Confession and confusion

Having made a bit of a fuss over the opening of Tallaght's Priory Market, and its built-in brewery, when it opened last summer, I was overdue a revisit. I stopped by on a recent Friday afternoon to find it's all still there and going, though no longer thronged by the crowds from its early days. The good food and fresh beer all still feature, I'm happy to say.

The final outstanding beer from Priory Brewing's advertised relaunch line-up is Confession Bock. This proved very much on the dunkel end of the bock spectrum, a specification it meets with its dark garnet colour and 5.8% ABV. I'm ever wary of too much vegetal hop bitterness in bocks in general but this emphasises the caramel malt instead, almost to doppelbock levels, with an extra dose of invigorating coffee roast. The hops are present but restrained, bringing a mild tang of celery and damp lettuce, clearly signalling that authentic noble hops have been deployed. It's almost but not quite sticky, and well-balanced with properly integrated flavours, the way actual German breweries do it. Warming for a cold day yet light-bodied for a warm one, this is ideal spring drinking, and a welcome addition to the core range.

New on tap was Oktoberfest Kolsch [sic]. I don't know what demented committee process came up with this. As though the name wasn't incongruous enough, it's only 3.3% ABV. Huh? It does at least look like Kölsch, being a pure and clear pale golden. Not much happens in the aroma, but is that a soapy twang? The flavour confirms a slight detergent note. It might be from the glass, and normally covered up by the beer flavour, because there's really little else going on in here. It's not quite crisp, being a little flabby, but least it's not watery. There's maybe a hint of rustic grain husk or burlap, though I had to look hard to find it, and the soap twang was stronger. This is, at best, extremely bland. Far be it from me to say nobody wants to drink this sort of beer, but I don't see what they were trying to brew here. If it's simply to make a beer that's pale and low-strength, I'm sure there are better ways to go about it. I hope it has a short tenure and is replaced by something that's up to the usual Priory quality.

Maybe this demonstrates the wonderfully varied spectrum of brewing in the German vernacular. Priory at least provides plenty of choice in that direction.