Simply not cricket

We the drinking public were saved the horror of a year without the Irish Craft Beer Festival via the good offices of the Leinster Cricket Club in Rathmines. The event which had been hosted in the lavish surrounds of the RDS since 2011 was scaled back and placed in a big top tent on the lawn. The last-minute arrangements meant that the selection of beers and breweries to choose from was... let's say manageable. There was still a great atmosphere and a proper buzz about the gig.

My first port of call was to Rye River who were launching beer four in this year's limited edition series, a spruce-tip saison with the questionable title of Just the Tipple. You'll have to excuse the darkroom effect of photographing beer in a red tent on a sunny day. My first impression of this harkened back to the previous one in the series, the orange lager, because this too is hella orangey, in a cool, smooth and refreshing sort of way. The spruce arrives late, leaving a spiky pine residue in the finish. It's not the most complex saison ever, and is a little overclocked at 6.5% ABV, but it's enjoyable nonetheless.

Local outfit Priory had brought along their fourth ever release, and the first that isn't an IPA. Plenary Indulgence is a porter of 4.5% ABV. There's generous dose of brown malt in here, along with the black and chocolate varieties, and that lends it a wonderful richness, beginning with an alluring coffee aroma, which extends into mocha and cappuccino in the taste. A crisp burnt-toast blackness finishes it on a dry note, balancing the sweetness nicely. As presented it was a little undercarbonated, being perhaps not quite ready for sale, but it'll have matured by the time you read this and is well worth checking out.

It was also beer number four for Bridewell Brewery, all the way over from Clifden. This is their Kölsch-style, and I was confused as to why they've done a second top-fermented yellow beer when their flagship is a top-fermented yellow beer. A helpful side-by-side cleared that up: Bridewell Blonde is in an English style with some Belgian trimmings, rich with honey and flowers. The new one is dry and crisp with some wholesome autumnal red apple and caramel. It's perhaps a little warm and fruity for true fidelity to the Kölsch profile, though the basics are definitely there.

O'Hara's was centre stage, of course, and new from them is 51st State Session IPA, a 4% ABV version of their 51st State New-England-ish IPA at 6%. If the original is quite distant from NEIPA (it is), this is even further out of sight. It's dry with a sharp bitter snap and a dank oiliness. I was reminded a lot of the standard O'Hara's IPA: that strong, almost harsh, hop kick. This one certainly packs in a lot for the modest strength.

Another vintage Irish microbrewery and another new IPA. Yippy is set to be the replacement for Hop Head after ten years of loyal service. It, too, is 5% ABV and it's very dry. There's a saliva-stripping chalk effect and a green asparagus savoury quality. I found it all a bit too severe and unbalanced. I will miss the richness of amber Hop Head when it goes.

That leaves just the token foreigners. Brewdog had a full bar at the event and went all out for stout. I began with their Small Batch Maple, a 7.5%-er. "Sweet" barely begins to describe it. The maple flavour is extremely real and extremely prominent, given an extra sugary caramelised edge. After the initial glucose explosion there's a richer toffee and brown banana sweetness, and a smoky complexity creeps in as it warms. It's not a subtle beer by any means but I enjoyed it.

Keeping it pastry but scaling up the alcohol, there's Mallow Mafia at 12% ABV. The nerve-jangling sugar is here joined by nerve-jangling coffee notes: concentrated ristretto at first, turning to warming and wintery Drambuie in the finish. The coffee also brings a strong enough roasted bitterness to hold the sticky sweetness in check. The marshmallow is present but not prominent, which is probably for the best. This imperial stout is all over the place like a clown car and it certainly entertained me.

The Carlow Brewing bar included offerings from the company's subsidiaries and imported ranges. My last one was Wild Beer's Funky Dory. This is a Brett-fermented pale ale, 5% ABV and pouring a bright gold colour with an aroma of white grape, turning to purest Champagne on tasting -- the same mix of luscious fruit and clean crisp toastiness. A peach and pineapple tang slips in behind this adding a wonderful complexity. It's perhaps a little thin, with the flavours crammed together instead of roaming free on the palate. I loved it, though: it's a beautiful example of what Brettanomyces can bring to a beer.

Naturally there was an Urban Brewing tap on the Carlow bar too but I didn't partake, having just been to the brewpub quite recently. Before this week of Irish beer posts ends, I'll lever those beers in here.

The name of Pilsner Vol. II implies that they've made one previously, though I must have missed it. This one is 4.7% and a perfectly clear shade of gold with a fine white mousse on top. A vinegar aroma set alarm bells ringing, however, and this proved an accurate warning. The main taste is the clean and sharp tang of white spirit vinegar. Around this there's a smooth and creamy texture and flavours of crusty bread and celery, all of which are hallmarks of truly great pils. That vinegar, though. Let's drop that from Vol. III please.

All the lagers come at once, it seems, and pouring alongside was Urban Brewing Oktoberfest. The deep orange colour had me expecting one of those horrible syrupy American versions of the style but it's actually pleasingly subtle, bringing light golden syrup, white pepper and crisp burnt caramel set on a perfectly autumnal chewy and warming body. There is a slightly nasty marker-pen phenol note in the very finish, but the good sides do more than enough to outweigh it, and the end result is as moreish as the style is meant to be. While not quite up there with the mighty Eight Degrees Märzen of 2012, it's not far off either.

Finally, it looks as though the big sack of lemon verbena that Urban acquired for its summer IPA is still not empty. The herb got another outing in a Lemon Verbena & Sage Saison. This is a murky yellow colour and a sizeable 6.4% ABV. A dry straw flavour forms the base, built upon by green oily sage and a floral meadow perfume with a green peppercorn spice in the finish. It's a fun combination, and while it may come across as a little medicinal, it's in the wholesome olde-worlde home-remedy sort of way. This is exactly how I like my saisons: bring that pepper every time.

And now it's back to building up a new backlog of Irish beer tasting notes. I'll post them once I've processed the beers I found on my summer holidays, coming up next.