Chasing strange

In order to begin weaning myself off a full month posting about nothing but Irish beer, I've picked a brewer from Catalonia which uses the facilities closer to home, in Ballyfermot. Oddity, that is, brews these four at Whiplash.

Joint-lightest of the set is Crumbling Crowd, describing itself as a brown stout, since it's a stout which uses brown malt. Oats and amber malt feature too, alongside roast malt, making for a superb richness from the get go. It smells of coffee cake and cream eclairs and really doubles down on that coffee in the flavour. There's almost a tang to the roast, and bucketloads of brown sugar to offset its bitterness. This is a very busy affair. I like the mellowness that brown malt normally brings, but here it's drowned out by hard roast, vegetal hops and a vanilla sweetness. I wanted to like it, I really did, but it's just too jarring, too loud, the flavours not integrated enough.

The IPA at the same strength is Faded Movies: a particularly pale example, yellow and misty, like a witbier. Does it count as single-hopped when it uses a proprietary hop blend? Probably not, but it's all the New Zealand mix The Bruce in here. I don't get much of an aroma, just a vague lemony effect. The flavour is also a bit muted: floral perfume, a drizzle of lemon essence and a little vanilla. Nothing really jumps out. It would be a pleasant and simple refresher, were it not so strong. As-is, I find it nice, but a little lacking in character.

Hit me with your best shot, Oddity.

Man Behind the Scene is not the man behind the filter. This double IPA is incredibly murky: an opaque eggy yellow body was infused with skirls of dreg from the middle-to-end of the pour, with some bigger congealed lumps wallowing around as well. No. This is no way to present a beer, regardless of what fashion dictates. The aroma is somewhere between concentrated tropical fruit and super-sweet cordial, with a touch of garlic and caraway. This did little to endear it to me. The flavour is at least fairly clean, with just a gentle dusting of the dry and chalky grit. There's a big and comforting warmth, tasting all of its 8% ABV and more. For all the compromises that have been made for them, the hops should be singing in here. But they're not. It's happily peachy, with a little mango and honeydew, finishing quite quickly on a pinch of sharp citrus. Really, though, the alcohol is its dominant feature. I'm sure it wasn't meant to be a malty warmer.

Our finisher was, though, I've no doubt. I don't think I've ever seen beer described as a "double oatmeal porter", but Astral Trip is, another 8%-er. It's a very dark velvety brown colour and smells of warm chocolate, hot coffee and sweet tiramisu. Instant wintery comfort. On tasting you have to be prepared for the booze, because that's what hits first, with a lot of coffee laced through, like Tia Maria or caffè corretto. A more subtle side unfolds after the first kick. Dark chocolate, of course, plus bitter and oily rosemary, subtly perfumed rose petals and a harder tar burntness that works well in beers like this. Although it's a big big flavour, it's balanced and harmonious: much better than the porter we came in on.

Oddity has been going barely a year at this stage, and they couldn't be in better hands than the folks at Whiplash. I think there's still some dialling-in to be done with their recipes, however. Astral Trip is the one which shows me that the talent is there, and I will be buying their new ones when they appear.