The Twelve Brewers of Christmas 10: O Brother

The end of the run is in sight. I hope you have all your shopping done. Today's brewery is O Brother, beginning with a couple of IPAs.

First is part of a series they've been doing with Bierhaus in Galway. It's called Lionn Óir Lughnasa ("Golden August Ale"?) and purports to be a west coast IPA but there's a definite haze going on, even if it's mostly quite clear, and indeed golden. The aroma is a mix of citrus sweetness and savoury vegetal notes, done with Columbus, Simcoe and Amarillo. I'm happy to say that the latter is the only one which shows up in the flavour, centred on a Skittles or Starburst fruit candy effect. That's accentuated by quite a weighty body, thanks to 6.5% ABV, giving it a chewy texture. The low level of bitterness is a bit of a problem. Where that resinous bite ought to be there's just empty space, the flavour tailing off impertinently quickly. It's fine, and does offer something different from all the vanilla murk IPAs floating around, but by itself it's not very impressive.

Hazy double IPA is much more of an O Brother specialism and the most recent there is High Tech Pastoral. It's 8.4% ABV and on the dark side; slightly more amber than yellow. Galaxy, Mosaic, Columbus and Comet will be your hops today -- a little bit of a retro set, but I'm into it. The aroma certainly reminds me of the heady days when Galaxy was new and beers began to smell enticingly of mandarin and tangerine. The zest ends there, however, squashed by the heavy gravity, turning juice to undiluted cordial, and adding a sugary heat. It might be a bit much were it not for a politely swift finish which leaves a residual bite of proper bitterness, cleansing the palate in a way that hefty DIPAs generally don't. I thought four hops might make it more complex-tasting but I'm fine with the simple and balanced profile they've given it. No wow factor, but solid well-made decency is a perfectly acceptable substitute. Double IPA grows up.

They didn't leave us hanging for a wintertime dark beer, and this set finishes with the delightfully titled Oversharing & Undercaring: I hope your family Christmas is less passive-aggressive than it sounds like the O'Neill brothers are having. It's in the Scotch ale style, though resisting the temptation to American it up to super-high strength and sticking at 8% ABV. It's an unattractive murky brown colour and with that comes a kind of Belgian herb and spice effect which is somewhat Christmassy, offering cinnamon, aniseed and a cola-nut savoury side. Beers of this sort tend to go sweet, with lots of toffee and caramel, and I'm glad that this doesn't. It's still warming, smooth, rounded: all that you could ask for, but avoiding the sugary excesses. Only a hint of banana when it has warmed up brings any excess sweetness; it's perfectly clean otherwise. This one is unusual, but it absolutely works. 

O Brother has had a bit of a slow year compared to the last few -- moving brewery might have something to do with that. I still like to see them out with new beers, though, and I hope that continues into 2024.