Paydirt

I have a lot of respect for Waterford's Blackwater Distillery, although I don't drink a lot of their wares beyond the excellent gin they make for Aldi. I particularly like the forthright and open way they communicate about their business, something not enough Irish distilleries and distillery-adjacent companies do. In their early days, they noted how, because of a technical quirk in our antiquated licensing laws, they were required to get a brewery licence in order to distill. It didn't seem like they ever intended to use it for its actual purpose, but now it seems they have.

Reviving the Irish pot still whisky style in the way it was before monopolisation bastardised it is one of their projects (as well as reviving the no-e spelling, another casualty of mid-20th century consolidation) and Dirtgrain the beer uses a 1953 pot still grain recipe, also used for Dirtgrain the whisky. It's an imperial stout of 10.6% ABV with added sour cherries and whisky barrel-aged, of course.

The result is fascinating. The cherries are particularly prominent, and there's a significant sourness, making it taste a bit like a Flanders red ale: that bracing fruity briskness that they have. The chocolate and coffee from the stout are second place and come through strongest in the finish. What's strange is how light-bodied and easy-drinking it is. Though packed with flavour, the finish is quick and it leaves no sticky residue behind. There's also no sign of the whisky, that I could detect anyway.

At €12.50 for a half litre bottle this isn't cheap, and I think you're paying at least a portion of that for the novel concept. It is a very good beer, though, blending classy aspects of both Irish and Belgian traditional brewing. Not bad for a non-brewery.