Styling moose

Two beers today from Hop City, the fake-craft arm of Canadian giant Moosehead. When big breweries pull this sort of trick the results are rarely any good, though I did give the last ones I tried a qualified pass. Let's see how they've handled the switch from bottles to cans.

Commuter is a session IPA. It's a beautiful deep amber colour, and perfectly clear with a dense and lasting head: the sort of appearance you'll generally only find in a classic German bock or Märzen these days. A zesty aroma is down to Mandarina Bavaria hops and there's a sizeable dose of orangey goodness in the flavour too. Behind it, there's a lager-malt crispness and then a herbal/mineral bathsalts complexity. With a bit of warmth on board, a balancing toffee sweetness emerges, before a last-minute pinch of dry bitterness provides the finish and aftertaste. It's all done at 4.1% ABV and it's exactly light-bodied enough to be properly sessionable. Perhaps there's something to be said for a lager giant trying its hand at flavoursome, hoppy, drinking beer.

That bodes well for their take on one of my favourite under-brewed styles: black lager. Sure enough, they've pretty much nailed it with 8th Sin. This is 5% ABV, which I thought was a little on the strong side but it's well used, creating a rich and creamy texture. So we're more in the Czech tmavý end of the black lager spectrum, rather than the crisp schwarzbier that I, for no reason, had been expecting. Bitter liquorice and smooth milk chocolate team up and contrast beautifully with each other, the herbal side giving it a lasting finish. As a sideshow there's a little caramel, just enough burnt-toast dryness, and a noble fresh-cabbage green side. It's far too long since I had a good black lager so I should hold myself back from proclaiming this a masterwork, but I enjoyed it a hell of a lot. To anyone else in Dublin on the lookout for decent dark lager and missing the Czech pubs, get into this forthwith.

It seems I sorely, and unfairly, prejudged Hop City. These are both quality offerings, created with care to be flavoursome and engaging while also showing the expertise and quality control that comes from an industrial-sized operation. They're also reasonably priced and a little more generous than the norm in their 473ml cans. Neither should be overlooked just because of where they're from.