Aldi haul

A whopping four new beers from the German discounter which is less known for its quality beer offer than the other one.

The first is a sequel to an IPA released about a year previously. That was Sailor Sam's IPA; this is Sailor Sam's Marine Mike's Lager. It's hard to imagine that they created so much brand loyalty to carry it through to a second outing, but here it is anyway. It's 4.2% ABV and brewed by Dundalk Bay so I suspect isn't especially different from their own Brewmaster Lager nor its plentiful other white-label instances. Still, it looks proper, being a beautiful crystal clear golden with a good-sized head on top. The aroma is sweet and cakey, like a Helles, and its full mouthfeel suggests a higher gravity than the reported strength does. Sweetness is the main feature of the flavour too, offering melanoidin cookies, cake icing and brown sugar. And yet it doesn't cloy, and while the flavour does hang around on the palate in a slightly un-lager-like way, it is without flaws. This is perfectly fine as a cheap supermarket lager for those seeking the basics. I'm sure Aldi has larger serving sizes of equally decent continental lagers for a comparable price though. Given the choice, I'd go with one of them.

Dundalk Bay also makes the Roadworks series for Aldi, and a new addition to that sequence is Roadworks Nano IPA. This is a mere 3.2% ABV, bulked up with oats for mouthfeel and presenting amber and medium-hazy in the glass. The aroma is pithy with a marmalade or orange jelly sweetness. They have successfully avoided the thinness trap as the body is nicely full and properly satisfying. The corollary downside is that all the residual sugar can be tasted. There's a worty side to the flavour, not as extreme as tends to occur in alcohol-free, but present and interfering with the hop impact and overall cleanness. For what it is, and at an Aldi price, it's still pretty good. I approve that this market segment is being served, and by pleasantly drinkable beer. It just doesn't quite get everything its own way.

Lough Gill's Whistle, their latest one for Aldi, is badged as a "Mountain IPA". It's 5% ABV and very pale yellow with just a faint misting of haze. It smells New England-like, all citrus flesh and a hint of vanilla. The flavour doesn't go anywhere particularly interesting with that: lemon sherbet, a twist of lime and a bit of spongecake. This is inoffensive fare and might have made a good gateway into serious haze, had they advertised it as such. To me, it just seemed watered down or otherwise compromised. Meh.

And just under the wire, hitting the shelves today but conveniently supplied to me by the brewery when I stopped by yesterday evening, is the latest in DOT's Aldi Spin Off Series: Farmhouse Ale. This is a light 4.5% ABV, bright yellow in colour with a persistent fine white foam and a slight haze, looking every inch a proper saison. The earthy, peppery effect I associate with that style is to the fore in the aroma, along with a much more contemporary tropical fruit softness, doubtless the result of the "double helping" of Idaho 7 hops. The flavour doesn't go anywhere surprising from there: dry straw and flinty minerals contrasting with juicy white grape and peach. In combination it calls to mind the effect of Nelson Sauvin hops a little. To me, this tastes pretty much exactly what "farmhouse ale" signifies, with just a little extra new world hop character. So I guess a raft of innocent Aldi shoppers are about to learn something, which is nice.

Other than that one, there's not much to excite in this lot. Lough Gill in particular makes much more interesting IPAs but seems to have phoned it in this time. Still, well played Aldi for putting something, anything, for the beer novelty-seekers in the beer aisle when they really don't have to.