Free range beers

Since the launch of the Farringtons Brewery I've been reporting on their output via the Post Card beers, which they produce under contract. Their own brands were confined to the restaurant where the brewery is located, or were until last August when a whole set got canned and sent out into the world. I bought one of each when I saw them in Molloy's.

We start at Auger's Twist, described as a light lager and 3.8% ABV, making it an unusual choice for going out into the off-sales world. Regardless, it's a bright and happy gold with minimal aroma and restrained fizz. The flavour is the crispness of ready-salted crisps: no malt syrup, no hop veg, just a dry crunch of raw brown sugar with the faintest hint of bitterness. It's the sort of thing that's almost impossible to do on a small restaurant brewkit, so as a technical exercise it's phenomenal. As a beer to drink, it's not much above what the macros do and not really worth going out of your way for.

More is promised by, and expected from, Bohemian Pils. It's a bit low strength at 4.4% ABV, and a touch hazy. There's a happy waft of damp grass from the aroma while the flavour is a colourful mix of fruits and flowers, including lemon, lychee, lavender and honeysuckle -- not typical for a pils but still very enjoyable. A dry herbal bitterness in the finish pulls it back, stylistically. This is good stuff, even if the hop flavours are a little off-kilter. It still performs the role of a pilsner with aplomb.

I thought that was it for the lagers and I turned next to Dirty Snout, which I took to be an amber ale. This is plagued by the large floaty bits which murk up some of Post Card's beers, though don't seem to adversely affect the flavour. Otherwise, it's amber as advertised, a deep chestnut red. I began to realise something was up when I noticed it wasn't sweet or fruity as amber ale tends to be, but rather it has a dry roasted crispness, making it more akin to an Altbier than an amber ale. A check of the smallprint told me that it is an amber lager rather than an ale, and that makes perfect sense. As such it's another good example, bringing a lovely dark richness to a traditional German-style lager.

We enter the warm-fermented segment with Clever Plucker, described as a Session NEIPA. That means it's 4.5% ABV and palely hazy, like a witbier. It has plenty of New-England features, however, beginning with the juice-forward aroma. That leads on to a mix of orange flesh and vanilla in the foretaste, turning a little pithy later, but disappearing before it turns properly bitter. The abrupt finish is due to the light body and it feels a little watery as a result. Still, the flavours are on point while they last and it's very clean and sessionable so delivers everything it promises.

From there to the strongest of the set, a pale ale called Out on Bale, at 5% ABV. This one is a darker  colour and has a slightly savoury aroma. The flavour is rather plain, with just a mild tang of jaffa orange and a slightly nutty marzipan note. Although I'm sure it's going for bitter rather than sweet, it doesn't quite hit the mark there and the hopping falls a bit flat. That savoury thing reemerges as it warms, nutmeg and sandalwood, alongside a vague marmalade character. It's inoffensive, and entirely the kind of thing one might expect from a restaurant brewery. It's not up to the standards of the others.

That one blip aside, this is a very solid set. The can artwork looks great too. I've no idea if there'll be more from them or how active they'll be outside the home restaurant, but I'd certainly be up for trying more.