After Monday's Dublin run-down, a smattering of beers from Co. Cork that found their way up here recently.Black's of Kinsale joins the micro IPA trend with Night And Day, the lowest-strength Irish example so far at 2.5% ABV and badged as an "ultra session IPA". It's unavoidably watery, alas. There's a certain hop punch: lemon sherbet or Berocca, finishing on a hard waxy bitterness, though even that is dull and muted. I get that it's trying to be light and easy-going but there's a lack of substance that spoils it for me. I can see why other brewers pile in the oats when they're brewing these.
Black's is also continuing its exploration of cannabis terpenes in beer with a third recipe, this one quite different from the IPAs that went before. Black Cherry Soda Kush Porter leans more on the fruit than the herb, delivering a somewhat sticky cherryade sweetness. The chocolate is entirely complementary: a velvety cocoa buzz. There's a rasp of bitterness at the end but that's entirely in keeping with hops rather than anything more exotic. It's lighter and easier-going than 5% ABV suggests, slipping back without fuss, the syrup flavour not building unpleasantly. I'm reminded a little of Trouble's charming Christmas seasonal Dash Away. Perfect if you fancy a touch of winter in your summer.
On a more appropriately seasonal note there's Tropical Kush Crush, a "High PA" with added fruit. This 5%-er is a pale hazy orange colour, with a token head which faded fast. There's a definite weedy element in the aroma: a strong buzz of resins. The flavour is sweeter, the fruit lending it a touch of orangeade. This is balanced with some savoury spicing: tumeric, mint and woody ginger numbing the tongue. The texture is light, making it another quaffable effort, but with plenty of complexity too. Of the four Kush beers from Black's s far, this is the weediest, though it's still a solid IPA and not a stoner novelty drink.
From west Cork to north Cork next. Third in the Eight Degrees eighth anniversary series, following Yellow and Blue, is Red Ball. They've gone for an Australian-hopped IPA, using Vic Secret, Ella and Enigma. It was a job to pour, piling up an extravagant powdered wig of a head. Beneath this the body is a pleasingly clear amber colour. No burst of exotic hops in the aroma; just a dry and tannic tea effect with a slightly sweaty hop funk. The flavour is seriously dry: one of those astringencies that strips the moisture from the mouth. I waited for some softer flavours but none came, neither hop fruit nor malt candy. This is a very severe beer, closest in character to an English brown bitter, or possibly a strong ale, given the 5.7% ABV. Either way, not much fun here.That's it from the Corkonians. Beer from not-Cork will follow on Friday.
