28 March 2013

Slap and tickle

In the pubs at the moment Ireland's spring seasonals are starting to poke their heads tentatively out, ahead of the full bloom heralded by the Franciscan Well Easter Beer Festival happening this Saturday and Sunday in Cork. Last week I was in The Black Sheep to catch two early risers.

Equinox is the new one from Metalman Brewing under their experimental Chameleon badge. My pint arrived ice cold, hazy and looking rather sad in the head department, but still a radiant bright yellow, for all that. There was no shortage of fizz, something which bothers me in most beers but this has a full enough body to carry it and the copious bubbles even help lift out the thirst-quenching lemon flavours while complementing the dry graininess.

It's refreshing and very drinkable (I had three pints) but I couldn't help feeling something was missing from it. All the way through I expected a wheat beer flavour spike: some cloves or pepperiness or even a ripe banana, but it never materialised. The brewery is calling it a "wheat lager" so is at least up front about its nature. While nicely bitter it lacks the cleanness of a good pils, and while full and fizzy it doesn't hit the weiss or wit buttons either. It's a challenging beer, but in a very sessionable sort of way.

The headline act on the night was the much-anticipated new IPA from Galway Bay Brewery, Voyager, and brewer Chris was in town especially, to formally introduce it to the drinking public and throw out a few freebies. Voyager is 6% ABV and the Pacifica and Pacific Jade are given centre stage, from first wort hopping, right through to the dry addition at the end, with the finished product left unfiltered and unfined, though pouring a perfectly clear gold.

The first taste delivers a powerful bitter shock: the sort of resinous acridity that scorches the tongue and wafts up the back of the palate, leaving a sticky residue on the lips. It's hard to detect anything else going on at first, but after a while some semblance of balance creeps in from a touch of underlying toffee malt. Then half way through the second glass I managed to pick out a little bit of the blackcurrant flavour I associate with another New Zealand hop, Pacific Gem, though it's very much on the puckering end of the taste spectrum, with none of the lighter, more succulent, tropical fruit.

If you're working towards a lupulin threshold shift, this is one to take you over the line.

Meanwhile, above at the Bull & Castle, the annual Irish Beer & Whiskey Festival is in full swing. The highlight for me so far has been Kinnegar's Rustbucket rye pale ale, served from a polypin. In a turnaround from the overly fizzy Devil's Backbone I tried recently, this is very lightly carbonated, almost to the point of flatness, and this in turn makes it difficult to discern any aroma. Only with my nose deep in the glass was the mild waft of citrus detectable. The murky orange-brown colour doesn't help with the visuals either, but on tasting it's a whole different experience. Very much hop forward, it begins with a burst of soft fruit: melon and pineapple, pursued by slightly more stern mandarin peel and grapefruit. Underneath this sits the dry grassiness of the rye and, not being a fan of rye beers in general, I'm not sure what the point of this is. But it behaves itself here, not interfering with the hop party.

The beer, soon to be available bottled, is 5.1% ABV and I could feel the weight of it building up as my pint warmed, but it's moreish enough that this shouldn't be a problem for too many drinkers.

Previously on the Bull & Castle's taps there was Franciscan Well's new Hopfenweisse. At a mere 5% ABV this is a more modest offering than Schneider's originator of the style and it lacks the flavour integration of the Bavarian. Instead you get two separate but delicious flavour profiles: one is the caramelised banana of good dunkelweisse, and then this smoothness is pricked with sharp and rather vegetal hops, resulting in a strange sort of contrast which works surprisingly well.

And that brings me back to the Franciscan Well and the Easter Festival, much like this Saturday's 11am train out of Heuston.

10 comments:

  1. Thanks for the round up, I shall give them all a visit today!

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    1. Enjoy! There should still be some Franciscan Well Jameson Stout at the Bull & Castle too.

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  2. Looking forward to the festival, looks to be some very interesting seasonals coming around.

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  3. Is it just me, or does that bottom pint not look very unappealing. Come to think of it, the top one doesn't look much better either.

    I know it isn't all about looks, but still............

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    1. The Equinox looks pretty much like a normal wheat beer to me, minus the head. And the Rustbucket does indeed look awful, but it's also a first attempt at draught beer from a 100L one-man brewery, and it tasted great.

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  4. Aye. Maybe a better glass would have enhanced it. The Equinox that is.

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  5. Picked up two bottles of the Kinnegar Rye last night from Mchughs (apparently only got 5 bottles in). Really lovely stuff, could do with a tiny bit more carbonation but still poured really nicely. Picked up a Ruthless Rye at the same time for comparison... Kinnegar came out on top. Looking forward to a regular supply.

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    1. Tremble in your brewing wellies, Sierra Nevada!

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  6. Professor Pie-Tin10:02 am

    I hope to enjoy the Sunday session if you've left any beer for the late-comers !
    Meanwhile,an entry for your Beoir community page with a bar in Midelton that I've only just come across which looks like a veritable oasis in the Cork County desert.
    Haven't tried it yet but the draught and bottled meus look interesting.

    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mad-Monk/299746476800619

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    1. Thanks Prof. The Mad Monk was already in the Directory but that's it added to Facebook now too.

      There should be plenty of beer left at the 'Well today. Don't miss the Sharp's Panzerfaust on cask at the upstairs bar.

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