Pop-up Hag

This was unexpected. For two long weekends in late October The White Hag Brewery took over an abandoned pub in central Dublin and ran a series of theme nights. Scheduling conflicts mean I only made it to the first of these, where the theme was White Hag's own beers.

For the first time I got to try Black Pig, a 4.2% ABV dry stout that seems to go largely to export. I guess it's a tougher sell on the home market. It looks normal enough: the appropriate black colour with a creamy nitro head. Though advertised as dry, it leans heavy on the chocolate malt, giving it a flaky milk chocolate taste. There's just enough of a bitter tang to balance it, and the end result is tasty if a little plain and pedestrian. This seems very much designed as a house stout rather than a rotating special, which is fair enough.

Everything else from White Hag I'd had already, but there were a couple of tempting guest beers down at the end of the menu board, leftovers from the summer Hagstravaganza festival, I'm guessing. The one I started with was Muskoka's Legendary Oddity. This is described as a Belgian-style strong ale, and at 7.1% ABV just about qualifies, I think. The ingredients include heather, juniper and orange peel, so it's certainly an oddity, but what about the other part? I liked it. It has the look of a golden ale like Duvel and really seems to take its cues from the same. There's a clean and dry spiciness with a touch of warming honey. The unusual ingredients come into play later but don't taste like themselves. I got peach, apricot, jasmine, aniseed and marjoram. Overall, it's extremely drinkable despite the heat, the flavours remaining bright and fun throughout.

Brew By Numbers's quince sour saison, 18|11, was also on the board, and I couldn't resist. The aroma was a little off-putting: harsh and acrid vinegar. Combined with the custardy appearance this was beginning to make me regret my decision. The texture was the first bright point: that gummy quality one often gets with fruity Brettanomyces strains. The sourness is as intense as expected, but in a good way, really stimulating the palate. The throat burn which follows is less enjoyable, however. The finish mixes farmyard funk with a fruit taste which must be quince but tastes more like apple to me. It's an extreme beer, but a balanced one: the fruity murk helping offset the severity of its sourness. Still a bit of a workout to drink, though.

I left it there. In the meantime the premises has found a permanent tenant and is now trading as The Big Romance, with a couple of White Hag beers in the line-up, of course. 2019's autumn pop-up festival will have to be somewhere else.