All the family

O Brother's place on this blog tends to be in the regular Irish IPA round-ups: they do like an IPA or two. Today, though, there's enough diversity on offer from them to warrant a standalone post.

Talus Lager, for instance, isn't their norm, even though they've made plenty of great pale lagers in the past. This appears to have been exclusive to UnderDog with this name and may be called something else somewhere else (edit: the brewery seems to have subsequently settled on "Cloud Hopper" as the name). On the pub's opening night it didn't seem to be getting many fans but when I came to it a week or two later I was impressed. It's odd, for sure: the hops are sweet and fruity, making it taste of peach and apricot, but the lager base is perfectly clean and crisp with a snap of wholesome grain husk. Maybe some found the contrast too jarring but I think it worked, resulting in something thirst-quenching and palate-cleansing while also easy to drink and only 4.3% ABV. What's not to like in that?

A canned collaboration with a pub? What's that about? Anyway, Lionn Ruadh na Samhna is a red ale produced with top Galway boozer Bierhaus at an admittedly pintable 4.7% ABV. It does suffer one of the the standard can problems: being unfiltered there's dregs in the bottom, and there's no way of knowing when they're in danger of ending up in the glass. So they ended up in the glass. Despite the modest strength there's a rich and sumptuous aroma, full of surprise chocolate with a busy buzz of peppery hops. The flavour goes the same way, adding marzipan, lemon peel and sandalwood, the hop resins lasting long into the finish. The name being as Gaelige wrongfooted me into expecting an Irish red, but it says "hoppy red ale" on the can and it means it. As such this is very much along the lines of American amber ale, though without the weighty body they tend to have. Nobody is making beer like this any more and its a damn shame -- I have a lot of time for American amber, done well and served fresh, which this is.

There must be hops, of course, and we'll start there on Overnight Success, a 5.1% ABV pale ale. It's very hazy and exhibits most of the things I don't like about haze and which aren't always present. Big vanilla dominates the flavour, given an unwelcome rub of garlic and finishing on a dry and savoury caraway bite. There's lots of chalky, gritty, bittiness from the haze proteins, matching the unpleasant flavour with an unpleasant mouthfeel. Hazy beer doesn't have to be like this. Other breweries are perfectly able to make it full of flavour but also clean and enjoyable. It shouldn't be a chore to drink. 

A full-on IPA is next, the 6.6% ABV Illuminate. It's hazy again, of course, and topped with a pleasing stiff froth. Alas the aroma is one of those savoury ones, smelling like rye bread and chopped onion rather than anything juicy. The flavour is better, thankfully. Not juicy, exactly, but sweet and orangey, like cordial. At least part of that is attributable to the alcohol which is punching above its gravity here, adding weight and a certain heat. The finish is quick, however, and my overall impression is of something not terribly complex -- satisfying to drink in its own way but offering up little for forensic sensory analysis.

And a stout to finish. I was a bit sceptical that How Now Are You is only 5.5% ABV yet badged as "Foreign Extra" style. Surely it would need to be north of 6% for that? It arrived black anyway, though sorely lacking in head which is never a good look for a pint of stout of any stripe. There's a fair bit of fizz, again a bit disorientating, though I will never opine that it should have been nitrogenated. It is possible to have stout that's properly creamy and foamy without that sort of flavour-killing intervention. And I'm very glad it wasn't used here because the flavour is absolute redemption. In keeping, I guess, with old-style export practices it may not be brewed extra strong but it's definitely brewed with extra hops, and there's a superb buzz of crunchy green veg and bright summer flowers provided by an unorthodox but extremely welcome hopping. Behind this there's a little sweet chocolate, almost missed because the mouthfeel is thin but present nonetheless. This is nearly superb but needs a little tweaking on the gravity, I reckon, to work properly. If O Brother were in the habit of re-brewing things like this, and minded to bring back their much-missed cask programme, I think this would be an excellent candidate.

In general it has been a slow start to the year for new releases from Irish breweries. O Brother is one I'd like to see picking the pace up.