Hops and barrels

Time for another DOT post, following the release of a bunch of new offerings in recent weeks.

We start with the hoppy cans, and Running On, described as a DDH pale ale. It's an even 5% ABV and a hazy yellow-grey colour. The icemen of Instagram won't be pleased by the big and fluffy head which forms on pouring. The aroma is surprisingly muted, just a vague breakfasty citrus-juice thing. There's a modicum of orange juice in the flavour, with a sweeter twist of mandarin and then a savoury dreggy finish. It's a little watery for the strength too. I expected bigger and bolder -- more hop fireworks. It didn't really deliver those, however. Grand drinking, but nothing special.

The name of the next one doesn't suggest any wows either: Just Another DIPA. "Big, bold and juicy" says the label, advertising Hüll Melon, Galaxy and Centennial hops, oats, and a Vermont yeast strain. Again there's that unattractive greyish tint to the hazy body. I didn't get juice. I got a concentrated cordial effect: a jarringly sweet and thick tongue-coating fruit syrup with a hard alcohol finish. Beyond it -- and you have to look hard -- there's a certain spice, a white pepper or nutmeg quality. That does help take the edge off the sweetness, but not enough to make this beer palatable. There's no freshness, no zing, and definitely no juice. Thumbs up for the absence of gritty yeast, but this doesn't come through with the hops. Just Another DIPA? It wishes.

OK, so before I lose all faith in DOT, we turn to the new bottled barrel offerings, something much more in their wheelhouse.

Barrel Blend V is a saison aged in white wine barrels, coming out at 5.8% ABV. It's a bright and clear gold, forming only a thin white head. Smoothness is the watchword here. While there is a residual trace of the earthy spices normal to saison, it's overlaid by soft and luscious fruit, some of it from the base beer but I'm certain the barrel makes a big contribution. There's lots of honeydew melon and a sharper lemon-peel citrus. A touch of oak spice arrives in the finish, which is remarkably quick and clean for a barrel-aged job. My only criticism here is that it's a little too smooth, the subtle flavours running the risk of making it seem bland. I think I wanted something punchier, but this isn't it, and that's not really the beer's fault. This is one for leisurely sipping.

What happens to an IPA when it's given 20 months' maturation in wine and whisky barrels? In this case it becomes Serving of Serendipity. It poured out almost totally flat, the still amber liquid resembling filtered apple juice. Lime is mentioned on the label blurb as one of its features and it really is dominant: a spritzy squeeze tasting very real indeed. There's a definite whiskyness in the rasping dry oak finish, though there's surprisingly little alcohol heat for 7% ABV. It's an odd one for sure, and not very beery with it. There's an idiosyncratic charm, however, one that kept me coming back until the glass was empty.

A storm last winter claimed a big chunk of the fig tree at the bottom of my garden. Shane from DOT was interested in taking the wood and when he called to collect, he kindly left a couple of bottles from his stash. These don't seem to have been released commercially and there's absolutely no information provided on them. I could ask, but where's the fun in that?

This one says "Cellar Range" on the label, so that's what I'll call it. It's a murky red-brown colour with some fairly large chunks bobbling about in it. There are signs of extended ageing here: a blast of sherry vinegar in the aroma and a highly attenuated thin texture. I'm guessing wine barrels have been used as there's a red grape note in the flavour alongside black cherry and milk chocolate. The ABV has to be quite high too as it brings a pleasing belly-warmth after two or three swallows. The vinegar tang returns in the finish and that made it hard for me to enjoy this. There's plenty of lovely complexity still, but I think it was past its best.

The last one is a total mystery, though the label is a segment from DOT's 2017 Tequila Saison so I'm guessing it's related to that. The apple-juice look returns: a clear copper colour and pouring quite flat. I'm definitely getting tequila from it; a strong lime bitterness with a sizeable chunk of dry oak. That's it, though: there's nothing beyond these big and punchy flavours. While it doesn't taste like a saison, it also doesn't taste any way aged, and in fact would benefit from some mellowing out. I liked it, though. It pushes my margarita buttons nicely.

Despite DOT's move into hoppy can territory, the slow-production barrel-aged concoctions are its best work. That's the stuff it's harder to get from any other brewer, local or abroad.

Blinded by the light

Leicht ("light") weisse is a standard German beer style, though one of the ones that the world at large hasn't been rushing to appropriate. I hadn't thought much about it until I spotted an example on the shelves at Redmond's and decided to give it a go.

I was expecting Unertl Leichte Weisse to be pale, but it's not, proving the almost-tan colour of a super-traditional weissbier like Schneider. The lightness is in the ABV, only 2.9%, and that has resulted in something tasting almost non-alcoholic. It has the sugary wort flavour of an N/A weiss, yet somehow manages also to be thin and hollow. I'm genuinely confused as to whether this is under- or over- attenuated. Either way, it's not fun.

Just drink a smaller glass of full-fat weisse and you'll have a better time than with a whole half litre of this. I genuinely can't think of of a use case for it. All the brewers who have decided not to make one are spot on.

To-Øl the beers I've drank before...

I've built up a random assortment of To-Øl tasting notes in past months which I need to convert into a blog post. The oldest is from September 2018, when I landed in to UnderDog and found Ms Grey, a bière de garde of 7% ABV, the last remnant of the Ms-series of beers which I otherwise Ms'sd.  I was surprised, and rather charmed by the fruit aroma, all luscious peach and apricot. Nothing agéd about that. It may have been Brettanomyces at work, however, as there was some of that yeast's telltale residual gumminess. The flavour was just as interesting, mixing jasmine perfume with cedar spices, finishing on a harder bitterness, almost like a west coast IPA. This is not at all how I remember French bière de garde tasting, but I'm not complaining: it's a very good beer.

A double dessert to follow, beginning with What the Fudge?, a 11% ABV imperial stout. It took me a while to figure out what the unusual aroma was. Not fudge anyway. I eventually pinned it as Irn Bru: that sickly artificial fruit thing. Obviously it was going to taste sweet, and I was quite discombobulated when it didn't. Instead it tastes sharply burnt and unpleasantly savoury. There's a throat-scorching heat and a metal twang on the end. I feel I'm within my rights to expect smoothness, sweetness and luxury from a beer like this, but that is definitely not what is delivered. "A bit crap" says my note from last November. That about sums it up.

Was the equally gimmicky Goliat Maple Beacon going to be any better? Another imperial stout, this was slightly lighter, at 10.2% ABV. The name references the use of maple syrup, and maybe smoked malt as well? Again this is quite dry, high in bitterness with a tangy phenolic seasoning and a touch of salt. And again I was looking for that rich chocolate effect which was completely missing. It's not offensive like the previous one, but not great, even by pastry stout standards.

And another gimmick to finish us off. Dangerously Close To Stupid Amounts of Lychee is one of a series of fruited IPAs, this one coming it at 9.3% ABV. It's a clear orange colour say my notes; my phone tells me I didn't bother photographing it in the gloom of late-night UnderDog. I was expecting lots of tacked-on syrupy lychee but it turned out to mainly taste of toffee, with the fruit no more than a gentle afterthought. A hard aspirin bitterness is all that the hops bring. This didn't really deliver as a fruit beer or a double IPA.

Is it harsh of me to suggest that some of these recipes are demonstrative of what's wrong with beer in general these days? Daring doesn't mean good.

Rounding up

Finishing the week with a round-up of assorted new Irish beers from all over the place.

Galway Bay dropped a new double IPA called Double Super Fuzz, pale and murky in the contemporary fashion. The aroma is gorgeous: mandarin juice with a slight eye-watering acidity. That theme gets louder and more intense on tasting, the juice concentrating to near-cordial levels. There's a lacing of dank resins too, and both of these contribute to quite a sticky texture. It remains clean despite this. 9% ABV generates substantial booze heat but the burn is a precision blue flame. A hint of fried onion creeps into the finish as it warms, but not unpleasantly and entirely in keeping with the overall picture. Irish double IPAs arrive at a high frequency but this is genuinely one of the best I've had in a while. There's no hazy fluff: just big alcohol and huge hops, the things that made supercharging American-style IPA worthwhile in the first place.

By way of balance there's also a new low-strength offering, called Table Beer: Mittelfrüh at just 3.5% ABV. It's a bright and murky yellow colour and I was hoping for a big noble hop kick but it turned out rather dull and savoury, tasting of leafy veg, baking soda and a lightly briney gose-like saltiness. There's nothing really distinctive in the taste, and the dreggy yeast and watery texture don't endear it to me any further. There are much better low-ABV beers around, and the brewery's own Weights & Measures is an excellent example. I don't really get the point of this one.

YellowBelly's non-proprietary dragon-branded session IPA is called Stormborn. Bramling Cross features big here, showing sweet and juicy raisins rather than the more typical blackberry. I don't get much from the complementary Hüll Melon, though there is a substantial and refreshing bitter bite on the end. An English-bitter nuttiness pervades it, and I think my mind automatically filled in the chocolate to create a Cadbury's Fruit & Nut effect. There is a fly in the ointment, though: an odd rubbery buzz bringing a bum note to proceedings. It doesn't ruin it, but it doesn't help, and I've no idea what the cause is. No matter. I'm all on board for decent bitter in Ireland, even if the brewery has to pretend it's something else.

They also put an oblique twist on New England IPA with Tropical Dystopia. It's not terribly hazy by the standards of the style, but it is fruity, though. Pure pineapple juice is the dominant flavour, with all the sweet syrupyness which comes with that. I'm guessing real pineapple juice was used (ingedients were not available at time of writing) and if so there's nothing here I'd chalk up to actual hops. Edit: nope! It's all done with Columbus, Amarillo, El Dorado and lactose. Certainly all the garlic, diesel and yeast grit that often plagues the New England landscape is absent, leaving something clean, sweet and tropical. On the downside it doesn't taste at all like an IPA, the lack of bitterness giving it more the feel of a fruited lager. But that's OK; they're nice too.

White Gypsy's Barbarossa red ale has been around since winter but only passed my way a few weeks ago at The Headline. It's a dark garnet colour and 5.2% ABV. Esters feature big: banana to the fore, with a backing of crisp burnt caramel. It's a bold flavour, big, blousey and unsubtle, but I think I prefer the drier, roastier sort of Irish red, if I'm drinking it at all.

It was a pleasant surprise to stumble across Dungarvan's Greenway pale ale at the O'Brien's Summer Drinks Festival in Blanchardstown: I didn't think it got out of the locality it was created to celebrate, but I'll take it. It's a pale ale of 4.5% ABV and bottle conditioned. That gives it lots of carbonation, forming a thick head which lasts all the way down. All that gas had to come from somewhere and it's quite a dry beer, with an almost roasted crispness. The hops are the other piece of the picture, adding a different sort of dryness, a sharp citric bite. Overall it's a little raw and rough, the process of manufacture leaving it with more than a hint of homebrew, but it's still decent summery drinking for all that.

Micro IPA continues to be the style of the moment, with O Brother the latest to give it a go. Hold Please is the de rigeur 2.8% ABV and the opaque yellow of a New England IPA. There's a bit of that in the aroma: super-fresh dank and herbal hopping plus a touch of sweeter vanilla. Where the texture is soft, and pleasingly full, the flavour has more of the west coast about it: punchy lime citrus, a little tropical pineapple and mango, and a generous dusting of weed. That's quite a symphony of flavour for such a tiny strength. Only a pinch of yeast interrupts the jolly. Overall, a superb effort.

I guess they're going for a telephone theme because that was released alongside Pick Up, described as a mimosa IPA. It's pale and murky, 6.3% ABV, and smelling mildly dank with overtones of fruity chew sweet. The flavour is pleasantly clean, showing lots of spritzy grapefruit. In spite of the substantial strength this is light and refreshing in a summery way, with no stickiness and a restrained bittering. A bit more hop character might have improved it, but still very enjoyable as-is.

The new Whiplash should perhaps be excluded from this all-Irish post, brewed as it was in London by Gipsy Hill. Leave Home is an IPA of 7% ABV which looks, smells and tastes like pineapple juice. Need more than that? There's a big hop dankness and a touch of oily coconut. While not particularly complex it does get great value out of the Chinook and, especially, the El Dorado hops. It's a simple and tasty beer, murky but flawless: something all too rare.

Freedom of Movement is the defiant name on White Hag and Boundary's latest collaboration, and in one of my favourite rare styles too: black lager. There are no fancy bells and whistles here: it's an absolutely rock solid classic schwarzbier, from the roasty aroma through to the soft texture and a dark chocolate flavour, finishing on a dry pinch of burnt toast. There's a very faint fruit or flower complexity buried deep in this: cherries or rosewater, perhaps, but really it's all about that roast. About the only thing I can fault it on is the 33cl can: I quaffed this and immediately wanted more.

A new Boundary solo effort is Whose Idea Was This?, a lush tropical double IPA, brimming with cantaloupe, pineapple and passionfruit. Though it's a relatively modest 8% ABV, there's still lots of heat, but not so much that it interferes with the hop fun. There's a touch of gritty yeast about it too, again only a minor flaw. This is a tremendously fun beer, a loud wild ride of hops and booze. The drinker has no choice but to go along with it.

They go all in with the adjectives on Yeboah, a "double brown export imperial stout". It was the promise of "all the brown malt" that got me in the door: simple and ingenious marketing. It's 10.9% ABV and seems all that and more from the gloopy pour. A purpleish tint to the head and a berry aroma had me wondering if there's cherries or the like involved, but it appears not. The flavour is intensely sweet: hazelnut syrup meets Málaga wine. A streak of dark chocolate is as close as it gets to bitterness. There's a vague coffee quality too, but concentrated and hot, like Tia Maria. I don't think the brown malt gets enough of a shake in this, somewhat drowned by the booze. It's still a very decent imperial stout, though. It's good to see an Irish brewery mixing it with the continentals at this stuff.

For Dublin Pride, Street 66 on Parliament Street have an exclusive house beer created by Sullivan's. It's a pale ale called Stonewall, with no advertised ABV but it tasted decently strong to me: lusciously full-bodied with lots of soft fleshy fruit flavours, including honeydew melon, white plum and tinned lychee. A biscuity note adds a touch of peach crumble to the whole picture, and there's just enough bitterness -- apple skin levels -- to remind you it's a pale ale. This is smooth and easy-going yet properly characterful. It gets a little candy-sweet as it warms, but otherwise it's perfect for a summer seasonal. A clean glass would be even better.

Finally, the most eagerly anticipated beer of 2019, for me anyway, is Wide Street's Brett Saison. It's the first big release from the long-gestating Co. Longford wild beer specialist. 5.6% ABV and hopped with East Kent Goldings, the can tells me. It's a hazy gold colour and shows plenty of busy fizz. That definitely adds to the white-grape-and-toast champagne aroma. It's not as crisp as the smell suggests, being quite thick and gummy, another Brett characteristic, I guess. A peach melba sweetness goes along with this, swiftly followed by dry breadcrust. It's not madly complex, but it's very well constructed, lining out its flavour with precise discipline. A promising start from Wide Street. What's next?

That's it for today. Keep 'em coming, Irish brewers.

Rebels at large

After Monday's Dublin run-down, a smattering of beers from Co. Cork that found their way up here recently.

Black's of Kinsale joins the micro IPA trend with Night And Day, the lowest-strength Irish example so far at 2.5% ABV and badged as an "ultra session IPA". It's unavoidably watery, alas. There's a certain hop punch: lemon sherbet or Berocca, finishing on a hard waxy bitterness, though even that is dull and muted. I get that it's trying to be light and easy-going but there's a lack of substance that spoils it for me. I can see why other brewers pile in the oats when they're brewing these.

Black's is also continuing its exploration of cannabis terpenes in beer with a third recipe, this one quite different from the IPAs that went before. Black Cherry Soda Kush Porter leans more on the fruit than the herb, delivering a somewhat sticky cherryade sweetness. The chocolate is entirely complementary: a velvety cocoa buzz. There's a rasp of bitterness at the end but that's entirely in keeping with hops rather than anything more exotic. It's lighter and easier-going than 5% ABV suggests, slipping back without fuss, the syrup flavour not building unpleasantly. I'm reminded a little of Trouble's charming Christmas seasonal Dash Away. Perfect if you fancy a touch of winter in your summer.

On a more appropriately seasonal note there's Tropical Kush Crush, a "High PA" with added fruit. This 5%-er is a pale hazy orange colour, with a token head which faded fast. There's a definite weedy element in the aroma: a strong buzz of resins. The flavour is sweeter, the fruit lending it a touch of orangeade. This is balanced with some savoury spicing: tumeric, mint and woody ginger numbing the tongue. The texture is light, making it another quaffable effort, but with plenty of complexity too. Of the four Kush beers from Black's s far, this is the weediest, though it's still a solid IPA and not a stoner novelty drink.

From west Cork to north Cork next. Third in the Eight Degrees eighth anniversary series, following Yellow and Blue, is Red Ball. They've gone for an Australian-hopped IPA, using Vic Secret, Ella and Enigma. It was a job to pour, piling up an extravagant powdered wig of a head. Beneath this the body is a pleasingly clear amber colour. No burst of exotic hops in the aroma; just a dry and tannic tea effect with a slightly sweaty hop funk. The flavour is seriously dry: one of those astringencies that strips the moisture from the mouth. I waited for some softer flavours but none came, neither hop fruit nor malt candy. This is a very severe beer, closest in character to an English brown bitter, or possibly a strong ale, given the 5.7% ABV. Either way, not much fun here.

That's it from the Corkonians. Beer from not-Cork will follow on Friday.

The local scene

The summer beer release schedule has been in overdrive lately. Today's round-up is just from the busy brewers of Dublin and its periphery.

None busier than Rascals lately, with the pilot kit at full tilt, as well as several bigger releases, and their taproom the most convenient place to find them.

Born Sippy answers the need for a house lager, though I can't say I wasn't disappointed they didn't bring their magnificent Rain Czech back. Unfiltered, says the menu, and yet it's a very clear pale yellow. Dry hopping with Mandarina Bavaria has given it an unorthodox amount of fruit flavour, sweet peach and mango more than mandarins, I thought. There's not much under this: I suspect the base lager is a bit bland. The brewery claims it's in a Bavarian style but it lacks the big fluffy malt softness that I regard as the helles hallmark. Crispness and bitterness are missing too. Despite these quibbles, it gets the job done: properly refreshing; clean and characterful; just like a house lager should be. Cans are also available if you can't make it to HQ.

An elaborate witbier follows. Smooth & Witty has added orange, chamomile and honey. Sugar bomb? Actually, no. The honey flavour leaps out, but it's not sickly or sticky, more floral and herbal. The chamomile brings a balmy bitterness, mellowed by the soft wheat of the underlying beer. The ABV is a modest 4.7% making for easy drinking, and while it's complex, the flavour isn't busy, staying balanced and harmonious. This is a delicately perfumed take on the wit style which pulls some interesting tricks without losing sight of its roots. I approve.

The Boss is a double IPA of 8.2% ABV, opaque orange and big on super-fresh dank. There's a tropical hit at the front: mango and pineapple, then the spiky herbal grass on a thick resin base. That thickness is a big feature: the whole thing is dense and chewy, the body aided by a slightly gritty yeast fuzz, but not one that gets in the way of the hops. And yet it's not hot or soupy, partly thanks to the invigorating low temperatures they serve their beer at, but also because of an almost astringent dryness in the finish, of the sort usually found in much stronger hop bombs. Overall it's a monster of balance: banging out the hops, piling in the booze, but staying clean and very drinkable. Get it while it's fresh.

Despite my diligence I thought I'd missed their Dubliner Weisse so was pleased to find it at their tap-takeover in The Big Romance last Thursday. It was my first visit to Dublin's height-of-cool hangout for beer, vinyl and toasties. Far from a traditional Berliner weisse, this beer is 4.7% ABV and brewed with added raspberry, lactose and vanilla. It is, therefore, not sour: showing just a smooth tang on the finish. Before that it's a riot of candy fruit: cherry lips and Refresher chews, the sweetness building to a jammy finish with an almost sugary crunch. I managed a whole pint but it was starting to get a little cloying by the finish.

On the day it was released another brewery produced a very different beer with the exact same name. Third Circle's Dubliner Weisse is a straighter sort of Berliner. At least I think it is: I got a blast of lemon zest from the first sip, though the Citra hops may have something to do with that. Behind this there's an intense stony dryness; a kind of cement grit I associate with lambic beers from De Troch in particular. This is definitely a beer of two halves: one I enjoyed and one I didn't. At just 3.8% ABV it is refreshing and quenches the thirst, which is what I was after, but that harsh mineral finish rubbed me up the wrong way. I understand it's a one-off, thus solving the naming issue, so if you want to compare notes with me, try it soon.

Sibling brand Stone Barrel have had their Slammer nano IPA on the market for a while but I only recently got round to trying it. I was thirsty so wasn't too bothered about the murky appearance. The aroma was enticing: ripe mandarin and a touch of peppery spice. It's the latter that forms the main part of the flavour: a mix of white pepper and nutmeg -- not what you might expect from an IPA. Behind it is a serious bitter dankness, all steaming grass cuttings and dark boiled spinach. Fruit, mostly grapefruit, plays a very minor third-level role in all this. The texture is light rather than watery, and it achieved the task I set it: the quenching of a thirst. Yes I think it would be a better beer if cleaner and clearer, but I would definitely be happy to slam a few of these in a row.

Returning to drinking at the source, The Porterhouse staged a grand launch event for the new(ish) brewery last month. With it came two brand new releases, further signs of this veteran keeping up with current beer trends.

First up is the session IPA Be.Low, at 3.6% ABV. It's quite a pithy and bitter job; dry with a powdered chalky finish. I found it a little severe for session drinking, and dare I say not very modern: take that how you will. Slow sipping gave time for some fruit esters to emerge as it warmed but it's still not great. Porterhouse representatives have been using the creation of this beer to deflect calls for the return of TSB. It will not do.

A Milkshake IPA is not something I'd ever have expected to see from the venerable House of Porter, but here we are. It's not a total bandwagon-jumper, eschewing basic strawberry and raspberry for more exotic starfruit and prickly pear. The latter is a favourite flavour of mine, and one I don't think I've encountered in beer before. It's pleasingly dominant too, adding a kooky pink-bubblegum taste. The lactose flavour is muted, appearing only right at the end, though I'm guessing it adds the creamy texture. The substantial 6% ABV probably helps too. The middle has a proper hop bitterness -- a hard and green vegetal note injecting much needed grown-up seriousness. The only real downside for me was the aroma: an off-putting artificial plastic thing. Overall, though, it's a fun addition to the line-up.

The latest seasonal release from JW Sweetman is a nitro red ale, a style which doesn't stir my enthusiasm, though we're promised bonus American hops in this Washington Red. It's red all right, a gleaming shade of copper. Though the flavour is muted by the cold nitrogen, it has a decent amount of fruit character, predominantly strawberry and red apple, leading to quite a hard grapefruit bitterness in the finish. Between the two sides there is enough going on to hold one's attention for the duration of a pint, while the smoothness ensures easy drinking. It won't set anyone's world alight, and there's better beer in the core range, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with this, if you must have a nitro red.

For Indie Beer Week I visited Priory Brewing in Tallaght for their open evening. It's an ambitious set of plans they have for their current near-nano set-up. My main mission was to try their recently released grodziskie, Holy Smoke, a particularly light one at 2.8% ABV. It's a very anaemic yellow but isn't thin in texture nor lacking flavour. The smoke is laid on luxuriously thick, bringing a certain sweetness too, like maple-cured, or even candied, bacon. This fades to leave a refreshingly dry finish, without any of the harshness or acridity you sometimes get from this sort. Overall it's fun, interesting, but still extremely sessionable and refreshing.

For more frivolous sour action there's Hope Limited Edition 15: Pineapple and Passion Fruit Sour. This is dark orange coloured and has a clean tangyness, the sour much more restrained than in, for example, the Third Circle Weisse above. I'm not sure I would have guessed the fruit, though fruit is definitely present. It's not quite as sweet as real pineapple nor as passionfruity as passionfruit tends to be. I might have guessed mango or guava instead. It's good, though. Nicely balanced between the fruit and the tang, with neither dominating.

More citrus? How about a new one from honorary Dublin brewery Trouble? Amanda Rin is a pale ale with mandarin in it. The bitterness is very low, and here the fruit brings a kind of floral perfume vibe: lavender and Turkish delight; chew sweets and Parma Violets. Orangeade too, of course, or even Tanora. I'm guessing this is designed to be easy-going summer drinking and it succeeds at that, although the ABV is a little high at 5%. Subtle and complex don't apply here; enjoyable does, however.

That's it for today. The backlog-clearance of Irish beers will continue through the week.

Tropical Norway

Norwegian beer is a little thin on the ground around here at the moment, so today I'm raising a glass to the randomness of Marks & Spencer's selection, whence came this first pair.

First up is Dag, a pale ale from Ægir. It flopped out of the wide-mouthed can forming a tall stack of foam which faded quickly. I think the pour may have knocked a lot of the fizz out of it as it's barely sparkling. From the rose-gold colour I was expecting a significant malt contribution in the flavour but it does live up to its "sitrus" billing, with a spritzy blend of mandarin, satsuma and lemon. The bitterness is restrained and the hops get busy with fruit instead, plus an off-kilter herbs-and-coconut effect. Served colder than I had it, this would be a great refresher, and though not malt forward in taste it has plenty of texture for a mere 4% ABV. A solid effort, overall.

Amundsen is a new brewer to me, the offer a very unNordic passionfruit pale ale called Lorita. Again with the pull-off can lid, and again with the low carbonation. This one is a pale and hazy pineapple yellow and the passionfruit gets most of its business done in the aroma: all fresh and juicy. That takes an unexpected about-face when it comes to tasting: more cordial than fresh fruit, and with a wide streak of dankly bitter hops. The contrasting flavours took a bit of getting used to, but I came round to them eventually. I think I was expecting a total fruitbomb -- as passionfruit usually delivers -- whereas it's actually balanced and properly complex. There's a lasting finish of tangy and fresh citrus hops. While I'm generally disapproving of the adding of fruit syrups to pale ales, if you absolutely must, this isn't a bad example of how to balance it.

Away from M&S, I have another tropical-tasting Norwegian beer in my notes so I may as well wedge it in here. Lervig's Liquid Sex Robot showed up on tap in UnderDog a while back and, despite the puerile branding ("double dry-humped"; "orgasm in a can") is a very decent IPA. It's a bright and hazy orange colour, 7.9% ABV, and quite old-world sweet to begin: I got orange cordial and boiled candy on the first sugary sips. Yet, cleverly, it doesn't feel too heavy and there's no building, cloying, weight. Instead, the late stages bring a fresh and spritzy hit of mango and mandarin which balance the intensity and make for some remarkably easy drinking. Perhaps a little too easy for a full-strength double IPA, though: it's less of a complex and chewy palate-pounder than most and I can't help thinking that maybe all that alcohol is just for show and doesn't really bring anything useful to the taste.

The fruited pale ale is the best of the set? Norway is crazy.

Tinfoil hat time

The true beer adventurer checks out the cheapie Lithuanian cans in the supermarket, searching for any traces of that country's unique brewing culture sneaking through unnoticed. So it is with this pair from Volfas Engelman in Kaunas, purchased in my local supermarket for €2.20 a pop and both sporting natty metal headgear, presumably to keep the rat piss off.

I wasn't expecting an explosion of honey and sourdough from the Pilzeno, mind. "The bitterness you feel is from the old formula of various aromatic hops" is the epitaph-worthy inscription on the full-pint can. The beer itself is a wan pale yellow, mostly clear with a few suspended bits, and an approachable 4.7% ABV. It tastes, or at least feels, stronger: weighty and thick, like a märzen or bock. The flavour is simpler, however, being bready like a Dortmunder, low on hops and finishing quickly and cleanly, with only a trace of fruit esters. I deem it insufficiently hopped for a proper pils but it's still quite tasty. There's the satisfying filling quality of a stronger lager and... oh! I get a tiny pinch of honey right on the end, perhaps showing a little Lithuanian character after all. Your €2.20 goes a respectably long way with this one.

Beside it in on the shelf was Rinktinis, literally "Select". A little stronger at 5.2% ABV and altogether more polished looking: clear golden with a lasting head. It doesn't taste markedly different to the previous one, being a similarly weighty pale lager, emphasising its malt side with little contribution from the hops. The clarity means it's crisper than the other, but that comes at the expense of character: there's certainly no honey or fruit. It was heavier going and definitely harder to find things to say about.

Overall these are a solidly Germanic pair, not as interesting as I'd hoped but still worth throwing a handful of change at when you fancy a lager you haven't tried before.

Black ballast

UnderDog recently staged a takeover of Ballast Point barrel-aged offerings. It was the place to be if you like 'em dark and strong. I went along the day after to see what was left. Plenty, as it turned out.

Sea Monster (right of picture) is an imperial stout at 12.4% ABV, this being the Willet bourbon edition. The aroma is a gorgeous mix of rich cocoa and creamy Irish coffee plus a slightly savoury autolytic note. Its texture is nicely full, and it generates a subtle warmth without excessive heat. In the flavour I found a dialectical struggle between chocolate and bourbon: both out, loud, and proud. The first few sips were far too easy to drink, but it did turn a little curdling in the stomach before long. Not a session beer, then.

I was thoroughly intrigued by the description of Indra Kunindira, a barrel aged curry stout. I mean, what's not to like? This one is a mere 7% ABV and has spent time in Heaven Hill bourbon barrels. That hasn't muted the mix of curry spices, which are very apparent in the flavour: separate and distinct from the beer flavours. They add a fun savoury complexity and a mild spicing to a chocolate-filled base. The bourbon adds a substantial amount of vanilla to this, and it all narrowly avoids being a complete mess. The chilli pepper and coconut save it, however: that's the bit that raised a smile every time I took a sip. More curry beer please, brewers.

Round two brought a Brandy Barrel Aged Belgian Quad at 12.7% ABV. It's almost as black as the rest and the flavour is much more savoury than I was expecting from the description: an almost acrid, hard, earwax effect. The booze heat rescues it, mellowing the beer and dulling the drinker's senses. There's a certain classy spirit charm in the finish, a happy belly-warmth, but effort is involved to get there.

On the other side, a red wine Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Stout. It's like all the water evaporated out of the fruit as it fermented and what was left for the beer has a hard and concentrated jam quality. It tastes powerfully of raspberry and strawberry. All that sugar leaves very little room for stout, just a dusting of milky chocolate pudding with a hint of vanilla. I want imperial stout to be big and bitter and boozy, but this is none of those things. It's a fruity milksop. Passable. Fun, even. But not the good stuff.

I actually don't know how we fitted in a third set, but anyway that featured Piper Down, on the left there, a scotch ale here in its bourbon-aged form. It's 7.8% ABV, a deep brown colour and quite flat, with just the thinnest of heads. I thought the texture was a little thin but that could be just in comparison with what had gone before. Oak dominates the flavour, sitting next to an intensely sweet maple syrup effect. Bourboning-up an already sweet beer style isn't a great idea in general and I think Ballast Point have just about got away with making something palatable out of it.

The other brown lad there is Navigator, a doppelbock. They aged this in a brandy barrel, and I'll admit I was suspicious of any attempt to "enhance" a lager in this way, however strong and dark the starting beer may be. It finished at 10.7% ABV -- definitely overclocked for a doppelbock. But it tasted fantastic. The sour aroma was a little off-putting but this translates to a lip-smacking vinous quality on tasting: port or madeira. The wholesome cookie malt base remains in place and you get to enjoy the classic lager aspects alongside the barrel-aged complexity. Very nicely done.

That was it for the barrels, but a couple of weeks later another dark Ballast Point job showed up on tap. Mocha Marlin is a coffee porter at a modest 6% ABV. It is extremely coffee, from the real mocha aroma to the oily ristretto flavour -- sharply astringent and harshly dry -- to the earthy spent-grounds finish. That's all well and good if you like coffee, but some of us like porter too, and there's absolutely no sign of the base beer under this: any roast or chocolate notes from the malt have been unceremoniously subsumed by the additions. No doubt it will have fans, but I found it hard to like.

They don't much go in for subtlety at Ballast Point, and I wasn't really expecting to find any here. There were some interesting flavour combinations, though. If nothing else, it was an education on the ways of wood.