In the Mayne

It apears to be Dublin beer's best kept secret, that Arthur Mayne's in Donnybrook is owned by Benny McCabe and is therefore affiliated to his Rising Sons brewery in Cork city. It certainly carries the goods: eight taps of Rising Sons core range and seasonals, beers which otherwise you'll rarely see outside of Benny's pubs in Cork. It's a charming Victorian-style interior too.

On my recent visit, there was one which I hadn't tried before, the Raspberry Sour. It's dark amber coloured and quite murky with it, including bits which I'm guessing are fruit-derived. A mere 4.3% ABV means it's quite light-bodied, though not thin. The other thing it's not, surprisingly, is sweet. The raspberry element arrives late, after a quite hard mineral tartness up front. I liked that, having feared it would be sickly and syrupy.

This isn’t quite the summer thirst-quencher I was seeking, but I do appreciate a fruit-flavoured sour beer that takes itself as seriously as this does.