The lupulin crowd

Time for another round-up of all that's new and hop-laden from Irish brewers.

Larkin's is first, and a new addition to the Curious Society range, simply titled Citra. This is a pale ale of 4.5% ABV and for a brewer that favours haze is surprisingly clear: a happy light golden with just a dusting of murk. The aroma is fabulously juicy, more mandarin and jaffa than Citra's normal lemon and lime. The texture is light, to the point where one could maybe accuse it of being thin, but at the same time this is built as a session beer and it does that. One man's watery is another man's quaffable. The flavour continues the juicy orange theme, with no more than a token bitterness. A slight savoury edge in the finish is the only bum note in what's otherwise one of those beers that's very easy drinking but also complex enough to remain interesting.

It's a brave step to put a double IPA in the accessible/budget Curious Society line, and they've taken it with Hoppy Creatures, 8% ABV and a modest €3.25. There are big claims on the can: seven malts topped with El Dorado, Mosaic and Simcoe hops in "generous" quantities. It's dense, being an opaque deep orange colour with a thick syrupy mouthfeel; claggy like 8% and more. The aroma is boozy to match that, with an almost-literal buzz of jet fuel alongside marmalade shred and tahini. That blends together a little better on tasting, with the dry savoury side getting out of the way early to leave cordial, orange candy and garlic oil. It's still quite severe, though, leaning a little too much on the hot and sweet side and lacking nuance. But for the price? You get more than your money's worth, and you know you've had a drink when you're finished. While it's far from my favourite of the Curious Societies, I think it's a good fit for the brand.

Under their main label they've released Drench which is much more Larkin's-typical. It's an opaque IPA of 7% ABV, hopped with Strata, El Dorado and Idaho 7. That struck me as a very fruity combination, and sure enough there's an enticing aroma of concentrated mango and passionfruit. The flavour holds on to that but puts it next to a surprise savoury garlic side, plus some menthol and eucalyptus herbal oiliness. That sounds like a bit of a mess but it works really well. Each element is enjoyable by itself -- cleanly and precisely separated in the profile. There's no soupiness, no excess heat and no dreggy muck. The texture, too, is nicely poised: full and creamy but still approachable. This is a very well turned out beer, overall. You get something calm and balanced with lots going on.

It would be weird to be dealing in hop-forward beers and not have O Brother involved. Here's Pixel Perfect, a pale ale, single hopped with Citra and extremely hazy. The aroma is a bit of a meringue pie: zesty lemon with a sweeter vanilla-like base. The texture is smooth and creamy, which complements that sweet side rather well. What keeps it from turning cloying is a surprisingly bitter middle, with the zest turning to rind and I think there may be some contribution from the murky dregs as well. Clean and hazy does exist, but this isn't quite it. The bitterness fades in its turn and the creamy lemony custard forms the finish. I'm especially impressed by how all this is accomplished at only 5.4% ABV. You need to be in the mood for sweet 'n' hazy, but you'll have a good time when you are.

They've also done that thing that haze pedlars do and put out a beer -- Bolted -- badged unequivocally as a west coast IPA but also quite cloudy. Instant fail, do not pass Vermont, do not collect $200. This is at least properly pale, looking like a batch of Sculpin gone wrong. There's an inappropriate amount of sweet fruit in the aroma though it does also smell delicious; fruitier than I'd have thought for Simcoe, Comet and Columbus hops. "Sculpin gone wrong" turns out to be quite a good description, on tasting. It has that beer's harsh and acrid chalky, pithy, dry acidity; an unpleasant burn of grapefruit juice with added quicklime. While shocking at first, in a possibly interesting way, it doesn't improve once you're used to it, tasting rough and unfinished as hazy beers too often do. Ramping up the bittering hops on a New England IPA will not make it west coast. There may well be a fan base out there for the combination of flavours happening in here, but it's not me.

It's nice to be able to include a black IPA in these round-ups, and O Brother brings the goods this time with one called Eyeconic. On paper it looks like a bold one: 6.5% ABV and hopped with Sabro and Mosaic, and indeed it pours thickly, a muddy dark brown. That translated to a smooth, almost creamy, mouthfeel. It's no stout though: Sabro's pithiness comes out in the aroma alongside some tarry roast, while the flavour is big on citric bitterness, particularly in the finish. Ahead of that you get a brush of Mosaic's juicy tropical fruit and surprisingly little roast to interfere with that. Overall it does a great job of tasting like a pale IPA ("Well that's unexpected; it's all fruity" -- my wife, tasting it blind) though I think there's room for more and bigger hops. It's still highly enjoyable, though.

Two of the big hits from last summer were a pair of IPAs by Black's of Kinsale called Ace of Haze. For 2021 they've brought it back in a new edition: Ace of Haze: Battle of the Tropics. They've raised the ABV a little, up to 5.5% from the previous 4.2%. The subtitle comes from its use of Azacca and Mosaic hops, both famed for their tropical fruit characteristics. Let's see how that worked out. The aroma, more cordial than real fruit, is barely-there, suggesting that the double dry-hopping has not achieved the desired effect. I get a slightly phenolic twang at the front of the flavour which further suggests things aren't quite right in here. There's no more than a quick burst of orange and vanilla ice pop before it fades, leaving a very untropical hard yeasty bitterness. This is a rare misstep from Black's. Even if I'm miscalling the phenol thing, the hopping really isn't up to the standard of last year's Aces. That's just the way they fall sometimes.

Lough Gill is next, and Sink or Swim. This is badged as a west coast IPA and no creative liberties have been taken with the style: a properly American 7.2% ABV and a perfectly clear shade of pale amber. With the on-form visuals comes a parade of C-hops: Cascade, Columbus and Centennial, joined by newbie Idaho 7. Grapefruit? Boy howdy. That starts in the aroma and proceeds to a properly clean and dry flavour with lots of hard zesty citrus bitterness. "West coast" allows for a degree of crystal malt sweetness but this doesn't bother with any of that, letting the hops do all the work. It still manages to be perfectly balanced without any excess heat despite the high strength. I love that Irish brewing has got to a stage where an operation in Sligo can casually toss out a perfect recreation of Ballast Point Sculpin and nobody makes a fuss. And I'm not one for making a fuss but this beer deserves recognition. Well played, Lough Gill.

Hitherto, The White Hag has released its Union Series in pairs, so I felt a bit sorry for Lotus SMASH IPA, when it appeared all on its lonesome. It looks to have taken a turn to the west coast too, seeming darker and clearer than the previous examples. OK then. The aroma is sweet in a sweetshop sweets way: fruit chews and hard candy. That becomes a fizzy sherbet spice on tasting, with a dollop of thick orange cordial, pursued by a dry bitterness: grapefruit rind and cabbage leaf. It's an odd combination, and quite a journey for a single hopper. But it works. The flavours aren't extreme, so while it's sweet it remains easy drinking throughout. While it may not be much of an advertisement for Lotus hops it's a perfectly decent 5.5% ABV IPA.

The second half of the pair arrived eventually a couple of weeks later: El Dorado SMASH IPA, looking much more typically pale and hazy for the Union series. The zesty aroma is off the charts. I tend to think of El Dorado as a sort of artificial orange candy thing, but this smells like digging your thumbs into the skin of a ripe tangerine. The effect unravels a little on tasting. The tangy citrus is still there but it doesn't get the flavour to itself. There's a sweeter pineapple side, but also a herbal or grasslike bitterness. Once again, The White Hag has managed to make a single hop beer with a complexity far above its station. This is clean, fresh and summery with plenty to interest the casual drinker and hop nerd alike.

The brewery's other current series is the Spree beers, lactose-laden comical efforts to make beer taste like something other than beer. This time it's the Irish ice lolly favourite the Super Split. This is 5.6% ABV and the ingredients include maize, orange, orange essence and vanilla. And barley and hops, believe it or not. It smells eye-wateringly sweet, more like honeycomb ice cream than vanilla, with no sign of the promised citrus. On tasting it's not as problematic as I feared. There's still very little sign of the orange -- no more than a flash of cordial in the foretaste -- but the texture is relatively light and the vanilla flavour doesn't cloy on the palate. If the idea of an ice cream pale ale doesn't appeal then go ahead and avoid this, but if you're curious you may find it surprisingly rewarding.

Continuing the beer-as-comedy theme, here's Rascals, in cahoots with Hopfully, bringing us Siamese Dream, a 4.5% ABV pale ale with added coconut, pink guava and lime. It's an opaque ochre shade and smells like sun lotion. I expected a sweet mess but was turned around on the flavour. It's light-textured and pleasingly crisp, the silly additions contributing only to the flavour, not the mouthfeel. The lime is strongest, with the coconut's oil adding a surprisingly subtle complexity. I can't say I could identify anything that was specifically hops, but I'm sure they're in there and it's not like it's lacking in citrus character anyway. Overall, this is a bit daft but not stupid, and doesn't carry the joke too far. Approach it in the right frame of mind and you will enjoy.

And just under the wire for this post's deadline: 777 an IPA to mark seven years since we all crammed into the old Rathmines fire station for some reason. Seven years, Idaho 7 hops and 7% ABV is the reasoning behind the name. While hazy as claimed on the label, it's not terribly murky as these things go -- a medium translucent orange colour, with proper head retention and all. It smells of fresh lemon zest and is decently bitter to taste. While there's a certain softness to the texture this is definitely not the full New England thing, and I think that's in its favour. What you get instead is a clean and zingy new-world IPA, more about the pith and peel than the juice. Over seven years in business Rascals has never shied away from the silly side of recipe formulation (see above) but this one shows they also have the chops to do straight and serious as well.

Thirteen very different beers here, and something for all tastes. Should I be concerned that the black one and the sharp west-coaster were my favourites? Did IPA really achieve perfection some time around 2012?