Take me to Wichita

Lineman isn't exactly a new brewery. Homebrew whizz Mark Lucey bought the Rascals kit in Rathcoole when Rascals moved in to Inchicore and has left it in situ. Everything else is brand new, though, including the brave set of opening beers, designed for a more discerning beer market which I fervently hope exists in Dublin.

Not that the first beer to come my way is inaccessible. Saga -- broadly a pale ale -- might use a souring culture and kveik yeast, but it's only 4.8% ABV and exceedingly drinkable with that. It's quite thickly textured, low on carbonation, and creamy in a New England way, but without the typical attendant flavours. Instead of garlic and vanilla there's juicy peach and apricot, cake and jam sweetness countered with a mild yoghurty tang. It doesn't get much more complex than that, but it's far from boring. The sweetness helps it slip back easily, the tartness cleaning as it goes. Balance!

Beer two is Idle, badged as an RIPA with no explanation of what the R stands for. "Rye" would be typical, and there's a bit of the slightly medicinal bitterness rye can produce in the aroma, but rye isn't listed an as ingredient. Therefore I'm guessing, from the dark garnet colour of the beer, that R is for "red". It's quite fizzy, the busy sparkle getting in the way of any foretaste. When it settles there's a smooth mix of toffee and rosewater, followed by that aniseed and juniper bitterness. This must be hop-derived: big-hitters Chinook, Columbus and Centennial feature. An offputting plastic twang forms the aftertaste. Red IPA is far from my favourite style: it's hard to balance the big hops with the heavy malt, and I think this one ends up too much on the harsh side. Maybe a bit of cleaning up would fix it, but mostly I would take the bitterness right down, let the floral qualities through more, and probably call it an American-style amber ale. Remember those? They were lovely.

It's a grisette to finish this first trilogy. First Light is indeed light at 4.3% ABV. It's a pale shade of yellow and surprisingly clear for a fresh bottle-conditioned beer with only the faintest of haze. The flavour is pretty much spot on for the style: a rye-bread crispness with a light green apple tang. That's more or less all you get, though, not that grisette is supposed to be a riot of interesting flavours. It's clean and refreshing with just enough going on to hold the drinker's interest all the way through.

Overall, I think this is a good start for Lineman. The styles may be atypical but there's nothing way-out or weird in how they've been made. Solid, ungimmicky beers is just what the market needs right now. Long may that continue.