Finishing the round

This is part two of my circuit of the Mansion House Round Room where the Fidelity festival happened a few weeks ago. I started the last one on a pils brewed at White Frontier for Whiplash, and their own lager on the day was called Landbier. It, too, is 5.2% ABV but comparatively hard and heavy. The noble bitterness and flavour is strong, which might suit some but wasn't to my taste. Candyfloss malt lightens the mood somewhat, though it remains a serious, rugged, deep-thinking Swiss lager all the way through.

Another 5.2% ABV lager? Belfast's Boundary brought their Moin, which I've seen around in cans, but why pay when I can drink it here for free? You'd know this one isn't continental because there's a bit of a haze to the yellow. The flavour is gorgeous, though: cool celery and sharp spinach first, the hops giving way to a soft texture more suited to a Bavarian Helles than the north-German style pils this purports to be, but I'm not complaining. And then there's a seasoning of spicy black pepper and crisp shredded cabbage to finish it off. This is pilsner just the way I like it, done no justice by the 200ml serve.

My only other Irish beer for today's post was from YellowBelly, a brown porter named Chewbaccale, in defiance of the Walt Disney Corporation. It is, fittingly, a big lad, at 6% ABV. It's all about the balance: a touch of roast, but not too much, and a splash of caramel, but not too much of that either. It's incredibly satisfying to drink, in that way you only get from brown malt. A little weaker would perhaps make it even better, but might also make it Touching the Scald. Either way, I'd love to see lots more beer like this around.

Purple beer featured big last time. Today's purple patch begins with Pühaste's Beetbox, a gose of sorts, with quince and beetroot. I expected some typical beet earthiness, but the veg makes no real contribution beyond the colour. It's surprisingly clean, light and spritzy, though the ABV is a substantial 5.2% ABV. Tangy and zesty is the height of it; pleasant if unexciting.

And then there was Come On Pilgrim, brewed at Gipsy Hill as a Whiplash collaboration. It's a sour beer with blueberries, 5% ABV. The flavour is sweet and tangy; jammy without turning cloying, the fruit tasting properly real. The background sourness isn't particularly sophisticated, nor extreme, but it contributed to a beer that's very tasty overall. There's the summery effervescence of cherry sherbet and an general sense of what blueberryade might taste like. This exists in an interesting place between fancy-dan berry lambic and the Florida weisse sub-genre, showing that a big fruit flavour doesn't have to mean tooth-rotting syrup.

The final member of Team Purple was Sweet Relief by Northern Monk, claiming the novelty of being a grape soda flavoured IPA. It doesn't work. Despite being 7% ABV, this is thin and bland. You get a lightly bitter hop stickiness, some basic nondescript jam, and an artificial twang of plastic on the end. It's like they knew this ran the risk of being a hot cloying mess and dialled the ingredients so far back they ended up almost invisible. It's a beer that lacks the courage of its gimmicky convictions.

Time for a pale ale. Duration's Turtles All The Way Down is one I'd heard of but never got to try. This is 5.5% ABV and feels juicy from the first sip yet doesn't taste it. The aroma had me expecting big bitterness too, being all dank resins and spicy grass, but again that never followed through. The flavour, it turned out, is simplistic almost to the point of blandness. From the light texture that had me expecting a rush of juice, but nothing much materialises. On the plus side there's no yeast bite or other off flavours, but the whole thing is profoundly unexciting and forgettable.

Let's see if raising the intensity helps. Exploding Rainbows is an IPA of 7% ABV from Fuerst Wiacek, the sole German representative at the festival. It's all Mosaic but not tropical, sadly. On the other hand it's not savoury either, presenting an interesting mix of sweet lemon meringue and nutmeg spicing, finishing on a heavy hop funk I'd expect more from Simcoe or Summit. This is another decent but unexceptional one. There's plenty going on, but no explosions and a total absence of rainbows.

I hit a very typical modern IPA in Subdivide from New York's Finback brewery. This is an opaque orange colour and has that harsh diesel aroma, with a cloying sweet vanilla which does nothing to balance it. The flavour? A mix of dreggy yeasty fuzz and hot garlic. A brief flash of mandarin is the full extent of its charm. Though only 7.2% ABV it could have passed for a full percentage point more. This had all the things that are wrong with contemporary American IPA in one package, with the exception of a high price tag.

It was getting too late for back-tracking so it was a double IPA next: Garage's Soup, a beer that's been around in Ireland for some time but which I'd never tried. And it's pretty good. 8.5% ABV provides a balanced warmth where I was expecting heat. The bitterness is low and the flavour a wholesome dessertish mix of peaches and vanilla. I think the name must have been putting me off, but it's not soupy at all. It's only slightly hazy and very clean tasting. I approve.

With time running short, strong and dark was how I wanted to go out. Beerbliotek and Whiplash's Guerillas In Our Midst looked a likely candidate for the penultimate beer, an 8.5% ABV porter, and barrel-aged to boot. There was a shock of putty and oak at first; a lip-curling harshness. Thankfully this softens soon after, revealing milk chocolate and rosewater. It's maybe a bit thin for the strength, but I was enjoying it by the end. One of those beers that would have been nice to savour except the bars were closing and the heartless world outside, where beer costs money, was beckoning.

The blaze of glory to go out on was A Stout With No Name from J. Wakefield. This is 13% ABV and smelled strongly of coconut. That shouldn't have been surprising since coconut is an ingredient, along with vanilla and marshmallow. And I could actually taste some of the latter in here, alongside some complimentary hot chocolate and fudge sauce. For a pastry stout it's very multidimensional, bringing milky coffee too, and a light cherry and strawberry complexity. Despite a consistency you could stand a spoon in, this beer shows that pastry stouts don't need to be one-track sugar. It's a confection in a good way.

And with that it was time to emerge blinking into the sunlight. I feel I did the session justice and had a good time with the crowd in between beers. I definitely don't regret skipping the late session. I have been able to fill in a couple of gaps in what I missed as distribution partner Four Corners has scattered a number of festival beers around other local locations. I'll cover them next.