White wine and coffee. Or not

It's a swift couple of new beers from Third Barrel today, beginning with an IPA called Mojo Rising. The headline hops are Strata and Enigma, with a promise of tropical fruit and white wine effects. Before that, however, there was the ordeal of pouring, with lots of foam to deal with, and a dreggy murk which had settled to the bottom of the can, providing an unwelcome late addition. Still, I can't argue with "tropical" as a descriptor of the aroma: it's quite a fruit salad, suggesting pineapple and peaches in syrup. The flavour has a lot of that sweet side too, though is a little more old-world, with red apple and mandarin orange entering the picture. The dregs make their presence felt to an extent, adding a dry and gritty rasp that doesn't subsume the fruit side, but doesn't add anything positive either. There's a lot of the hazy stereotype going on here, with no bitterness and a big pillowy body to carry the juice, alongside a degree of vanilla. For the most part it's fine, if unexciting. The white wine element never materialised and it's completely lacking any crispness, which I'm guessing ought to be a part of that. Oh well. 6% ABV gives it plenty of bang regardless, and it is a genuinely fun beer to drink, piling in all the juicy hops that any haze-lover could want. It's nothing out of the ordinary, though. Don't expect the doors of perception to swing open after drinking one.

The other beer is House Blend, an imperial stout with chocolate, coffee, vanilla and cinnamon, and it's nice to see one of the simple and classy Third Barrel label designs of yesteryear, instead of a smeary AI cartoon. The aroma is ungimmicky, with hints of chocolate and coffee, though staying within the levels at which one might find these features in a straight stout. Its texture is beautifully silky, and it was a surprise to find the ABV a lightweight 8.5%: it tastes several points higher than this. The flavour is, of course, dessert-like, and I get banana mixed in with the initial chocolate. I didn't get much coffee; that seems to have elided with the chocolate to give it an affogato character, rather than any separate roast beans or oils. The vanilla and cinnamon arrive together in the finish, topping off the dessert qualities with a gooey, creamy, pastry confection effect.

I wanted to like this but it's a bit too gimmicky for me. I felt it needed some balance, be that drier coffee roast or some chilli spicing. Despite that low ABV it still turned out cloying, and lacks the warmth which can sometimes add a layer of charm to otherwise overly sweet stouts. Everything here is as advertised, and doubtless there are drinkers who will enjoy its sticky stylings. For me, it needed either further restraint and a move towards classic imperial stout, or an all-out tiramisu-laden calorific booze-fest. The middle ground just isn't as enjoyable.

On this showing, Third Barrel seems to be trying to make types of beer that are popular, but dialling back their essential attributes for the Irish market. Are we that cautious as a nation of beer drinkers? Both of these were well-made, yet lacked the full-colour HD 3D effect with which brewers abroad seem to imbue such efforts. Third Barrel is very much an asset for Dublin's beer scene, but I don't think this pair of releases were quite of international standard. More booze would probably help, for starters.