Feel the width

The best brewery in Longford, Wide Street, makes a return to these pages today, with a whole three new beers.

The first, Keller Pils, has been around since last autumn, but had eluded me until recently. This strikes me as the kind of beer a brewer makes primarily for their own consumption, and that's generally a good sign. A 5.5% ABV lager, it is only slightly hazy, and attractively golden. Its aroma is even more enticing, balancing snazzy Saaz grass with soft and cuddly candyfloss malt, plus a little hint of lemon on the end for a cheeky extra piquancy. Saaz "in its purest form" reads the label copy, and you certainly get that in the foretaste: a big bitter hit of mixed dried herbs, spicier than the damp cut grass which I more readily associate with the hop, but no less enjoyable. A softly floral honey effect follows, and then the malt is right in behind, giving it a gentle spongecake sweetness, before a clean finish with no aftertaste. There's a nicely full body, making it satisfying drinking. For a fuzzy beer, this is a precision effort, and delivers exactly what the style demands. Perfect after a long day tending to the fermenters and whatnot, I'm sure.

Ooof, it's a hazy IPA next. What happened, Wide Street? You used to be cool. The Crystal Ship is a murky amber, rather than the more fashionable beaten-egg shade. The aroma is tropical and funky, like a bowl of mango and passionfruit was left to ripen for too long. The colour had me a bit worried that it might be oxidised, but there is no staleness in the flavour. Things stay sunny and tropical, and definitely fresh, with just a hint of savoury grittiness arriving after the fruit. That's not enough to spoil things, but at the same time the beer is a little on the subtle side, and I think a bigger hop flavour would improve it. It's only 5% ABV, so perhaps the subtlety can be excused. This is probably better oriented towards pub drinking, and has more than a little in common with Trouble Brewing's classically pintable haze, Ambush. If that's a regular for you, definitely try this. And while it's well-made and tasty, I would still prefer if Wide Street didn't make a habit of haze.

"Barrel-aged wild sour ale" is more like it. This is Passiflora, given three years in oak and then, dubiously, flavoured with passionfruit. It's 5.8% ABV and a warm red-gold in the glass. The oak is immediately apparent from the aroma, with a classy, lambic-like gunpowder spice, and the suggestion of quite a robust sourness. That's where the passionfruit comes in. The fruit helps soften the flavour, smoothing it out without dulling its edge. It tastes sour, for sure, but not harshly acidic, and the spice is still there, though now more pepper than mineral, with hints of cinnamon and incense too. I feared the passionfruit would feel artificial or tacked-on, but it's well-integrated, adding a classy perfume rather than sticky syrup. While the strength isn't apparent, it's not a beer to drink quickly. The sourness means small sips are the way to go, while the spicing that comes with each one makes for optimal enjoyment. This is classy stuff, and one of those beers I'd half expect to be delivered in a corked bottled, though a can suited me just fine.

That's a pretty good set, then. If the brewery feels it must make hazy IPA then they've gone about it the right way. But drinking pils and the wild 'n' weird is where they do their best work. Long may that continue.