Sweet and sour

Two recent releases from Belfast's Bullhouse today, beginning on their collaboration with Garage Brewing from Barcelona. It's been given the fitting Ulster-Spanish name of Aye Caramba and is a hazy pale ale. It's a smidge on the dark side for that: a rich shade of orange rather than custard yellow, though the aroma is as bright and juicy as one could wish for. It has the full and smooth texture of the style, not compromised by the low-ish ABV of 5%: there are breweries making stronger IPAs which lack this level of substance. The flavour doesn't quite go all out, however, offering only a mild citric juiciness and a slightly sharper note of fried onion. Still, it's very refreshing, with a cleansing fizz to offset its sweet side. While not a stand-out beer, it's a decent example of what it is, and sometimes that's enough.

The other one is a little more involved: a soured cherry ale called Splooosh. They make a claim to it being a table beer, though it's all of 4.5% ABV. I loved the deep purple colouring, topped with an electric-pink layer of froth. My assumption was that it would be sweet, but the aroma gives little away, smelling sharp and grainy, not really like cherries. That doesn't come through until the flavour, and it's no sugarbomb, leading instead with a dry and tart cherry note, all tannic and puckering. The fruit rounds out a little as the beer warms, and it's definitely recognisable as real cherry, but doesn't have the multi-dimensional quality of an oude kriek, for example, and here's where barrel-ageing would likely have helped out. I was glad to find a fruited beer that claimed to be sour was actually sour, and quite enjoyed the intensity, though more cherry character would have improved it.

No world-shakers here, but a couple of very decent beers. Bullhouse remains a credit to Belfast. You may have noticed the CAMRA festival glass I was drinking them from, and I'll have a report on that event for you on Monday.