The wilds of Westmeath

The summer of revived beer festivities continued earlier this month with a brand new event. It was an unlikely one, and all the better for that: a one-day festival of assorted wild-fermented beer, staged in the backroom venue of the perfectly normal Smiddy's Bar in downtown Mullingar. The location was ingeniously chosen: a short hop by rail from Dublin (and Sligo) but far enough to ensure that the only people who went really wanted to be there. I really wanted to be there and bought my ticket on the day it was announced.

Of course, the microbes had to claim their due and sent The Virus to strike down Otterbank, leaving just six brands with beers for tasting. It was plenty for an afternoon's civilised tippling, however.

Saison specialist Black Donkey brought along one from their series of beers fermented with yeast extracted from their local caves in Roscommon, a red ale called Underworld Rua. I wasn't sure whether to expect something malt-forward like an Irish red or tart like a Flemish one, but it turned out to be neither. This one starts sweet, with a cherry jam foretaste plus a little milk chocolate or Nutella, before adding a savoury, resinous woodsap effect. It doesn't taste "wild" in any sense familiar to me, but it shows a multilayered complexity that's very much part of the genre. This is its own thing, and quite delightful for it.

I had two from Canvas, beginning with Sloe Liminal, a fruited version of their own red ale, one I've not particularly enjoyed in previous iterations. It works here though, and I don't think the sloes have anything to do with that. The base beer is clean and very sharply sour, almost but not quite to the point of discomfort. A thick texture helps soften that a little, as does the minimalist plummy kiss from the fruit, adding a subtle raisin sweetness. It's not an easy beer to drink, but the invigorating tartness was fun for one glass before moving on.

Their Knockshigowna pulled a strange trick, fobbing like crazy out of the tap but, once poured, immediately presenting as headless as a millpond. This is broadly badged as a blonde ale, only 4.9% ABV and brewed using sweet gale, then aged in wine barrels. It has a certain degree of funk, though curtailed by the low strength and thin texture. I got a strange mix of orange squash and Chardonnay, with a grainy dryness as well. It's a bit all over the place and it took me a while to figure out if I liked it or not. I settled in favour, but there are a few things I would like done with the recipe to improve the experience, beginning with a higher finishing gravity.

I've grumbled a bit recently about Wide Street turning out tame beer styles but they made up for it here, beginning with a Mixed Fermentation Saison. This was fantastically floral; a bathbomb of lavender and rosewater, laced with bergamot and peach-skin bitterness, all set on a soft and pillowy body. I had expected something quite hard and serious but it's first and foremost a fun beer, with no edges or difficult challenges. The playful accessibility could make it an ideal gateway into the world of more involved wild-fermented beers.

Such as Coolship '21, Wide Street's long-awaited and much anticipated first spontaneously-fermented beer, utilising the unique microflora of the Inny River valley at Ballymahon, between the Maxol garage and the meat processing factory. It's clear and golden in the glass, tangy but not sour as such. The texture is a little thin, even at only 5.5% ABV. But the flavour was fascinating. It poured very cold and tasted first of only that tang. Given a few degrees, some spices emerged: oily black pepper in particular. And then a few minutes later there arrived a bright and meadowy floral effect of which there was no sign at all earlier. My measure didn't have time to reach room temperature but who knows what it would have become by then. This is a really interesting beer and one I hope to go back to when it gets a wider release.

Galway Bay brought along a special edition of their Hooi Hooi hay saison, this one aged in wine barrels and then dry-hopped with Nelson Sauvin. I wasn't a fan of the original version back in 2019, but the additional maturation has done it the power of good. Gone is the overweening sweetness and instead it's soft and luscious with crisp wheat and subtle white grape following a dry and grassy saison aroma. It's very easy going and offered welcome respite in the midst of all the acidity.

As such it was quite different to Galway Bay's other saison, the new Gift of Time. This three-year aged one also brings the grape, but in a much more concentrated way, tasting to me like a Sauternes or similar botrytised wine. That hits against an aged-oak funk and a surprise citrus sourness, the sort of thing you get from bourbon, minus the vanilla. All this left me with an overall kind of Long Island Iced Tea impression: predominantly sweet, but sharp as well. Very interesting, and also quite delicious.

My final new tick was Land & Labour's latest: Bière de Rhubarbe. I don't have the official description to hand, but it tasted very much in the gueze style to me, even if the brewer is too modest to claim that. The aroma in particular starts us off that way: aged and oaky, with lots of bricky nitre spices. That's not overdone in the flavour, however, which is mellower and rounded, showing signs of expertly managed maturation. The fruit provides a slightly sweeter side, and as such I wouldn't have guessed it was rhubarb, smelling and tasting more like ripe apricot or apple pie filling to me. It still works, though, making for a very classy sipper, and fully able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Cantillon Nath.

A relaxing glass of White Hag Beann Gulban, a beer I've not tasted in many years and thoroughly enjoyed, brought the festival to an end. I cannot express how welcome this event is: an opportunity to properly showcase some of the most exciting things happening in the Irish beer scene, and to bring the producers and enthusiasts together in one room. I hope it continues, and that it manages to retain the boutique feel that Smiddy's gave it. There were still tickets available on the door when it opened; I'd be surprised if that happened again.