Going to town on the hops

It's blog post three of my Dublin taproom catch-up and this time it's a Saturday afternoon at Urban Brewing. The financial district is quiet at weekends so there was plenty of elbow room in the outside space, plus attentive service as we worked through the menu, half by half.

Round one brought Urban Brewing Mexican Lager, and I was particularly interested to see how it compared to Open Gate's version from last week. Not well, unfortunately. They seem to have opted for Corona as the template, and while it's attractively clear and pale golden, it's very thin and plain, unable to hide a vinegary tang that wonky brewpub lager sometimes shows. There's a somewhat redeeming hint of biscuit as it warms, but really nothing to give it proper character. Maybe they were aiming for those who prefer their summer lager to be tasteless, but I think such people would like an international brand label on it too.

I was much more interested in what arrived with it: a murky glass of gloop posing as NZIPA. The brewery says this is all Nelson Sauvin, added at 18g/L and -- insider tip -- when a g/L figure is mentioned, that always means "a lot". The aroma is all-out dank and grassy, smelling fresh but also heavily saturated. I get lots of spice in the flavour, black pepper intensifying to incense. That's not an effect I associate with Nelson but I loved it regardless. The haze doesn't get the chance to spoil it in any way: no grit, no gunk, just bright and clean hops. Here is the sort of playfully uncompromising beer that in-house breweries can do so well if they pull the stops out.

It's back to lager for the next round and Vienna Lager is sometimes used as a synonym for Mexican Lager, so seeing both styles on from the same small-batch brewery was odd but intriguing. Sadly the intrigue ends there. This is better than the Mexican, but not by much. It's a little fuller-bodied and there's a mildly fruity flavour which could count as character, but really it's not much more interesting than the other one. Urban seems to be having a bit of an off-season as regards lager.

But not so for the murk. Here's Tropical Pale, and just like the lagers are close siblings, this is very much on the same lines as the NZIPA. The hops have been absolutely stuffed into it and the result is beautifully dank and resinous. That of course means it's not even slightly tropical tasting, but that doesn't matter. A hard and bitter flavour gives it loud west-coast IPA vibes, particularly impressive when the ABV is only 4.7%. Once again it's clean and brash and utterly delicious.

I wasn't expecting to be impressed by the Weisse Bier. I rarely am, no matter who makes one. This 5%-er takes the banana part of the spec and runs with it, and keeps running. That begins with a huge banana candy aroma, and then doubles down on the sweet esters in the flavour, banana becoming banoffee. It's quite lightly textured, which helps prevent it turning too cloying, and while it looked a bit flat on arrival there's plenty of sparkle despite big bubbles in the head. Half a pint was no chore but I'm not sure I'd have been on for a bigger measure.

The promise of more adorable hops makes India Pale Lager the finisher. This is the weakest one of the session at 4.5% ABV but yet again it's resins all the way. Here it's a kind of oily citronella effect in the aroma followed by a bright and fresh citrus foretaste. I'm guessing the aim of IPL is to deliver zingy pale-ale hopping on a lager-crisp body, and if so this one gets the formula exactly right. If the aim is to make something that's calm and easy-drinking, then no: this remains an absolute riot of west-coast hop joy and frankly would be impossible to enjoy simply as a lager. No matter. A cleanly aggressive hop-bomb in a sessionable package is as good place to end as any.

This brief session reminded me of what a great asset to the city Urban Brewing is, and how much I missed my regular ticking sessions at the bar. I will be making more of an effort to pop along in future.