The eternal October

We go back to the tail end of October for the beginning of today's post. I had gone in search of the Oktoberfestbier from Hopkins & Hopkins which had been on tap at The Porterhouse, only to run out as soon as I ordered a pint. As an alternative, I picked the unOktoberfest Weissbier Spezial Edition by Hofbräuhaus Traunstein, a 5.4% ABV weizen. What makes it Spezial? Not the strength, particularly, but it's the dark ochre of Schneider's classic, so maybe I was in for a bit of roast. The aroma didn't suggest this, leading on concentrated banana. The roast did arrive in the flavour, however. Typical banana kicks things off, but quickly gives way, first to even sweeter caramel before it all gets cleaned up by a dry bite. A bitterer green banana effect adds acidity to the finish, and that's it done.

"Special" is maybe going a bit far, but it's a very decent take on weissbier. There's lots of the style's distinctive features, though not too much fruit, caramel, or alcohol heat. You do need to be OK with banana, and not go looking for clove phenols, to enjoy it. While this wasn't a substitute for the Festbier I wanted, I was happy to stumble across it regardless.

It was over a month later that the beer gods smiled upon me and H&H's Hopburgh Festbier (as the badge had it; it's "Oktoberfest" bottled) appeared at The Porterhouse's cooler younger sibling, Tapped. Pint please. The serving, in a Peroni-style sleeve glass, didn't really suit it but I could still see it's a deep rose gold, with perfect clarity. This is the full 5.8% ABV and shows a spectacular malt richness, right from the first sniff. Sweet and cakey melanoidins contrast with a noble hop intensity which goes beyond lettuce and celery, towards harsh burnt plastic. With a thinner beer, that could be a problem. Not here though. Malt is the dominant feature, and I don't know that the brewery does decoction mashing, but this has that bread-and-treacle depth of flavour. However it's done, it's marvellous, managing to be at once chewy and süffig while also sinkable and refreshing. The only thing missing was a handled glass from which to chug it. Worth waiting for, as the fella in Alexandria had it.

While we're on Irish-brewed German beer styles at The Porterhouse, an Altbier by Wide Street showed up at the Temple Bar branch in late November. Altstadt is 4.6% ABV and a dark mahogany red. It smells sweet, of bourbon biscuit and milk chocolate. That's one side of its flavour, but roast is the main one: a clean crispness, brushed with dark toast crumbs. The cookies arrive after that, followed by a green noble hop bitterness and a red fruit sweetness, adding a pinch of raspberry and cherry colour. I took my time over it, worth doing as it's a subtle beer which benefits from being given the opportunity to unfold. I should note that the brewery would like us to know that the grain bill includes rye for extra spice, but I can't say I tasted that. Regardless, it's an excellent Alt, offering the classic dark lager combination of clean drinkability with all the characterful dark malt flavour.

It's not for me to say that breweries in Dublin and Longford are doing a better job of German style beers than the Bavarians. This representative sample merely suggests that the hypothesis merits further investigation.