Left cold

Ireland has a number of very small breweries, mostly in quite touristed parts of the country, whose beers don't get very far from their place of production and are rarely if ever seen in Dublin. Today is one such, and I was happy to find these three on the shelves of Redmonds off licence in Ranelagh. They're from the Tom Crean brewery in Kenmare, not to be confused with the now-defunct one-lager Tom Crean brewery that operated briefly in Dingle. This one is the real deal, owned by a descendent of the eponymous Antarctic explorer.

I'm guessing they don't run to cool fermentation, ironically, as the first out of the fridge is a Kölsch, a mainstay of small breweries who have a need for lager but not the wherewithal to make one in the normal way. Killowen Kölsch Lager is 4.2% ABV and I have to say the visuals are piss-poor: a muddy brown, looking nastily oxidised, with no proper head. The aroma is similarly home-brewish, with a yeasty tang and no distinct malt or hops. There's nothing especially nasty in the flavour, at least when it's cold. But nothing particularly good either. It's as rough as it looks, and has a worrying headachey heat which something this light shouldn't. There's a certain rustic wholesomeness about it, and the finish is mercifully clean, but it's not good beer. Visitors to the brewery from Cologne must be horrified if this is what Irish people think their beer is like. 

As any home brewer of my skill level can tell you, one way to hide the wonky aspects of your beer is to load it with hops. I was intrigued to see if they'd done this with Scurvy Dog IPA. It's also 4.2% ABV and also a distressing opaque dun colour. The head is better formed, however. It does have a citric hop aroma, but there's nothing fresh or zingy about it; instead it's a kind of lemon candy tang, somewhat American but with a lot of English-style breadiness in the background. The flavour is definitely homebrew-like: not infected, but compromised, like a pre-hopped kit IPA. There's a rough grittiness and very little by way of real hop taste of any kind, only a vague metallic or aspirin bite. It has a fair bit in common with the previous one, but I hold IPA, and especially session IPA, to a higher standard. The label says it has been known to convert wine drinkers to beer: tall tales being part of the nautical theme, I guess. At the end of this one, I was fully prepared for the grand finale.

It's another 4.2%-er and is a red ale called Expedition Ale. The murk remains, with some disturbingly large lumps, though I have no issues with the head, which is properly bankable. While it still has a strong amateurish vibe, it's one of those homebrews where the brewer got lucky and produced a tasty, if rather odd, beer. No points for stylistic accuracy, but it's not a very good style, so that's not a problem. What I found was a fun mix of aftershave resin and spice meeting strawberry and raspberry summer fruit; a seam of caramel, and a dry roasty finish. Irish red ale is not meant to be so complex but I'm not complaining. Due diligence had me looking for any off notes, and there is a little bit of TCP-like phenol, not a lot, though. And the body is decently full which adds to the enjoyment. I don't know that I would want to chance another bottle of something which strikes me as a bit random, but I genuinely enjoyed it.

One out of three isn't a great record, though. Maybe there's a reason, other than logistics, that these breweries don't sell into more competitive beer markets.