Barrowside trilogy

Carlow Brewing has undertaken a bit of a refresh regarding its range and branding. I'm not sure where it's going and which if any of the existing beers are about to vanish, but I do know we now have Leann Folláin in 440ml cans and three new IPAs.

The first is very much a trend-chaser, though not a trend that Irish microbrewers have made much of: the slimmers' beer, for want of a better term. O'Hara's Lo-Cal Session IPA comes in 330ml cans, normally to be found in four-packs for €10. The can doesn't tell me how many calories are in it, which strikes me as an unusual move, though I can say it's 4% ABV. In the glass it's a pale lemon-yellow with a little haze and a freshly sharp and citric aroma. I'm getting vibes of modern northern English bitter, like Marble's Pint. There's a soft texture and an abundance of body so, like a good bitter, it doesn't taste compromised by the strength. The flavour has plenty of legs too: lemon candy, fresh spinach, oily pine and even some naughty dank resins on the finish. This is very jolly indeed and entirely suited to the four-pack format. Don't let the diet-oriented handle fool you: it's the whole package for a session IPA.

I'm not sure in which order to take the other pair. Normally I'd drink in ascending order of ABV, but the weaker here is badged as a West Coast IPA so I'm going to begin on the hefty 6.8% ABV Hazy IPA. With 51st State back in 2017, Carlow was among the first Irish breweries to present a commercial beer in the New England fashion, and they still haven't got the colour right. While most everyone else has the knack of yellow emulsions, this one is amber, and translucent rather than opaque. The label doesn't lie, though: "Juicy - Tropical - Stone Fruit" it promises and all three elements are right there in the aroma, a concentrated mix of passionfruit, guava and mango. There's a brief stumble in the foretaste where it turns savoury, opening on a dry rasp of caraway seed. Luckily the soothing tropical fruit is there behind it, here joined by a slightly citrus edge of tangerine, and a heaping helping of gullet-warming alcohol. Anyone coming to this expecting a hazy IPA like what the cool breweries make, and charge seven quid for, is in for a let-down everywhere but their wallet (this was €3). On its own terms, though, it's fine and actually rather enjoyable. Especially when that booze kicks in.

West Coast IPA should be much more in the wheelhouse of this mid-'90s veteran. It's the same sunset colour, though completely transparent, of course. The aroma was reticent, but there's pine and dank deep in there, so it gets a pass. On tasting it's surprisingly -- disturbingly -- similar to the Hazy one: the same savoury kick and boozy burn. The fruit is missing, of course, but the texture is still quite big and a little syrupy. There's none of the clean dryness I like in this style, and it's missing the fresh hop zing too, tasting rather sluggish and sweaty. Again it's OK, but it needs either a lighter body or much more generous hopping, I think. Full points for not being hazy, I guess, but as a West Coast IPA it leaves me wanting.

Who would have thought that the low-calorie offering would be the stand-out, but here it is. Dirty great pints probably aren't part of the plan, given the branding, but I would very happily indulge in some in due course.