Unseasonals

I did a little bit of a go-around of the Dublin Wetherspoon pubs before I left town for Christmas. At Keaven's Port they had two new ticks for me.

Well, sort of. The cask of Oakham Below Zero ran dry before my half was poured but I still got a decent sized taster. It's lovely too, a bright and lemony pale ale with zingy notes of sherbet and zest: an impressive depth of flavour for just 4.1% ABV. Alongside a bonus tannic dryness there's a very slight soapy character in the finish which prevents it from being stellar, but I would have happily necked this by the pint had that been an option. 

Also pouring was Vale Brewery's Gravitas, a honey-coloured pale ale, single-hopped but with what we are not told. As the name suggested, it's an alcohol powerhouse, up at 4.8% ABV. Careful now. The flavour is a strange one, being highly floral and perfumed, blending lavender sweetness with a jasmine spice. I guessed it was an English hop variety, but research revealed that to be not quite right: it's Cascade, of English ancestry but resolutely American, normally. Here it's missing its citrus tang and savoury earthiness. Technical details aside, it's a good beer. Once you're accustomed to the sweetness it's very clean, and like the above beer there's just enough tannin in the finish to enhance the drinkability.

Meanwhile, over at The Silver Penny they had one of those lovely art nouveau Brewsters pumpclips on display and, mirabile dictu, were actually pouring the beer it was advertising: Decadence, a golden ale. Kiwi and passionfruit are promised, though it begins on a slightly artificial fruit-flavoured chewing gum aroma. There's a certain amount of realistic tropicality in the flavour, passionfruit and mango for sure, though lacking the bitterness of kiwifruit, I think. There's a fun piquancy too: a little bit sulphur or pink peppercorn, but not to an excessive degree. This is another very decent affair, well designed and well kept.

Any of these would make for excellent summer beers but were equally welcome in the depths of winter.