Warm welcome, cool fermentation

The ninth Beoir AGM took place in the shiny surrounds of Kildare Brewing Company in Sallins last month -- right in amongst the tanks so we could see what we were fighting for. Our hosts were generous with beer (not to mention food and time) and there were a few new ones to try since my last visit.

Beer of the moment was Summer Light, a pale lager of just 3% ABV. Nothing wan or watery about this one, however: it's amber coloured and very decently full-bodied. Crispness is the watchword here: there's a crunch which has nothing to do with the husky graininess so often found in brewpub lager, but rather a balanced mineral quality to the texture. On top of this there's a lightly refreshing lemon tang leading to a sharper citric finish. This is beautifully constructed and offers next-level sessionability.

That was followed by a small-batch Schwarzbier which managed to hit the style points quite deftly. While there's a distinctly stout-like liquorice bitterness, the base is clean and allows the roasted grains to shine through. It reminded me of how starved of good black lager we are in this country. I wish I could get something like this more regularly.

From that 4.2% ABV we rocket up to the dizzy heights of 4.8% for Kildare IPA. Brendan has been doing limited-release tweaked versions of this with different countries' hops and we had just missed the Australian one. This was just the basic recipe. It's a middling orange colour and a little murky. The foretaste offers juicy mandarins and spicy sherbet, though not for long, with a sudden spike of bitterness finishing it off quickly. While decently punchy it does lack a sense of hop depth that I think this sort of pale ale or IPA ought to have, especially when consumed at the source. Much as other brewpubs create efforty lagers for unadventurous punters, this feels a little like it's there to fill a gap.

The day finished with the 4% ABV Traditional Stout, another one that punched way above its strength category. This has a rich, succulent texture with an almost meaty roasted character enhanced by gunpowder spices and an earthy tang of hops. It does become quite heavy as it goes along, and one pint was plenty, even at that modest strength. It was very easy to imagine it's quite a bit stronger than billed.

Then it was back to Dublin on the train. Huge thanks to all the gang at Lock 13 for the hospitality and some truly excellent beers. It's definitely a place you go for the lagers and stouts rather than the IPAs however. Sure you can get IPA everywhere these days.