The rule of three

Local brewery Third Barrel has had a good run of new release beers across its constituent brands in recent months. Time for a catch-up, albeit an incomplete one.

We begin with the core label, and their Smack My Peach Up IPA. Yes it has peaches in it, but no smack. It's 6.5% ABV and a translucent orange colour; tasting spritzy, in an orangeade sort of way. A salty dryness adds an unexpected complexity: I was expecting syrupy peach concentrate but that's absent. It is quite heavy, though the lack of stickiness means that this is in a satisfying and full-bodied way, rather than cloying. It's decent and balanced overall; a good example of a modern pale ale with no novelties or silliness beyond the branding.

After that came Double Drop, a double IPA. Modern examples of these tend to go for a bright custard yellow colour but this one is a more sedate deep orange. There is a little vanilla in the aroma, alongside cordial and hard alcohol. The latter provides a definite burn in the foretaste but it fades quickly, letting citrus pith and a mild waft of garlic through afterwards. At times it verges on sticky: going for a heavy, west-coast vibe -- the double IPAs we all grew up on. This is a solid, workmanlike effort. No high-end over-the-top hopping, and nothing to spend four hours in a queue for, but none of the awful off-flavours that such beers often show.

Sister brand Third Circle dropped a "DDH Belgian Pale" called Eurotrashed. The aroma is quite funky, in a distinctly Belgian spoiled-fruit estery sort of way. Overtones of burnt plastic did not endear it to me any further. The flavour is better: definitely cleaner, with dry black tea complemented by a peach fuzz bitterness. There's a generous sprinkling of pungent savoury herbs too: rosemary, fennel and bay leaf. I spent a while trying to figure out which Belgian beer it resembles, concluding it has most in common with La Chouffe, for that mix of fruit and spice, though without the cleanness and clarity. While it didn't have me jumping for joy, it's an interesting chin-stroker of a beer. How very Belgian.

The brash member of the family, Stone Barrel, is also doing double dry-hopped, in the form of Throwback, this one at 6% ABV. Lots of foam and lots of murk in this; a dusting of yeasty dregs plopping into the glass at the end of the pour. It smells rather sickly, in an old-fashioned way, like chocolate-lime candy. The texture is light for the strength, maybe even a little watery, but not severely so. I'm not sure what I'm tasting, though. The olde worlde sweetshop is still there: lemon sherbet with a strip of liquorice. I get a hint of vanilla too, though without the cloying custard thickness which often comes with it. I expected a yeast bite as well, but no: the hopping does a great job of concealing that completely. All told it's fairly easy drinking. There are no hop fireworks in the foretaste but it leaves a happy afterglow on the palate. Throw it right back.

Two Sides is a label co-owned by 57 The Headline and Brickyard but brewing happens at Third Barrel. The latest here is a beer with a message: Shop Local. It's an IPA, once again double dry-hopped, and very murky. There's lots of candy sweetness with a lurid fruit character: Refresher sweets in particular. The yeast brings a bit of a bite but not enough to overpower the hops. It's not as fresh and zingy as the best of this sort but it does a good job. Balanced and accessible, it's a friendly, neighbourhood sort of ultra-craft IPA.

Lots of other Third Barrel productions are out there at the moment but have so far eluded my notebook. Expect a write-up in a future post if I do get hold of any. And yes, before you ask, a lot of them are double dry-hopped.