We'll leave it there

I'm off on my holliers shortly but before I go, here's a round-up of assorted Irish new-release beers. My last local beers for a while.

We begin with a fresh double IPA from YellowBelly: Immoral Support. I had thought this was a special for their annual barbecue (which I missed) so was pleasantly surprised to find it on tap in UnderDog. It's a 9.2% ABV monster but is not as hot and sticky as might be expected. There's a definite barley-sugar sweetness, although it's clean and doesn't clog up the palate. That leaves lots of room for hop fun. Unfortunately, there isn't much hop fun to be found. A mild mango and guava tropicality flashes briefly at the front, followed by an old-world pithy taste, and finishing back on the west coast on a pine bitterness. But you really have to let the liquid linger on the tongue to get the full effect. In a hurry, you could be forgiven for describing this as bland. I'll go with "inoffensive", and very subtle for such a big beer. Faint praise? Whatever.

It's been a long time since there was a new Irishtown beer, but here's their Dublin IPA which I picked up in Tesco. No provenance is given but I guess they're still brewing at Hope. It's a middle-of-the-road 4.4% ABV and a copper orange colour. Although it claims tropical hops like Mosaic and El Dorado, it tastes heavily of Cascade to me. The aroma has that earthy resinous quality while the flavour is sharply piney, balanced by a significant amount of caramel malt. There was a time when I might have been miffed about how basic this is, but here in the milkshake era, it's delightfully retro, channelling the pale ales by Sierra Nevada and Galway Hooker, back when they were exciting.

Just ahead of Hagstravaganza, version four of Púca arrived. Púca Apricot retains the standard 3.5% ABV and, like last year's lime one, goes all in on the fruit addition. This is at the expense of the mixed-fermentation sourness, burying it under a real, but distinctly sweet, apricot jam flavour. It's still light and thirst-quenching but there was a lack of zing, and for me that's the whole point of a beer like this. If you really like apricots you'll get a kick out of it; otherwise original Púca remains the best of the range.

The July release in this year's YellowBelly Beer Club is perhaps a little unseasonal. They've gone with an imperial black IPA called Bushido: a colossus at 10.5% ABV. It's certainly black, a dense and even obsidian with no telltale red or brown edges. The accompanying leaflet mentions torrified wheat for head retention, and there's certainly no shortage of foam on top when pouring, though that fades gradually to a more respectful off-white lid. The aroma is a candyshop of chocolate, fudge and fruit jellies, El Dorado bringing the tropics to an unusual place. The flavour is remarkably unbitter for this sort of thing, with a minty herbal kick in the finish being as severe as it gets. Before that there's a lovely mix of floral Turkish Delight, Swiss milk chocolate and strong coffee. A sensation of warmth contributes to the latter effect, and that's of course from the booze. It's not jarringly hot, though: the rich and smooth texture really makes the alcohol feel like it belongs. Even in 26° heat, this was a beaut. Balance this well done conquers all.

Better suited to the warm weather was yet another new lager from Galway Bay. Field Music is described as a "rustic pilser" which had me expecting something a bit rough and hazy. It's even brewed with hay. What I got was a pint of purest clear gold topped with a fine white foam that laced the glass all the way down. The aroma is grassy and that translates to a bitter vegetal bite right in the middle of the palate. Around it the beer is remarkably soft and sweet, reminding me more of Czech pale lager than the stark and angular north-German look this is going for. That said, the bitterness is never far away, making for a sublime mouthwatering pils, light enough to quaff for refreshment but decently complex too. This is the best of the recent series of GBB lagers. I look forward to them improving further on it.

Requiem, the next Galway Bay beer out, was quite a contrast. Black IPA has been tragically unhip for a while now but here's a new one. At 7% ABV it's not as big as the brewery's thumping double version, Solemn Black, but it does share a lot in common with it. There's an intense bitterness, all green cabbage, tar and liquorice, which twists into almost sourness with a lactic tang in the finish. Through the texture is quite thick, there's a busy and pointy carbonation, accentuating its overall sharpness. The fade-out is dry and burnt, like charcoal. Though billed as a black IPA, a lot of these characteristics are ones I associate with old-fashioned stouts. It may be helpful to think of it as one of those. I got a tiny hint of grapefruit emerging as it warmed, but that's as fruit-forward as it gets; don't come to it for the IPA experience. With Wrasslers now relegated to a seasonal beer, this should help plug the gap until it returns.

After five years, St Mel's makes the move to cans with a celebratory "opalescent" IPA called Lushtrum. "Opalescent" means hazy orange, it seems. There's quite a sweet aroma, a little surprising, perhaps, given the big-hitting American hop bill including Simcoe and Citra. It's bitterer on tasting, at least at first, the earthy Cascade at the front. Juicy jaffa orange finishes it off and I'm chalking that up to the Amarillo. Lush it ain't. I found it quite harsh in both the bitterness and sweetness; unbalanced two ways at once. This is some tough drinking, all the way to the end, and will shock anyone coming to it thinking thoughts of New England.

I was worried I'd missed Larkin's Tribune when it appeared, briefly, on draught a couple of months ago. Thankfully cans soon followed. It's an American-style IPA of 5.5% ABV, pouring an opaque orange colour, like orangeade. There's no mention of New England on the label copy, but it's in that zone, from both the appearance and the softly effervescent texture. For hops we are given Cascade, Lemondrop, Mosaic and Azacca: quite a fruit-forward mix, and that adds further to the orangeade effect, bringing both juice and pith I get a slight garlicky buzz as well, but entirely in keeping with the rest of the taste. It's very nicely done, extremely well balanced between the juicy-sweet and citrus-bitter sides; light and refreshing while also multifaceted. If this sticks around, Trouble Brewing's Ambush will have some competition.

Staying on an orange vibe, we have Matty Baby, the latest in Wicklow Wolf's Crossbreed Series. It's a double IPA and brewed in collaboration with Boundary. This is light for the style, just 7.5% ABV, and I think that stands to it. There's nothing extreme about it: the texture and flavour are mild and balanced, making for a more rounded drinking experience. There's a very old-fashioned west coast vibe in the aroma: spritzy satsuma smoothed out by toffeeish crystal malt and seasoned with peppery cedar. The use of lactose is more modern but doesn't make it taste weird. The flavour is tang, pith, and then a gentle caramel warmth. In a world of hyperactive in-your-face IPAs, it's nice to meet a calm and measured one. This is very relaxed drinking and goes great with some vintage cheddar.

Wicklow Wolf's other regular series is the Endangered Species one-offs, and the latest there is Fuzzy Logic, a New England-style IPA. Fuzzy indeed: the 440ml can had no problem filling a pint glass, the beer topped with a thick layer of loose fluffy froth. Beneath that it's a slightly worrying orange-grey colour. The aroma has a hint of spring onion about it, with perhaps some lime citrus buried deeper. That dualism is reflected in the flavour too, where it opens on a savoury note of garlic plus a diesel heat before quickly softening to mandarin and nectarine. There's a bit of a dreggy burn on the finish providing the other slice for this sensory sandwich. While it certainly has flaws, ones entirely common to the style, it's saved by the flavours all being quite muted, with nothing so loud as to offend the palate. It's possible to concentrate on that luscious fruit middle and ignore the rest.

Catching up with some new ones from White Gypsy, I begin with their Vienna Lager. It was a bit gushy when I opened it, the large head crackling away to nothing quite quickly. It's a murky red-brown colour and smells more like a porter than a lager: a heady mix of chocolate, caramel and liquorice. It's more lager-like to taste, clean and malt-driven, with melanoidin biscuit notes and lots of spinachy noble hop. It is lacking in crispness, though. I'd like more of a sparkle. As-is, it resembles a rustic brewpubby beer rather than a polished lager. It took me a while to get my head around the different features but I was enjoying it by the end.

I recently reviewed White Gypsy's Barbarossa red. They have another one on the market now, called Simply Red. This is in addition to the flagship Ruby. It's a brewery sure of its market that has three Irish reds available simultaneously. This one is stronger than most at 5.5% ABV and uses a hop I'm unfamiliar with: Callista, from Germany. There is a definite hop character here: a herbal, almost minty, kick. That's on a heavy and rounded mix of toffee, butterscotch and a hint of burnt caramel on the end. It's definitely a red from a brewery used to making them. The flavours are well integrated and the body big enough to carry them. Personally, I would prefer a little more crispness, a little more roast, and a deal less diacetyl. But other than that, here is Irish red done very well.

New from Hopfully, in collaboration with their host brewery Lough Gill, is Bean Around, described as a "flat white hazelnut stout". I expected it to be a bit of a confection, especially given the 7.2% ABV, but the aroma, to begin with, is very dry and roasted: all coffee grounds and burnt toast. The sweetness is present but delicate: a gentle milky, creamy effect with a whisper of vanilla and milk chocolate. This softens the coffee roast and makes it taste more like, well, a flat white. I can see the hazelnut once I know it's there, but it does a good job of melding into the overall taste, rather than clanging in the syrupy way I was cynically expecting. The alcohol is no doubt helping accentuate the flavours, while not contributing any heat. Yes it's a novelty beer, but one very well put together. Hopfully may be the primary brewer, but Lough Gill's acumen for stout flavours shines through distinctively here.

Third Barrel's latest is a session IPA called Turn On, Tune In, Hop Out. It's a foamy beast, taking a few goes to get 440ml of beer into a 500ml glass. That presented me with a hazy dark orange beer, its aroma is sickly, like hot custard and fruit salad: smelling like a lot of work for just 4.3% ABV. The flavour is more pleasingly juicy, with tangy tangerine up front and a bite of caraway in the tail. I'm surprised how different the taste and smell are. There's a lovely balance between the soft texture -- shades of New England there -- and the sharper citrus pinch. That's good complexity for some this low strength, and if you don't mind that touch of caraway it's pleasingly devoid of off-flavours. This won't set anyone's world on fire but it's very pleasant session drinking.

Under their sister brand Stone Barrel they've released an IPA with a bit more welly: Hop Art at 6% ABV. This is beige in colour with a strongly sweet vanilla aroma. Things switch dramatically in the foretaste which doesn't do the usual hazy IPA things and instead offers a strange herbal and/or floral flavour. I couldn't quite put my finger on what it reminded me of -- fresh rosemary was as close as I got -- but definitely in that bittersweet and oily end of the botanical world. With this comes a hot resinous burn, the hop oils scorching the tongue somewhat. Smoother vanilla follows as it fades, and there's a mild buzz of garlic too. It reminds me a lot of the last Stone Barrel beer I reviewed, their micro IPA Slammer. Consider it a full-strength version of that. Overall I liked this, despite the weirdness.

Finally, Kildare Brewing dropped me a couple of cans of their new one, Electric Juice IPA. "Juicy beer full of juicyness" begins the product description, but I think they've overstated the juiciness. It's sweet, for sure, and I'd swear there was lactose in it, though the ingredients list tells me it's all done with oats. That said, it's not as heavy as many like this and there's a lightness to the texture that speaks to its origins as a pub beer before they thought to can it. There is a fruit side to the flavour, though more citrus and sherbet than anything much tropical. I get a slight pinch of savoury sesame and a clean, dry soda finish. It's not the same as what the cool kids of hazy IPA are brewing, but it's a well-made and accessible take on it.

And that's it until the Great Game of Catch-Up when I get back. The next two weeks of content will be generated by a neural net based on the previous 1800 posts. You won't notice the difference.

Rack on

The Eight Degrees eighth anniversary series reached half way with number four: Purple Ball. It's a brut IPA dry-hopped with Hallertau Blanc; 6.3% ABV. These tend to be quite pale but this is a cheery shade of amber. There a malt sweetness in the aroma which, again, is out of keeping but very welcome. The texture is big and thick, though doesn't support much flavour. There's a dry bitterness which rises slowly, sprinkled with jaffa orange and a sandalwood spicing. Despite the strength it's very refreshing and easy-drinking, if a little lacking in complexity. The label says it resembles the Franciacorta wines of Italy, and while I don't think I've ever drank one, I doubt this is true. Overall, however, I enjoyed it. Brut purists may say it's not properly dry, but I'll take balance over purity every time.

Orange Ball is orange and is brewed with oranges, as well as passionfruit and guava. At 3.9% ABV it's designed to be easy summer drinking. The aroma is nicely tropical, with a hint of sweet Lilt about it. The texture is as thin as might be expected, with a sharp carbonic bite. This was supposed to be offset by the use of oats, but it isn't. The fruit flavours get a good outing, and it tastes properly juicy even if it doesn't feel it. The sorbet effect of the passionfruit is especially prominent, lasting long into the finish. Tea-like tannins and some hop bittering help balance the sweetness. Texture issues aside, I think this achieves what it sets out to do, and it's quite similar to the other tropical fruit flavoured pale ales on the market. If you're an Elvis Juice sort of person, this is a beer for you.

Just three to go now. I'm expecting something really special when we get to black, but before that let's see what green and maroon bring.

Here a DOT, there a DOT

It doesn't feel like there's been a rush of DOT beers recently (Big Grill Festival notwithstanding; I wasn't there) but I seem to have amassed a collection of tasting notes; enough to put a dedicated blog post together.

Around the time of UnderDog's second birthday last month we got DOT's Beer 100 which is described as an "eis-stout", the first beer I've encountered labelled as such. Freeze distilling what was probably already a plenty-big imperial stout brought it to 16% ABV. Collaborators Proper Chocolate added an ingredient which made it very chocolatey indeed. Amazingly there's no sign of all that alcohol so it ends up tasting like a liqueur without the heat. You need to really like chocolate to enjoy this, and not be bothered by the absence of beer flavours. It's good fun, though, and I'd say the chocolate folk got a kick out of it.

Pouring alongside it was Mr Paddy D, a blend of double IPAs aged in bourbon and Irish whiskey barrels, and created in honour of one of UnderDog's proprietors -- I don't know which one. It's 9.2% ABV and a dark orange colour. Coconut was the predominant flavour I found in it; the toasted variety, specifically. There's a very bourbonish vanilla sweetness too. Though the alcohol is apparent, it's quite lightly textured, creating a kind of bourbon-and-Coke effect. My notes say a Vermont yeast was used to create it, but I doubt there's anything of New England left here after the three months in oak. This was one to be savoured as a barrel-aged rarity, not as an IPA.

It wasn't around long, but if you missed it you might still chance on its fraternal twin, Walk In The Woods. This is constructed from the same base beers but blended in different proportions. I didn't get to try them side-by-side, but I still think they have a lot in common -- presumably there are only so many places a whiskey-aged double IPA can go. For the record, lots of limey bourbon and a salted caramel tang, with increasing banana esters as it warms. Again stupidly easy drinking for 9.2% ABV.

DOT's Portrait Project for Martin's off licence reaches number IV, a white-wine-barrel-aged saison. It's a clear pale amber colour and smells stickily of oak vanilla. Though it's only 5.9% ABV I felt from the outset I was in for something heavy and serious. It is serious, but not heavy. The oak becomes no more than a spicing in the flavour. There's some substance from the white grapes, a jammy sweetness with overtones of mead. And at no point does it lose its basic sense of saison: there's an underlying dry earthy quality to balance whatever sugars the fruit throws in. It's maybe too intense a flavour experience for more than 33cl in a single sitting -- I think it might get a bit cloying after that. Can't argue with what it delivers though: wine barrels coming through loud and clear.

On DOT's other strand there's a new canned IPA called Detour. It's a murky orange colour, spiked with oats and rye, and hopped with Idaho 7, Amarillo, Hüll Melon and Galaxy. That's a fruity combination and it gives the beer a lovely mix of peaches, grapes, apples and plums: the dessert section in the baby food aisle. I imagine. Unfortunately, mixed in with this, there's all the dreggy murk one fears from hazy IPA: a throat-scorching savoury burn, fading to a lasting plasticky note. "Clean it up" says the broken record which masquerades as my critical acumen. It's OK overall, but there's a great beer in here, begging for a bit of a polish.

 Once again, DOT's barrel efforts eclipse the fresh IPAs. Expect more from both programmes in due course.

Anglo-Belgo a-go-go

Two beers gifted from English friends today, both from their native country though in Belgian styles.

Myles gave me this bottle of Durham's Bede's Chalice tripel, presenting it with a warning to open carefully. I did, but it behaved impeccably, pouring clear and having a calm and respectful amount of froth. With an ABV of 9% and coriander and orange peel listed in the ingredients this should have been a riot of luxury Belgian flavours but it turned out quite restrained in this too. There's a slight marmalade tang and a brush of meadowy flowers but the taste is dominated by an off, but not severe, phenolic note. The booze gives it a heavy, syrupy texture which should be a base for fruity Belgian fun but that never materialises. It's not terrible but it definitely lacks character and is certainly a long way from any classic Belgian tripel.

Meanwhile down in Norfolk, the Poppyland brewery is run by Martyn Cornell's brother Dave, and Martyn kindly brought bottles to give away on his recent Poland trip, where I met him. Alexanders is a foraged herb saison of 5.4% ABV. It's amber coloured: darker than your typical saison. The aroma is classically saisonish, however, being all white pepper and a waft of soft stonefruit. It's quite savoury to taste, a herbal mix of sage, rosemary and similar Sunday-lunch accoutrements. A look at the ingredients tells me the effect is achieved with coriander and the titular alexanders, aka horse parsley. The herb side does gel well with saison's earthy spices, so we never lose sight of the well-made classic saison at the base. Circumstances meant I drank this much warmer than it deserved, but I can see how it would refresh nicely if properly cool. This is nothing fancy or weird, but well-made and interesting.

There's nothing here to worry the Belgians, though it's good to see English breweries producing beers outside of the national tradition or generic craft styles.

Hag stragglers

Following on from Monday's Hagstravaganza round-up, the beers which were at the festival but I didn't bother with on the day, for one reason or another.

In the case of The White Hag's own Glás, that was because it's a milkshake IPA. Yuck. But then it showed up in UnderDog earlier this week and I gave in. It's 6% ABV and a hazy orange-yellow colour. It smells extremely sickly, like the cheaper and nastier sort of milkshake from my 1980s childhood. The texture is thick, each pull being hard actual work. And the flavour... ugh. I don't know what they made it from other than lactose, but the fruit flavour is highly artificial, giving it the taste of children's medicine. There's something resembling real fruit in it: a buzz of peach or apricot juice, but it's peripheral to the clanging, cloying milky sugar bullshit. I didn't expect to get such a cliché of everything wrong with the concept of "milkshake IPA" but here it is. If this is what you wanted beer to be in 2019, fill your boots.

I also deliberately didn't have either of the new O Brother beers, figuring they would find their way to my usual haunts in Dublin sooner or later. Sure enough, within a week both were pouring at UnderDog.

8 Track Mind is an IPA in the New England mould. 6.1% ABV and the de rigeur shade of opaque yellow. Garlic and onion flavours are a regular issue in beers of this style and this one has them both in spades, to the exclusion of almost everything else. It's a sharp and burning acidity, and it comes with a side of yeasty dregs. Then it all tails off quickly in a dull savoury finish. No fruit, not even a dusting of sweet vanilla. This isn't an awful beer, and is within the boundaries of the style, but I found it hard to see the good in it. Again, I guess some people like this sort of thing.

We double down with Curated Reality, a triple IPA. "Custard Reality" might be a better name: it's thick, yellow and quite sweet. There's a white wine effect in the foretaste; a mix of juicy grape and lots of clean alcohol. There's some cool and crunchy green apple too, in that crisp sauvignon blanc sort of way. The finish is a little sickly, bringing a taste of concentrated peach syrup. While the strength is obvious, and an integral part of the overall thing, it's not heavy or hot and doesn't threaten a headache the way pale beers of this strength often do. The style is another one I'm not really a fan of in general: pumping up the booze and hops level doesn't seem to add any extra dimensions to IPA flavour complexity, and there are no fireworks or moments of revelation to be found in this. It's fine though: they've avoided all manner of things that could have gone wrong.

Maybe I'm out of step with modern IPA trends but none of these really impressed me, or gave me something I'd never had before. I guess when a brewery turns out as many different beers as O Brother and White Hag do, some are going to be by-the-numbers.

Third time's the charm

Just the one post from me for Hagstravaganza 2019. I was flying solo for this the White Hag Brewery festival's third outing in Ballymote, although that was offset a little by the extra hour of drinking time thanks to a change in the Sligo to Dublin rail timetable. With this 7.20pm departure, Irish Rail, you have us spoilt!

The brewery's barrel stores are really filling out the vast space where the festival is held. That constrained the bar a little this year, but it still had the full complement of 60 taps, with breweries from Ireland and further afield.

I opened my account with one of the new releases from the hosts: Hopstravaganza, a New England-style IPA of 6.2% ABV. It's a properly murky yellow with a greenish tint. The flavour divides neatly into a vanilla side and a garlic side, and the combination is oddly pleasing. While I found it a little shockingly sweet at first, the dank burps it engenders help to counteract that. On the one hand this is nothing special: very much a true-to-style typical NEIPA; while on the other, it delivers exactly what the style is supposed to, without any of the off flavours which too frequently come with it. In the few weeks since the festival I've seen tall cans of this out and about. They're well worth your while when fresh.

As usual there was also a barrel-aged festival special. Hagstravaganza 5 is a bourbon-aged barley wine which they were serving directly from the oak cask. It looked rough: a murky red-brown and completely headless. But it turned out to be beautifully smooth, with gentle toffee, a buzz of espresso and a classy port oak finish. Despite the massive 13% ABV there's no heat, just richness. I suspect it spent a long time in that barrel as the only thing resembling an off flavour I could find was a dusting of autolytic umami, though barely noticeable. This was definitely one to have late on in proceedings and I'm glad I didn't miss it.

Otherwise, regarding Irish beer, I kept it sour and funky. That's where the really interesting things are happening. Boundary isn't a brewery I would associate with microbial creativity, but here was 2019 Cuvée. No information was provided beyond that it's mixed fermentation and, from the name, presumably a blend. It's a pale and hazy yellow colour with a bright yet funky farmyard aroma. The flavour mixes juicy white grape and peachy Brett with dry wood, finishing on a pinch of white pepper. The sourness is teeth-squeakingly clean. It's only 5.1% ABV and that seems to have left it a little thin; allowing the intense acidity to unbalance it slightly. It's still very decent overall, and shows a brewery well in control of this genre of beer.

I had an unprecedented three beers from Land & Labour. The fact that they're so rare has a lot to do with that. First on the board was Panta Rhei, a foudre-matured saison. Hazy yellow and sharply sour once again. This one has some extra spicing -- all saltpetre or gunpowder. A cool green-apple-skin bitterness finishes it off. It's an unusual set of flavours but works incredibly well.

That was followed by Coolship 2018 Blueberry, a bright red-coloured 6.3%-er, spontaneously fermented. I found it convincingly kriek-like, with the right level of dry funk and sweet fruit. Vanilla oak complements the latter, and then there's a slightly harsh vinegar burn at the end. The distinct blueberry flavour is missing from it, however: that could be any of several berries. I liked it, but it's not up there with the best of blueberry lambic by any means.

Just before leaving I managed to catch the unadorned Coolship 2018 for comparison. This is much better. The funky flavours are cool and refreshing; the oak spice adds an extra-quenching spritz. Its sourness, meanwhile, is restrained and refined. Above all this is accessible, showing all the great features of this style of beer, but in a gentle and balanced way. Not that it's a lightweight: 5.8% ABV gives it plenty of substance. I would love to see something like this in regular production at an appropriately accessible price.

We'll transition from the funky Irish beers with a funky foreigner: Azimut's Barrel Brett IPA. This is a pure golden colour and has a gorgeous honey texture. From this there follows luxuriously sticky-sweet apricot and a huge farmyard funkiness. There's just enough hop character to qualify it as an IPA, but I'm not complaining about the Brett being in charge. The brewers of the wild-fermented stuff really did well at this festival.

A downgrade to a basic kettle-soured beer next, Garden Brewery of Zagreb's Kiwi Sour. It's still pretty good, though, with a real and distinct kiwi flavour at the front, turning to a juicy roundness in the finish. The satisfying mouthfeel is aided by 5% ABV. There's just enough tartness to make it interesting and refreshing, while the Citra hopping both balances the fruit with some bitterness, and complements it with lemon and lime flavours. This is an ice lolly more than a full meal, but great fun to drink.

My second Pressure Drop beer that month, and indeed second ever, was Ida, a Berliner weisse promising added raspberry, elderflower and basil. Well, the raspberry is there: it's never a very shy fruit when used in beers. But elderflower and basil? Nope. There's a vaguely sweet herbal tang, but nothing distinct or identifiable. Worst of all is the texture: horribly thin and watery. Yes it's 3.8% ABV so was never going to be a chewer, but this is just offensively dull. At least it wasn't much effort to drink: I'll give it that.

Several people recommended an alternative sour pink beer: Amundsen's Cosmic Unicorn. No messing here: they come right out and describe it as a "pastry sour". I shuddered and went ahead anyway. It's not watery, at least, but it's horribly sticky, like drinking a glass of raspberry jam. There's a concentrated and cloying vanilla flavour too, while the strength is an unreasonable 6.5% ABV. I suppose if you like very sweet fruit beers this will work for you, and as I said, it certainly had its fans there on the day. But it wasn't for me, and I dearly wish brewers would stop using the word "sour" on beers that aren't remotely sour.

Time for another IPA, then. It was great to meet the representatives from Pilot in Edinburgh, and their sales patter landed me a glass of their India India double IPA. The special ingredient in this dark amber 8.5%-er is jaggery and that adds a definite brown-sugar density to it. And I'd say it was plenty dense enough already, being a big and chewy west-coast job, packed with resinous hops. This certainly isn't built for fans of the modern juice-bomb approach to double IPA, but I liked the wintery stylings of it; the warming alcohol making for refined sipping.

Compare and contrast with Higher and Betterer, a double New England-style IPA from Brasserie du Grand Paris at the same strength. This is the appropriate opaque orange colour. The aroma is worryingly funky but its flavour is bright and clean; spritzy with mandarin and satsuma. Here the alcohol is very well hidden. While great fun for the first sip or two, it is a little one-dimensional, offering little beyond the initial citrus. A beer of this strength should have more going on.

With the train home beckoning it was time to score some imperial stout. My first was called Imperial Cosmic Cocoa, coming from Sibling Revelry in Ohio. As the name suggests, it has chocolate in it, and this was the bourbon barrel-aged version. While dense looking it's quite light of texture, reflecting an ABV on the low side for this kind of thing: 8.5% again. There's some good pastry complexity, however: wafer biscuit, gooey caramel and Turkish delight all feature. I don't think they got their money's worth out of that barrel, but the end result came out fine.

The big finish was a Cloudwater job called The Act of Chewing. The blurb said this was nitrogenated, but if so it didn't take, pouring with only the thinnest of loose-bubbled heads. Though 10% ABV it had very little heat going on. The main flavour was a lovely liquorice bitterness of the kind found in too few modern imperial stouts. It could be that my palate wasn't up to tasting any further complexity at this hour, but I'd still have thought I'd get more from a bruiser like this. No matter; it was enjoyable and carried me out of the brewery and onto my train.

Another great show from the White Hag team. The whole event was handled efficiently and professionally, crucially keeping the service moving even at the busiest times. All going well I'll be back for the 2020 gig.

Tap tap tap in the taproom

Today's look at recent specials from Dublin's bar-breweries begins at Urban, where I was well overdue a visit.

The occasion was the re-launch of their EPIC (that's its name) lemon verbena IPA, first released last summer, but there was also a brand new Cardamom White IPA to try. It's a gentle soul, a pale hazy yellow with a wit-like lemony flavour. It doesn't resemble an IPA in any way, which is perhaps unfortunate, but it also isn't one of those horribly soapy white IPAs, something definitely in its favour. A mild bite of bitterness on the end is as hopped as it gets. This is unexciting fare, but as a sunshine-infused outdoor refresher, it works very well.

I was hoping for a similar effect from Urban Pilsner. I'm guessing they were going for something in the Czech style rather than German because it's a big-bodied fluffy candyfloss job with a meadowy grass-like hop flavour and very low bitterness. The strength is on the high side for pils, at 5.3% ABV, and doubtless that too contributes to the texture. The overall execution is perfect: the beer clear and the flavour completely clean with none of the twangs or rough edges you often get with brewpub pilsner. I only had a half which, frankly, was an error on my part.

The extra time I spent on Urban Grapefruit Lager. It was unlikely to be a step up from the previous, and so it proved. This is just 4.3% ABV and hazy orange coloured. The base lager must be very basic indeed as there's almost no flavour contribution from it. The citrus juice on top of that is no more than a squeeze. I think this might be one of those beers created for people who don't really like beer -- every brewpub gets them. It's inoffensive, I guess, but doesn't compare favourably with the pilsner that preceded it.

To Rascals, then, where I made the rare move of ordering a flight to catch-up with the latest from their busy pilot kit. That began (far left) with Peachy Blinders, a brut ale aged on white peaches. It's a bright but hazy custard yellow colour and smells like real tinned peaches, specifically the syrup they float in. The soft and sweet tinned-fruit effect is the bulk of the flavour, though a toasty dry finish also features. It's a bit silly; a fruit salad or peach melba dessert substitute rather than a serious beer, and a little heavy for only 4.2% ABV. It avoids being janglingly sweet or boringly attenuated, though, balancing its two aspects well. I could well believe it could get a following if moved to full production.

There was a time when Irish breweries wouldn't risk a Summer Ginger beer, given the possibility of rain and gales from June through August. Thankfully the ongoing climate catastrophe has fixed that so Rascals was safe to brew one for July release. The bonus addition to this golden 4.4%-er is honey, and I'm not sure I'd have known that was there, unprompted. The ginger is light, providing flavour without any burn, and there's a sweetness which is likely the honey but could easily be malt derived. Like Peachy above, it's a little heavy for something presumably designed to refresh, and a tad bland for a spiced beer. The base is solid though. Enhance the kick of ginger and it could be a winner.

Speakeasy is the third beer along, another brewery attempting to make an old fashioned as a beer. It looks pretty beery: a hazy pale amber with a long-lasting head. I didn't get much of an aroma but boy there's a big flavour. What even is that? Sharp limey citrus, vermouth herbs and spices, a Campari dryness, and a gentle herbal quality which I couldn't quite pinpoint but which turns out to be star anise. Makes sense. 6.3% ABV translates to an almost greasy viscosity on the palate, with an attendant spirit heat. The initial citrus bite turns to juicy sweet tangerine in a long fade-out. I'm glad I just had a taster as there's a whole heck of a lot going on here and I imagine even 33cl could be hard work by the end. It's fun, though: a proper beer character, with substance and fizz, but also an almost literal explosion of cocktail.

Advance information on Wunder Weisse is scarce, the menu promising nothing more than an easy-going traditional weisse at 5.2% ABV. It doesn't look it, being almost kristall clear. But yep, the flavour is gently clovey, the texture soft. It finishes quickly and more cleanly than a typical weisse, and I'm guessing the lack of hefe is the reason for that. It's fine: tasting authentically Bavarian, though too sweet for one of the top-flight varieties.

And here comes another brut IPA! Last time I was here, there was a pilot grapefruit brut IPA. I didn't really like it. Shows what I know because it since made its way up onto the big brewkit, getting an ABV adjustment, down to 6% from the previous 6.3. Absolute Brut is the name. In keeping with the style it's a pale and glowing gold. Juicy grapefruit arrives early in the aroma and makes up the bulk of the flavour. It's a delightful refreshing spritz, pushed forward by a busy prickle of carbonation. The lovely peppery spice I always get from real grapefruit skin is present too, though I don't detect anything that says brut IPA: no toast, like in the peach lad. I don't miss it. This is a perfect summer seasonal; maybe a little fizzy-pop-ish, and certainly hiding its sizeable strength to a dangerous degree. I'm starting to think that hacking brut IPA with fruit may be the path to its redemption.

More sauce from the source in due course.

Random wood

The strong barrel aged beers from Founders have been around for ages, but other than the stouts I haven't paid them much mind. The wife ordered a Dankwood when it was on in Underdog a while back, so of course I had to have a taste.

The base beer is a red IPA but there's precious little sign of any hop character left. From the murky brown body comes an aroma which is all oak and booze. I got sherry and bourbon from the flavour, but none of the good stuff: it's a cheap and harsh burn, leaving no doubt about the 12.2% ABV. It could be more. There's plenty of vanilla, but again it's unsubtle, jarringly sweet rather than smooth and mellow.

Overall I got a watered-down KBS vibe from this. It's possible the base beer wasn't big enough to survive the onslaught from the oak. There may be a reason that barrel-aged red IPAs are rare.

I've been enjoying the recent trend for tequila barrel aged beers. I like the occasional tequila, and the combination of tangy fruit, oak and booze that the casks impart in beer -- especially dry styles like saison -- sits well with me. So I was interested when I saw Founders had tequila-aged something they describe as an "imperial lime gose" brewed with agave. The result is called Más Agave and is 10% ABV.

Dry it ain't, however. The aroma set off alarm bells as soon as I started pouring, smelling horribly sickly, like lemon drops or undiluted lime cordial. Thankfully, balance kicks in somewhat on tasting. It's still a heavy, syrupy beast, though: low on carbonation and leaving a sugary residue in the mouth after swallowing. The flavour is cleaner fun, however. There's the unmistakable tang of real tequila, given a generous squeeze of lemon and, because of the gose heritage, you get a lick of salt as well.

I'll admit I was expecting something mellower. This is a bit of a busy confection and there's none of the oaky smoothness one might expect from any kind of barrel. It's fun, though. Just don't take it seriously.