Kildare's wins

It's a busy brewing county, Kildare. I guess it benefits from being in the Dublin hinterland but without the constraints of Dublin commercial rents. Today I'm looking at four recent beers from four different Kildare breweries.

I'll begin with a lager from Farringtons, though not in the brewery's usual livery. Hells Yeah is a collaboration with Martin's Off Licence and is branded for the shop, having been created for their Advent box last winter. It's a hefty fellow at 5.4% ABV, and the brewer's German vocabulary may need a refresh as it's not very hell at all: a medium-amber colour. It follows that the aroma is more like that of a bock, mixing rich golden syrup malt with a strongly vegetal hop seasoning. The body is unsurprisingly full, and there's a lack of carbonation, detracting from its abilities as a thirst-quencher, which is what I wanted it for. The flavour is full too, however, and enjoyably deep and rounded. There's gooey treacle tart and a surprising blackberry-jam fruity side, all hitting up against the green bite of spinach, asparagus and nettles. I detected a tiny bleachy twang on the end, but couldn't say if that's a minor brewing flaw, or just what happens when weighty pale malt meets noble hops in quantity. On paper I shouldn't have liked this, but while it wasn't what I signed on for, I appreciated its boldness and cuddly demeanour. Some regular-lager drinkers may have got a surprise when it came out of the box back in December.

Until a few weeks ago, when our Great Uncle Diageo started getting the red and yellow stuff (black is pending) running out of the new plant at Littleconnell, Kildare's biggest brewery was Rye River. Their summer special is a sour ale with raspberry and pineapple called Flamingo Acid Test: an elaborate name with a simple ABV of just 4%. It is at least pink, rendered pale by a significant degree of murk. "Centrifuged" says the boilerplate text on the can. Must have been just a quick spin. The haze makes it look like one of those milkshaky pseudo-sour beers, but it isn't. That said, it's still not very sour. The pineapple in particular adds a strong sweetness that the raspberries' tartness fails to balance and which steamrolls equally over the effect of the three-acid blend with which they've kettle-soured it. Don't expect complexity, then, but otherwise it's fine: a bit of simple summer fun. Basic, but nowhere near as basic as your Aperol-drinking friends. 

Kildare's oldest brewery is Trouble, best known around Dublin for its Ambush pale ale, but producing the occasional other beer too. Fresh Start pale ale is a rare new addition to their line-up, and I don't know if the name is meant to signify something. The online commentariat have noted that, although it first appeared on shelves in late April, it bears a canning date in January. Still, I don't think the Citra and Amarillo hops have been harmed unduly by that: it still smells bright and zesty, and the flavour blends Amarillo's fruit candy with a sharper bite of Citra pith. All that is as you'd expect, really. Although... it feels very light and is an exceptionally pale yellow colour, neither of which tallies with its full 5% ABV. There's not much malt flavour, and while the hops are definitely present, the flavour is a little understated. It's a grand sunny pinter, but the strength seems somewhat excessive for what you get.

Not far from Trouble is the Dewdrop Brewhouse at the Dewdrop pub in Kill. Morning Dew is badged as a limited edition can and is a saison, with a beefy 6.2% ABV. It looks the part, all pale and hazy, with plenty of foam on top. "Fruity Dry Peppery" are the three descriptors the brewery has stuck on the label, and the aroma is all about the first of those: big banana and pear, which isn't how I like my saison, by and large. Pepper (white) does follow in the flavour, and the body is pleasingly light and crisp; saisons of this strength can turn out unpleasantly flabby, but this one keeps things taut. The fruit is still there, however: the pear in particular, but that's simply a different kind of crispness. And it finishes dry to complete the set. Overall, this is pretty much on the money, and especially impressive as the work of a country brewpub. I know that saison is a hard sell in the craft beer space generally, but wouldn't it be nice to have a local one in regular production? This would be a good candidate.

There's nothing especially noteworthy in this lot, though also no stunt recipes or similar show-off silliness. Steady and stolid is the Kildare way.