That summer in Dublin

In its previous incarnations, Post Card wasn't the most prolific Irish beer brand but since they relaunched via the brewing facilities of Farrington's in Kildare they've kept the new beers coming. The beginning of July saw the launch of two summer specials.

First up is an extra pale ale called Irish Summer I, designed for easy warm-day drinking and it was on such an afternoon that I opened it. It's a bright golden colour with a little haze but not excessive amounts. The flavour is bright too, full of spritzy lemon -- bitter for the most part but with a hint of meringue pie sweetness as well. Said sweetness is derived from the malt base which is nicely full even though the ABV is a very modest 4.8%. After the initial zingy zesty burst, there's quite a long citric aftertaste as well. This is no lightweight and does a great job of filling the brief to be accessible, thirst-quenching, but also absolutely packed with clean new-world hop flavour. Something for everyone.

In a baller move, Irish Summer II is a black IPA: not something I'd have thought of as particularly summery but let's go anyway. At 6.8% ABV this one is not a quaffing beer on the same level as the above. It's a properly black black, though with a few of the unattractive floaty flakes that plagued the brewery's recent Mexican-style lager. The aroma is quite sweet and roasty, seeming all stout to me. Have we been gypped on the hops? To an extent. There's a certain amount of green vegetal bitterness in the flavour, and a slight hint of citrus, but no more than that. More prominent is the milk chocolate and milky coffee provided by the dark malts. While this may not be black IPA exactly as I like it, it's still very enjoyable. Once again the flavour is clean and precise, and there's a lovely smooth texture, exactly as promised by the strength. Without the hops it would be a superb extra stout, and with a handful or two more it would be a great black IPA.

These are both very accomplished beers, and not the sort of thing I would imagine a small in-restaurant brewery would be capable of. I've never been to Farrington's Mill but I like that Post Card is getting their delicious output to us here in the capital.