Basic Bull

A new tranche of Bullhouse beers arrived into Dublin, and I realised that I have been very remiss by not trying the core range from the Belfast haze merchants. No, the other Belfast haze merchants. Today I have two of them for you.

Suds is described as a juicy pale ale and is that slightly too dark shade of opaque yellow: an unattractive shade of earwax that speaks to me of all sorts of horrors which may lie in store. The aroma is altogether friendlier, however, and delivers all the juicy: smelling of peaches and mangoes, with a light coating of vanilla cream. The mouthfeel is an interesting mix of oaty smoothness meeting a lighter sparkle which matches the modest 4.5% ABV. I guess this is balance, showing characteristics of the session strength pale ale it is, and the New-England-style beer it also is. Both aspects are present and correct. In the flavour, the thin and fizzy side has the upper hand, resulting in a harshness to the hops. They're leafy and vegetally bitter, like raw pellets, failing to be softened by the pillowy haze. Other than that twang, it's quite clean and approachable, and if you can call hops an off-flavour, that's the only one there is. The vanilla sweetness carries through from the aroma but is subdued, and the finish is quick. I deem this broadly fine. If haze is your thing, here it is for you in a relatively low ABV package, allowing you to step away from the saturated double IPAs for a moment while still getting you your fix. In a market which appears to have an infinite capacity for this kind of beer, I can see why Bullhouse has made it central to their range. For my part, I feel I got away with something: I thought it was going to be terrible and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't. That's a pass.

A "thick Mosaic melody" if the can is to be believed, Frank the Tank is 5% ABV and hazy once again. This... doesn't smell like Mosaic, neither in its melon-and-mango mode, nor the nasty onions-and-armpits dark side. It smells dry and kerosene-like, suggesting Nelson Sauvin to me. Berries? They're not in the flavour, though we're definitely back in Mosaic territory, and the good kind. Berries suggests tartness, but this is more of a fruit salad, with segments of honeydew, pineapple, red apple and white grape. Grapes count as a berry, I guess? I have certainly seen blueberry used as a flavour descriptor on beers which tasted nothing like it, so maybe this is just me failing to pick up on the hop descriptors normal people use. Regardless of such sensory minutiae, the beer is very good. There's a heft to the base which makes for a satisfying and chewy drinking experience, yet without any heat, and not too much risk of a headache, given the strength. As well as the fruit, there's a sizeable amount of resin, making full use of the density to coat the palate with heady weedy oils. A variant called "Frank the Dank" does exist, but basic Frank is pretty damn dank. I enjoyed the combination. 

Both of these were genuinely more enjoyable than I expected them to be. I think it shows that when you get an unpleasant, hot, gritty, garlicky or otherwise nasty hazy pale ale, that's not inherent in the style: it's just bad brewing.