Wild new directions

They've been riffing on some familiar themes down at Wicklow Wolf, with a couple of radically different variants on pre-existing beers.

I guess there was a certain inevitability about an IPA named Call of Juicy being followed up with a black IPA named Call of Juicy: Black Hops. And here it is, number 18 in the Wicklow Wolf Endangered Species series. Like many a black IPA it's more a deep coffee brown colour than actual black. The aroma offers a lovely bang of citrus peel and green vegetables: exactly what I want from the style. The New England roots show quite considerably in its flavour, which is unusual. It's sweet, with a mix of vanilla and orange ice-pops, lacking the tarry bitterness I like in west-coast black IPAs and which is promised by the aroma. Rather than a serious palate-puncher, this is fun, and maybe even a little silly. I found it juicier, cleaner and overall much more enjoyable than its pale predecessor, even if it didn't deliver what I was after.

The brewery's Locavore series has moved to the next stage in its evolution. Originally, this existed to showcase the produce of their hop farm in the Wicklow mountains. Now they've gone mixed-fermentation, harvesting yeast from up there as well. The plan is to have four releases per year, and Locavore Spring 2021 is a barrel-aged Brett amber ale of 9.5% ABV.

The pour was completely flat, suggesting the yeast hasn't been too busy in there. It's a dense dark brown colour rather than amber and smells deliciously funky in a pure Brett way, with added boozy raisins and damsons. The fruit gets a coating of chocolate in the flavour, and you can be doubly sure Brettanomyces was involved as there's a lot of funky farmyard here. I also picked up a big dose of dry tannin, reminiscent of Italian red wine, so was pleased to read that Chianti barrels were what they used. It shows. The syrupy flatness is off-putting, however. This would be improved with some sparkle but there's absolutely none of it. Instead, it's a dense and vinous affair, built for wintery sipping. While I liked everything going on -- funky, fruity and highly complex -- I think it needs more body and better condition. As the brewery's first foray into this kind of thing, it's very promising, however. Roll on summer and the next twist in the Locavore story.

Two more new ones landed shortly afterwards, including the core addition Raindrop. It's a bright pink sour ale of 4.2% ABV with the tried and trusted combination of raspberry, blackberry and blueberry. Does that make it taste like a fruit-of-the-forest yoghurt, like all of these do? Only a little. It's lightly textured and quite subtly flavoured. Blackberry is the most pronounced of the three, with raspberry in the back seat and the blueberry barely detectable. All of it is on the down-low, however, and so is the sour element: crisp and tangy rather than sharply tart. It's a little watery in the finish, but not unpleasantly so. The lightness combined with gentle carbonation makes it refreshing and very easy drinking. Beers like this are often quite jammy and a chore to get through; this one keeps things accessible and fun, and is all the better for it.

Mango and peach are next for the sour treatment in Takes Two To Mango, a collaboration with Otterbank. It's a mostly clear golden colour in the glass and smells dry and crisp at first, with an emerging fruit candy sweetness as it warms. Again the flavour is subtle. I get soft and fresh peach but not so much of the mango, and it's even less sour than Raindrop, with a very mild, slightly saline, tang about the height of it. Although the ABV is up to 5% it's still light and refreshing. The label says it's designed for summer and I can see that completely. While it's very gulpable, I would have liked the flavour turned up a bit more, especially the sourness. I'm a big boy, I can handle it.

There's lots of creativity in evidence down at the Wolf's lair. They certainly can't be accused of cranking out samey IPAs one after the other.