The bright pink modernist stylings of Róisin stand out from the other side of the off licence. It's made with tayberries and claims on the label to be pink, but in fact pours a dark reddish-gold, permeated by a very fine haze. No sickly fruits or syrups leap out in the aroma, just dry and carbonic notes with an echo of forest fruit, much like those lightly-flavoured mineral waters you get. The texture of the 4.2% ABV beer is light and lagery and the taste is crisp and understated: no hops, nothing identifiable as malt, just a mild raspberry (yeah, tayberry, I know, but I'm trying to be descriptive here) tartness. All-in-all there isn't much going on in this one and I'm not sure I'd buy it again. Though if I did it'd be for drinking al fresco some sunny evening just before dinner: that's its place in the world.
And for a post-prandial: Midnight Sun. At 5.6% ABV this is just inside the digestif category of strong stouts. Actually, it claims to be a porter, but it's very much a stout porter, to be all archaic about nomenclature. It's thick and viscous with a solid head and opaque body. Only a slight promise of roasted grains comes through on the nose, and classic stout dryness is the backbone of the flavour, accentuated by a very mild spice which the label tells me is from the addition of ginger: I doubt I'd have spotted it without knowing. Amongst all this rigid structure there's a soft chocolate heart which keeps the beer all smooth and accessible. The hops make themselves felt at the very end as a faint metallic note -- something I don't care for generally but it doesn't get in the way too much here. All these elements are blended together quite well and the result is a solid heavy stout designed for considered drinking.Both beers feature in the new lavish breeze-block-sized tome about world beer 1001 Beers You Must Try Before You Die, edited by Adrian Tierney-Jones and featuring articles by many of the best beer writers around. Plus a few by me as well.
The wife liked the Roisin, maybe its a fruit beer thing?. But I really liked their Midnight sun the ginger worked really well in it.
ReplyDeleteWilliams Black is another good one but its been a few years since i taster it, is it available over here?
Have developed a bit of a taste for Midnight sun this year, the ginger thing is a bit overplayed, its there but its not a big part of the experience.
ReplyDeleteOblivious: no, I've not seen it.
ReplyDeleteI am so sad to miss Bruce at the Brickskeller's tasting in April. The line up of beers (incl these two) looks delicious. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteI quite enjoyed midnight sun and as with Oblivious, my wife loved the Roisin.
ReplyDeleteMy description of the Ginger in midnight sun was like a ninja. You don't know it's there till it's too late. Very subtle and I am not sure it adds anything but I reckon it would be missed if not there.
Midnight Sun is a great beer, but sadly for me I don't enjoy the ginger in it.
ReplyDeleteI was happy to see I can now get much of the Williams Bros range in Köln. I have a bottle of Róisin in the cellar along with their Grozet and a couple of the heritage series. Bit pricey here though.
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