is Dead series as an experiment or an educational thing, but frankly I couldn't care less if the beer is brewed with one particular hop or not, I just want it to taste good).

Certainly these beers seem a bit more in the "adventurous" category, but all of the local producers get some sympathy from me on the "not adventurous enough" charge anyway. Let me explain why... I drink a fair bit of beer, I'm the person the local brewers should be be aiming their adventurous beer aimed at, and no doubt I'd drink it. However, it's pretty rare I'd drink the same beer regularly - even the cracking ones and sometimes especially the out there ones - I mean how many "Grand Cru Russian Imperial Stout brewed with Snowberry Honey, Anardana Seeds and finished in Appleton Estate Rum barrels" (courtesy of The Craft Beer Trends Predictor) can you drink...

The beers I do drink regularly tend to be solid, balanced, quaffable, easy, sensibly ABV's, and competitively priced.  Judging my by untapped timeline other people are similar (unless they aren't checking in their regular brews of course). For normal beer drinkers I'd guess this also applies - my non-geeky friend's want refreshing and session-able - they are open to trying something different, but not that different (and they won't pay big dough for something they're not sure they'll enjoy). Therefore, if I was a producer (and I don't even home brew by the way so what do I know) I'd look to build my base market and market share by producing quality beer capable of appealing to a fair chunk of the market before making a beer that may get critical recognition but is actually drunk by a tiny proportion. Then I'd work my way up to something a bit more fun!

Yes, I do think if someone brews a cracking "adventurous" beer it'll sell and sell well - but I'm guessing brewing such a beer ain't as easy as it is typing about one! 

This doesn't excuse the local guys/girls from trying new things and it doesn't excuse poor quality, I don't tend to drink anything produced in NI on a regular basis so I think there is some work to do in upping the general quality and flavour. What's being produced in the south should highlight the way - I'd love an NI version of Amber Ella or Rascals Ginger Porter, or (if we are really lucky) Of Foam and Fury but I don't think anyone is at that level yet (though I have high hopes for Boundary Brewing and Belfast Brewing). Dull beer and bad beer won't grow the scene and no-one is going to pay more money for something no better than the big guys make at 3/4 of the price. The guys/girls locally brewing have the challenge of growing the market (and their market share) at the same time as expanding the local taste buds. I think it'll take time but it is getting there, and if you're a local brewer reading this don't be afraid to test the market every now and then - you might be surprised!  

Right, I've prattled on long enough... I'm off the tick another beer.

Cheers

St Patrick's weekend round up

After Birmingham and Cardiff, what I really needed was some sleep... But sure it was a weekend of sport, sport, and more sport, and all of it good (as an Ulster, Ireland and Liverpool fan anyway). So with all that I just supped a few beers over the weekend, none from the list so just a quick round up below:

153. Farmageddon India Export Porter
Style: Porter. ABV: 5.2%. From: Light House Wines.
Description: Poured dark, tan head, looked quite fizzy for the style. Whiff of coffee and toasted malt. Taste wise some chocolate, liquorice, and some definite light hoppy bitterness. Mid bodied, a slightly oily hop finish.
Conclusions: A beer that shows potential. Definitely a porter with some hop profile rather than a black IPA. Something was slightly off with my bottle that I couldn't quite put my finger on, but a solid effort. Belfast Beer Blog have covered the rest of the range here - along with some interesting thoughts on the local beer scene. This is a discussion I might add to in due course...
Score: 6

154. Ilkley Longhorn
Style: Aged Milk Stout. ABV: 8%. From: Light House Wines.
Description: More ruby red/dark brown in colour than the usual black. No head at all and transparent. Bit of an odd smell, I got candy sugar and something vinegary. Taste is again vinegary and sour - where's the milk, or the cranberry? Not much Barrel or wood flavour either. Oddly thin. 
Conclusions: Has anyone else had this? Is it supposed to taste like this? I'd guess my bottle was skunked, but I couldn't say for sure... If this is what they were aiming for then it's a mess. I'd say it was almost like a bad example of a Flemish red/brown rather than what it said on the label. Either way its one of the first beers I've poured down the sink in awhile. 
Score: (A generous) 1 

155. Beavertown Smog Rocket
Style: Smoked Porter. ABV: 5.4%. From: Light House Wines.
Description: Poured dark brown with an off white head. Aroma is chocolate, roasted malt, and smoke. Flavour is smoked peat, toasted malt, liquorice, chocolate. Mid to full bodied, smooth.
Conclusions: Here we go, following the Longhorn this was a beer to restore my faith. Nicely balanced, very drinkable, interesting without being over done. Good stuff.
Score: 7



156. Beavertown Black Betty
Style: Black IPA. ABV: 7.4%. From: Light House Wines.
Description: Black with a decent white head. Straight up zesty smell: citrus, hops and grapefruit. Taste starts off dark malt and chocolate, and then the hops come through with more citrus and grapefruit. Smooth, decent body but not overly heavy. Hides its strength scarily well.
Conclusions: This a great, one of the best balanced Black IPAs I've had. This beer actually started me craving good strong resiny IPA having been on a stout/porter run for the last while. I'd recommend this to anyone!
Score: 8

Assuming the longhorn stout wasn't off, it reminded me of this interesting post from Boak and Bailey. Basically they took what wasn't a great base beer, and barrel aged the shite out of it to make it "uber craft". I'm all for trying new thing and experimentation, but surely someone should of tried this and went "You know this shouldn't be put out there". Ah well, drink as many different types of beer this and you're going to kiss a frog every now and then! Saint Patrick's and not a Guinness in sight...

Cheers