Two harted

It's been quite a while since I've had any new 9 White Deer beer on here. Today's post was prompted by a couple of the Cork brewery's less-known beers making an appearance in Blackrock Cellar.

The first is Stag Pils, a pilsner. It's a bugger to pour, foaming excessively and annoyingly, making me fear that the bottle I got was infected. Otherwise the specs seem bang on: 4.9% ABV and a deep gold that's mostly clear. The aroma is crisp and grassy, which also seems fully style appropriate, though the flavour is sweeter than I expected. There's more than a hint of the Victoria sponge of a Helles, including the cream and the strawberry jam. A sugary malt weight comes with that, though any sickliness is offset by the fizz. This is hearty fare, made for by-the-mug beer garden quaffing more than thin Prussian sips. It may not win any points on stylistic grounds, but it's lovely drinking.

The other beer is one that I would say is harder to get wrong: Export Stout, a beast of a thing at 7.4% ABV in a full half-litre bottle. It's another fizzy one, but a bit more under control, pouring dense black with a crème caramel head. The blurb says it's based on the brewery's flagship stout, but with added cacao and vanilla, plus some barrel ageing in whisky casks from Blackwater Distillery. I'll admit, I took my first sip before learning about the whisky, and it didn't immediately taste barrel-aged to me, though there is a strong kick of vanilla oak, now that I know. Otherwise it's milk chocolate and dark toast. The high alcohol is well hidden, and in a beer like this, that's not a good thing: I would like a bit more poke; something stronger and thicker for the strength. I'm not sure the barrels are doing what they ought to, adding a tacked on flavour, rather than integrating and enriching the underlying stout. I guess it's a first go, but there's nuance needed in what it does.

I wouldn't have flagged 9 White Deer as a brewery better able to produce a pale lager than a stout, but here we are.