Welcome, strangers

It was a pleasant surprise to find beers from two Irish breweries we don't see much of here in Dublin. It was especially surprising that it happened in Aldi, but I'm not looking a discount horse in the mouth. 

I have a huge amount of respect for how Connemara Brewing has gone about its business: only two beers, simply designed, with a strong emphasis on selling locally in Galway. The corollary there is that the beers must be of impeccable quality, but with Aine O'Hora in charge (latterly of Boyne Brewhouse and Wicklow Wolf) that's a fairly likely outcome.

The first I opened was Connemara Irish Lager. It's 4.5% ABV and a perfect gold colour with just a minor bit of haze. The aroma is proper cool pilsner grass and the flavour leans to the Czech side for me. So there's a substantial malt base with elements of honey and golden syrup, and then the hops swing in half way through, green and leafy and noble, showing fresh spinach and lambs lettuce. It finishes crisply with a perfect cleanness. That malt side suggests to me a greater strength than it turns out to be, which is impressive: I like how it's satisfyingly full while also completely pintable. Top marks.

Normally lager is the tough one, but I reckoned that impressing me with something called Connemara Irish Ale would be tougher. I thought it would be red but it's actually a pale ale in the broadly American style, pouring a medium orange with a haze that suggests unrefined rather than fashion-chasing. There's a hard candy aroma but it's juicier on tasting, with notes of mango and cantaloupe. A pithy tang on the end adds just enough balancing bitterness. Again they've managed to create a full body from a modest gravity, allowing for lovely big smooth gulps. The 33cl can is not really optimal for a quaffer like this: go bigger, enjoy more.

The final one in this set is from Hilden: Wry Fox. This "Irish ale" is indeed red, shading to a foxy amber-brown. It has the soft and warming caramel that goes with that, but there's rye too, a goodly amount of it I'd say. That gives it an intense dry bitterness, sharp and peppery, in a way that I found jars unpleasantly with the sweetness. In the aroma that translates to a medicinal or herbal quality: punchy, but not an indication of an easy-going beer. Rye fanatics will likely love this; I found it hard work. 5% ABV and lots of weighty malt suggest it's probably better suited to winter too.

The Connemaras were the stand-outs for me and I'm delighted Aldi gave me the opportunity to try them. Should I ever see the taps on a trip out west I'll know there's something solidly reliable available.