North-westers

Ahead of Hagstravaganza, on which more later, The White Hag released the third iteration of The Púca. This time the dry hopped lemon sour [beer] has had lime, mint and matcha added in. It's still 3.5% ABV. The glass glows a bright golden colour, like a fine cider or Riesling. I don't know from matcha, but the lime and mint are very present. I coughed from the medicinal quality of the latter and hissed at the acidic sharpness of the former. It's fun though, and tastes very like a mojito. Ice and leaves? This beer will happily take that. Really, this is flavoured beyond the point of being a beer, but it's still nice to drink.

Kinnegar joins the party with a table beer called Skinny Legs, also at 3.5% ABV. Despite the strength it's thick-looking and thick-tasting, a murky orange body leading to slick vanilla in the mouth. There's a measure of spicy yeast in the aroma, while the flavour dances between sweet orange milkshake and bitter green veg. There's no escaping the wateriness, however, a feature accentuated by the low level of fizz. As a quick hot-day quencher or a gentle-on-the-constitution sessioner, it works well, but isn't up to much else. Take it as you find it.

Carrig has been keeping the wheel turning on the specials they serve up at Bar Rua. I went along for Ryevolution, a 5.5% ABV IPA which claims to be Ireland's first 100% rye beer. I was expecting a sticky, grassy orange mess, but that couldn't be further from the reality. It's pale yellow, for a start, with a slight haze to it. I got a spritz of lemon in the foretaste, then a little bit of sharp grass, but only a brief squeak. The finish is all creamy lemon curd. Its bitter qualities do build, getting quite intense by pint's end, but no harm. This is a clean and invigorating IPA, and relatively well balanced for something that's not shy about piling on the IBUs. I've definitely had more rye-tasting beers than it, however.

Also pouring the same evening was Carrig's Raspberry Wit, 4.6% ABV and not really up to much. It's pinkish coloured and has a light raspberry sweetness in the front, followed by a dry carbonic rasp afterwards. And that's pretty much your lot: the fruit is the sum of its flavour, really, and there's none of the citrus or herbs that make witbier a worthwhile style. Maybe this was just one of those recipes that the brewer needed to get out of his system. It doesn't need to go further than the pilot kit.

Finally to Lough Gill which has also been keeping a steady stream of specials coming. Atlantic Surf is intriguingly styled as a bog myrtle saison and is 5% ABV. It's orange coloured and slightly hazy, exuding a classic saison vibe, bringing straw, pepper and herbs primarily, before finishing on a sweeter succulent melon note, offsetting the considerable dryness a little. I was half way through before I noticed the lack of novelty: nothing that could be pointed to as the bog myrtle's contribution. I didn't mind, though; this is just a great straight-up example of a saison.

What to expect, then, from the Sloe Gin Gose which followed it? This one was brewed as a collaboration with Five Points Brewery in London, is 5.2% ABV and a deep shade of orange. I didn't really understand it. My first impression was of white lemonade: that sugary sweetness that has nothing to do with actual lemons. Some light herbs come later and then just a tang of seasalt to finish. I detected a certain gin-like bitterness, but not one of your fancy gins and there's no sign of the promised sloes, or any other fruit. It's fine and refreshing overall, like many a modern gose, but that's about it.

And that's about it for this post. Time to tackle those Hagstravaganza notes, I guess.