The Twelve Brewers of Christmas 11: Galway Bay

Our penultimate brewery, Galway Bay, released a new IPA called Dream Awake last month, double dry hopped and including Nelson Sauvin, Idaho 7 and Strata. Nothing to be afraid of there, but I wish I could say the same about the appearance. On tap at The Beer Temple it was downright grey in the glass. Still the aroma was freshly fruity, giving off lightly citrus mandarin and satsuma. The Nelson is very obvious here, opening the flavour on cool and crisp Sauvignon grape. From there it turns sweet, presenting ripe strawberry and lemon cheesecake. This all fades quite quickly for what should be a fairly heavy beer at 6.3% ABV. There's a mild dank buzz and then the greyness kicks in: an unpleasant dreggy harshness which confirms my suspicion that I'm dealing with the bottom of a keg here. Them's the breaks, but I think I got an angle on it regardless, and it's a good one. I heartily approve of the fruity Nelson in particular.

Shortly before that, they released a new double IPA, called Quantum Flux, an 8%-er with Azacca, Idaho 7 and Amarillo. Not just any old pellets though: this is another one of those which proudly shows off its modern hop tech, this time it's CGX, a proprietary cryogenically-produced substance from Crosby Hops. It's mostly hazy, though perhaps insufficiently so to qualify for trendy New England credentials. The aroma is tangy, too, not sweet or savoury. Mandarin peel came to mind. I had high hopes for a decent bit of bitterness but the flavour didn't go that way, opting instead for juice and not much else. On the one hand, no vanilla or garlic is a plus, but on the other it's disappointingly one-dimensional, especially given the characterful hop varieties: a bit of fruit candy is a minimal expectation which it doesn't meet. It's wonderfully easy drinking, with a light texture and little heat, though that's not really what I'm after in this kind of beer. An uncertain welcome for Quantum Flux.

The next was a late add, arriving just the other week. Ventura is a 4.5% ABV hazy session IPA, and boy is it hazy: pale yellow and resembling nothing so much as a pint of lemon barley water. I'll cut to the chase and say it was very dreggy, delivering an impressively powerful blast of vanilla custard powder and sesame paste, with a clashing hard bitterness. Lots of flavour for a low-strength beer, but very little of it pleasant. My tablemates, neither connoisseurs of the ale, were similarly unimpressed. Emmy-nominated graphic designer David said it was "visually ghastly" but otherwise "unremarkable". Whereas Peter (just Peter) opined that it "looks like vomit and the aftertaste is like vomit" although it "becomes less offensive" as you drink it. I think he was enjoying it by the end. So this isn't the muck for me. I was glad of the switch to Budvar Dark after this.

A stout to finish. Morning Afterglow owes its name to the inclusion of oatmeal and coffee, making it a breakfast stout. There's a new departure for the branding on the can as well. Once poured, the visuals are fabulous: black with cola-red edges and a pillow of tan-coloured foam, like the winking head on a vintage stout advertisement. The coffee is all in on the aroma, oily and beany; rich and raw, leaving little room for anything else. Creamy texture: check. I was expecting oodles of dry roast from the flavour, but it sticks with the oily coffee, sweetened nicely by the unfermented sugars from the oatmeal. It gets no more complex than that, but it absolutely will do. You get the invigorating jolt of that first morning coffee, but also a relaxing warm bath of a stout, wholesome and satisfying. I can't find a single fault here; not a trace of bitterness, nor hint of wateriness, nor any overdone sweetness. 6.7% ABV is hefty, and yet it's not hot. I have never really been a big fan of coffee and oatmeal stout, and I've tasted a fair few. I get it now, and I hope this masterpiece sticks around.

One more brewery arrives with Santa tomorrow morning.