Brewing the Dew

The beers from the house brewery at The Dew Drop Inn in Kill, Co. Kildare came slowly. They first appeared back in the spring of 2016, brewed then at Kill's original brewery Trouble. There were subsequent festival appearances for the Brewing Dew brand while the standalone brewery was being established. I'm sure the primary aim was to supply the small chain of pubs (The Dew Drop, Harte's of Kildare and Ashton's in Dublin) but circumstances have meant canning has been necessary. So here they are: the first three releases.

In a pleasing continuity, the very first beer they offered in 2016, an oatmeal pale ale called '96, is still here, although it's now called Ninety Six because we're spelling everything with letters. I found this assertively piney in its original iteration but it's calmer now, or maybe my palate has adjusted. There's a lot of very herbal dankness, though more spicy than bitter. I'd almost swear there's rye in the grain bill but there isn't. At just 4.8% ABV it lands a heavier punch than many a stronger beer. The hop freshness and the resinous intensity add up to something highly enjoyable, in the very counter-cultural west coast way.

The other two are both lagers, a start-up decision which is -- ha ha -- quite refreshing. No Fury is first, a Helles, though a very light one at just 4.2% ABV. It looked a bit hazy in the glass and I stopped pouring before all the dregs went in. Helles shouldn't have dregs. The aroma is fresh and lemony, smelling cold and delicious on the warm afternoon when I drank it. That light citrus runs through the flavour as well, prefiguring the spongecake malt element, then complementing it. A mouthwatering grassy bite finishes it off. This is one of those non-German German-style beers that lacks stylistic precision but is still really enjoyable. It has the gentle sharpness of a pilsner allied with Helles's soft malt and a touch of the unfiltered roughness of kellerbier. I wonder did they decide to call it a Helles because it's just a more fashionable name at the moment. Regardless, this is an excellent and characterful quaffing lager.

Matters take a darker turn with Zither, a Vienna lager. The name is an oblique reference to The Third Man, in case you were wondering. It's quite a deep russet colour with a modicum of murk through it. The head is handsome at first but fades quickly. There's a rich bready aroma and a surprise burst of fruit in the flavour: I get summer berries in particular. That's followed by a dark-malt crispness and a gentle waft of salad-like noble hops. I think I was expecting it to be sweeter but while it's very much malt-forward it's also well balanced. The mouthfeel is excellent too: full like a Märzen at only 4.6% ABV. The colourful label suggests wacky craft while the beer inside is all calm and understated quality.

It's a promising start, and a special acknowledgement for opening on well-made well-established beer styles rather than trying to grab attention with anything silly. The brewery's roots in the pub trade may have something to do with that. Now, let's have a porter.