Hope darkens

A couple from Hope today, where darker styles appear to be the preferred vernacular at the moment. You will of course remember that the official winter seasonal this time round was a black IPA and now it has a dubbel and a stout to keep it company.

I'm not sure I got a proper bead on Rum Dubbel, served as it was very cold on draught in UnderDog. It was nice, though. Banana is the heart of the flavour, ripe and sweet. That is studded quite deliciously with milk chocolate buttons. They in their turn are infused with rum. The effect is definitely syrupy rum flavouring and not actual spirit: think rum 'n' raisin ice cream rather than a tot of Padrón. Any Belgian subtleties there may have been are buried under it. You needn't look for plums or figs. I think dubbel isn't a style that lends itself to craft hacking. You end up with whatever the novelty addition is, set on a strong dunkelweizen. That's not necessarily a bad thing, and this is far from a bad beer, but the drinker's expectation that comes with a designated style takes a knock.

The next one is number 17 in the Limited Edition series, and a return to stout. Number 4 was Export Stout at 7.5% ABV. A change in head brewer later and we get Foreign Export Stout, lighter at 6.8% ABV. Despite the drop in strength this still does a very good impression of the FES from another, better known, Dublin brewery. It has that balance of intense roasted dryness with a seam of fun sticky caramel. There's a hearty jolt of coffee too, a tang of green veg and a pinch of harder tin. It's unashamedly old-fashioned and quite delicious. You can sip and consider its layers if you like; I enjoyed just drinking it. And if you like proper stout, you will too.

The classically-styled beer was more enjoyable than the novelty one? OK ticker.