Who asked for this?

They've gone all creative at Open Gate for the summer, Lord save us. Classic styles can wait; everything is getting an off kilter ingredient or two. But we shouldn't be too cynical before starting to drink them.

Exhibit A is Cola Radler. It looks like stout: a dark reddish brown with a fine white head. I suspect stout is the beer base and it tastes immediately roasty, plus I think I detect some Guinness tang in the aroma. Cola sits in the middle of the flavour, tasting a little concentrated, conjuring long-dormant sensory memories of the Soda Stream machine in my childhood kitchen. The cola syrup had a particular smell and taste which is echoed here. And that's it. As we saw on Friday, radler is supposed to be quenching and refreshing, and although this is only 3.5% ABV, the lack of citrus means it doesn't work. The cola is overly sticky and clashes unpleasantly with the stout's bitterness and roast. I noticed towards the end a nearby menu board saying that there is lime in the mix here, but there's not nearly enough. You may wince at the very notion of mixing Guinness and Coke, and I'm here to tell you, first hand, that that's an entirely appropriate reaction.

Open Gate becomes the third local brewery, after Rascals and Third Circle, to brew a beer called Dubliner Weisse. Theirs is with hibiscus, blood orange and pomegranate. It's a fun pink colour and 3.8% ABV. I was on the lookout for sourness first and was not very surprised to find it isn't really, hitting dry and crisp but not proceeding beyond that into tartness. The fruit mix is pleasant, though, suggesting cherry, pineapple, raspberry and apricot: all very bright and summery. A twang of yoghurt is the only nod to microflora complexity, but that's OK. It may not be even close to proper Berliner weisse, but this does what it's designed to do. Party on.

Yet another in the recent series of flavoured stouts follows that. With a Coconut Rum Stout it was always going to be tough not to mention Bounty bars, and I'm completely failing at that, because this very much tastes Bounteous: dark chocolate and gooey coconut paste. But wait, there's more. The official description doesn't mention real rum, only "rum spices", suggesting the involvement of Uncle Arthur's housemate, Captain Morgan. That's a big part of the aroma but mild in the flavour, adding hints of vanilla, cinnamon, walnut and smoke without interrupting the headline features. Most pleasingly, the beer is dry not sweet, with a proper bite of roast and a non-sticky texture, even at 5.6% ABV. Excellent work. Yes, it's pure gimmick, but designed and executed in an expert way, paying due care and attention to balance and complexity, while also doing the wacky novelty thing. I'm fully on board for that sort of brewing.

That set was followed swiftly by two further additions, still keeping things weird. I suspect that the Chilli-Mango DIPA didn't hit its intended gravity as it's only 6.9% ABV. It presents a foggy orange colour and smells properly pulpy and tropical, the 45kg of mango in the 10hL batch paying their way. That does mean there's something of a yoghurt kick about the flavour: not sour but creamy with a light layer of vanilla. There wasn't anything I would describe as hop character,  but perhaps drinkers of this type of heavy and hazy IPA don't care about the hops. It's not readily obvious that chilli is involved (three types): I didn't get any spice piquancy, which is unfortunate. Instead, I think all the pepper action is in the finish, where it's dry and a little plasticky, not contributing anything positive to the picture. Hey, Open Gate is a self-described experimental brewery, and this strikes me as a very experimental beer; one that doesn't quite do what it's supposed to. They've got the mango right; the other details need tweaking, however.

Next to it is Port Ellen Part II. I assume that Part I was the one released last summer under the name The 200, a collaboration with Diageo's distillery in the Islay town of the same name. My notes on that one said it was served too cold, hence letting this one sit for a bit. A freshly fried bacon aroma starts us off on the right foot, and the flavour continues in that vein, the sweet smoke suggesting Bamberg more than Islay to me. An enquiry about whether smoked malt was used, rather than simply depending on the whisky barrels, revealed that yes, it's peated malt, though the beer is possibly not barrel-aged. That scans. Though 7.1% ABV, it's not hot or spirit-laden. This sort of brightly smoky stout is right up my street: savoury as the day is long but still clean, drinkable and positively refreshing. I carry a torch for the one Messrs Maguire brewed, once, back in 2007, and this brought me right back there. Smokeheads assemble.

Just one (and a half) missteps with these, and it's not a surprise. Mostly, this is ideal fare for the al fresco drinking season, however short and sporadic it may prove to be this year.