Garden party

It has taken them a while. Almost eight years have passed since the Smithwick family opened the Sullivan's Taproom in Kilkenny, a brand home for their contract-brewed beer which would one day be a full-sized production facility. It's getting there now and the block-built infrastructure is in place at the rear of the building. Also back there is a good-sized and well-laid-out beer garden where, for the last two years, Sullivan's has been inviting guest breweries to set up their bars for a weekend. I went along to the most recent iteration.

Of course, it was also a chance to catch up with some new beers from Sullivan's itself, since I don't see them very often. Earlier this year they introduced a pilsner called Na Boii, named after the Celtic tribe after whom, in turn, Bohemia is named. It's the appropriate clear golden colour with a soft texture and plenty of sparkle, and the 4.7% ABV is appropriate too. The appropriateness ends there, however. The fermentation isn't up to snuff and the beer is full of esters, tasting primarily of green banana with a different sort of marzipan or cake sweetness alongside. I expect grassy Saaz hops, and would even forgive a smear of buttery diacetyl, but neither features here. There's nothing distasteful going on, and it's OK to drink, but if I were marking it to style it would fare poorly.

Sullivan's Pale Ale is rather better. It exists in bottled form, so I'm guessing it's produced by the main contracting brewer, Dundalk Bay, rather than on the on-site pilot kit in Kilkenny. That might explain why everything is dialled in better. It's a dark-ish amber colour in the glass and smells delightfully zesty. The hops soften on tasting, into the apple and grape of a fruit salad with a sparkle of lemon sherbet. That's balanced by a cornbread malt sweetness, making for some nicely satisfying drinking at only 4.7% ABV. Rather like its Sullivan's sibling, Maltings Red Ale, this is a well-made take on the style, accessible enough for the mainstream but with plenty of interesting character too.

The host had also tried their hand at imperial stout, and barrel-ageing it too, to create Tri-Capital. Information about it is near non-existent so I can't tell you why it's called that, nor what it was aged in. The tap badge does say it was barrel aged for nine months, with another handwritten note on the bar telling us it's 8.5% ABV. Dundalk Bay has a bit of experience in this space, creating the fantastic 8% ABV Romanov in 2019 and a 9% ABV imperial stout in 2021. Happily, this has more in common with the first of these, taking very dark chocolate and caramelised sugar and adding in a heap of boiled green vegetables for a very grown-up bitter stout flavour, just how I like it. The barrel aspect is understated, adding quite a subtle layer of vanilla to proceedings, and a little cheeky spirit heat. Fans of the kind of strong and dark beauties produced by Brehon Brewhouse on the regular would like this one too. It deserves a wider distribution than the Taproom.

And so to the guest brewers. I began at Hopfully, with their new Floatinghome Belgian-style pale ale. This is a tricky style to get right, and American breweries have tended to be better at it than European ones, in my experience. Hopfully has made an excellent go of it, however, holding back a little on the fruity hops, showing only some apricot and star anise, but going big with the Belgianesque herbs and spices: bitter marjoram and dill plus a kick of incense and exotic peppercorns. It's heavily textured for 5.1% ABV but retains a cleansing sparkle as well. Like the imperial stout above, it's great to find this too-rare flavour profile in an Irish beer.

The second Irish hopfenweisse of 2024 came courtesy of Lineman, called Organised Fun. I said in the context of the Eight Degrees one that the style is rarely to my taste, but this one very much was, and I think the hop choice was crucial to that. It's BRU-1 and Hallertau Blanc, the latter of which brewer Mark described as "poor man's Nelson". I can see why too: this beer has very Nelsony notes of flinty minerals and juicy Chardonnay grape. What's even better is what it doesn't taste of: clashing banana esters. There is a softness and sweetness that tells me it's not simply a thinly-disguised IPA, though I fully accept that I may simply prefer hopfenweisse when it's not brewed entirely to style, or when it's brewed by Schneider of Kelheim, who are still making the original.

That leaves just Dead Centre, who had two beers new to me. There was a New England-style pale ale called Tweet Into The Void, 5.5% ABV and hopped with Citra and Strata. That offered a very straightforward kind of decency, from the sunny opaque yellow colour to the zesty yet tropical aroma of lime and pineapple, to the juicy mandarin flavour. If I'm picking nits, there's maybe a little too much of the oniony, savoury side of the hops in the immediate foretaste, and right on the very end, but far from enough to spoil things. It doesn't do anything you haven't tasted a hazy pale ale do before, but I think I'd be perfectly happy with a pint of this in its native environment, down by the Shannon.

Another barrel aged imperial stout to take us out: Solar Eclipse, at 10.7% ABV. There's a slightly odd, but not unpleasant, charcoal aroma, then a flavour centred on chocolate and caramel but with sidenotes of oaky cork and a little umami-laden autolysis as well: soy sauce or shiitake mushrooms. The charcoal flavour becomes a tang of burnt grain in the finish. That sounds a bit off, but again it's a very good beer for the most part, the highlight being a hugely rich and creamy texture, making it for sipping only. It's ambitious, and certainly characterful. While the like of Lough Gill and The White Hag have really mastered this kind of beer, you have to start somewhere and I hope Dead Centre will be trying its hand at more.

With all the ticking done, pints followed, including excellent cask versions of Ballykilcavan's Cobbler's Castle and Wide Street's Plush pale ales. And after that there was tasty barbecue food down at Paris Texas before the train home. It was a fun and easy-going festival in a beautiful venue. Thoroughly recommended for next year, when there might even be a shiny new brewery to see.

Back slaps and barley wine

My reflections on 2021-that-was are dogged by the question of whether this was Another Weird Year or the beginning of The New Normal. Regardless, I am sticking doggedly to the old categories laid out by Mark and Andy 600 years ago, and will endeavour to fill each one, however meaninglessly. If you're looking for relevance and insight you are very much on the wrong blog.

A tradition of my own dictates that the meandering musings be accompanied by a beer, and this year's was shipped to me by Eight Degrees as a kind gift. Irish Oak-Aged Barleywine is the fourth in their five-beer Original Gravity series. It's a beast of a thing at 12.2% ABV and one noteworthy aspect is its use of Irish oak for the ageing, something we also saw from Wicklow Wolf's autumn Locavore barley wine last month. In the glass it's a pleasing russet shade and has a gorgeous vinous aroma, all Madeira, Tokaji and similarly sweet, luscious styles. Though it poured thickly, the texture is light on the palate, and only the heady alcohol vapours give the drinker pause; a reminder that this is very much a sipping job. The flavour opens with a sharp pinch of wood, sappy and resinous, before smoothing out into the sweet wine detected in the aroma. This would run the risk of turning cloying were the texture thicker, though there's also a certain balancing bitterness from Nugget and Cascade hops. The specs tell us they're working at a massive 82 IBUs though only just making themselves heard. I think I enjoyed the base beer a lot more than the barrel effects. An additional can will be aged to see if that sappiness fades eventually. Overall, though, this is an excellent relaxing beer for a winter's afternoon. Not that I get to do any relaxation, as I move on to...

The Golden Pint Awards 2021

Best Irish Cask Beer: BRÚ Brown Ale
There's always at least one winner-by-default in these, and they're starting early this year. The pub situation being what it was, this is the only Irish cask beer I drank in 2021. Still, it wouldn't get an award if I hadn't enjoyed it so BRÚ is fully deserving of the accolade.

Best Irish Keg Beer: Four Provinces Gob Fliuch
A year after its launch in cans, the Four Provinces mild arrived at the brewery pub on draught for the first time, albeit only for takeaway pints, initially. During the summer it became my Friday evening ritual and one of the highlights of the week. This is still a magnificent beer, and that it's comfortingly familiar and brewed on my doorstep is also in its favour.

Best Irish Bottled Beer: Land & Labour Lúnaberry
I mentioned last year that this has become the true prestige category of the GPAs. Bottles are for the special stuff. There were several candidates but when I took stock of my memories of each, the blueberry lambic-a-like from Land & Labour was the one which left the strongest lasting impression of excellence. It's L&L's first appearance in this category but from what I've tasted in 2021 I'm reasonably sure there will be more in future.

Best Irish Canned Beer: Western Herd Flora & Fauna
It was April when this one made me think "that's a Golden Pints winner right there". I have since run the due diligence; there were quite a number of candidates for this award, and an extremely honorable mention must go to Brewmaster Imperial Nitro Stout, but I think Flora & Fauna holds up as the greatest achievement of the canned arts on this island in 2021. I knew nothing about it when I drank it, but in the gap between me drinking it and publishing a review one month later, the plaudits were already pouring in. The apotheosis of the West Coast revival, this brought me back to a time when big and punchy American hops on a clean malt base, served brewery-fresh, was the most perfect thing ever produced for humans to drink.

Best Overseas Draught Beer: De la Senne Zenne Pils
Another category awarded based on the feel of the memory rather than any detailed analysis of the field. I was surprised to find a pils by the pint on my visit to Brasserie de la Senne but utterly thrilled by what I was given. I saw little sign of this becoming a ubiquitous flagship around Brussels but it absolutely deserves to be one.

Best Overseas Bottled Beer: Cantillon Carignan
Yeah, my holidays were largely in Brussels this year, at a time where there was some slight semblance of old-normality about the place. So I drank large bottles of fruited geuze in the Cantillon brewery bar, and they were absolutely delicious, and the Carignan grape one was my favourite of those. Were I giving out silver and bronze medals, other beers from the same session would likely feature, but that would be boring.

Best Overseas Canned Beer: Sierra Nevada Big Little Thing
Now this was a surprise. Nothing jumped out immediately for the category so I had to do some digging to find candidates. And even though I haven't been fully on board with Sierra Nevada's sequence of Hazy Little Thing brand extensions, it turns out I sang the praises of this one. I don't remember now exactly how it tasted so it's just as well it's still in circulation. I will be giving it another go.

Best Collaboration Brew: Galway Bay / Stu Mostów Boulevardier
This was such a close contender for best Irish bottled beer that I'm delighted to find a different rosette to pin on it. My cynicism over beers designed to taste like cocktails was completely washed away by this one. It's all beer, and a masterclass in complexity and balance, even when bourbon barrels and double-digit ABVs are involved.

Best Overall Beer: Western Herd Flora & Fauna
Like I say, it's a classic; a beer for the ages. I wouldn't dream of using this award as a means of bribing the brewery into keeping it in production, but if that should occur, I won't have any particular objection.

Best Branding: Metalman
The 2010 Golden Pints saw brand new brewer Metalman take an award for their art deco logo before it had even released any beer. The brand got an overhaul this year, moving from the 1920s to the 1950s with the classic science-fiction look of its Galactic Voyager series. It's colourful and dynamic, all action and excitement while still classic and charmingly retro. Since the first ones appeared in the spring I always look forward to seeing each new version.

Best Pump Clip: Flow
Table service has really done a number on the tap badge as a marketing tool. Admiring the array of artwork while my pint is being poured seems like something from a bygone age. I feared I might have to skip this award, except... I really like the goofy wolf logo used by the Wolf foodhall in Brussels. You see him a lot in there and he is used on the mini blackboards attached to the taps of the onsite Flow brewery. I therefore deem him a pump clip, and my favourite of the year. Good boy.

Best Bottle/Can Label: Whiplash The Horror
More than any Irish brewery, Whiplash puts High Art on its cans. Just occasionally, however, Sophie the artist gives us something playful and silly, which is when I tend to take notice. So it is with the wide-eyed Charlie Sheen, captured in a particularly daft bit of that very daft war film. Go get 'im, Chuck!



Best Irish Brewery: Lineman
I say this almost every time I review one of their beers, but Lineman really has a bead on how to make classic beer styles, and they've turned out a particularly pleasing high number of those during 2021. Quality and variety done locally is how this award usually goes, and this year Lineman was a level above.

Best Overseas Brewery: Brussels Beer Project
I came home from Brussels very impressed at how the local brewing scene has expanded in recent years, and how the city really seems to be taking it to its heart. I drank and enjoyed quite a few beers from The Big Two, and I'm sure there are those who think I've picked the wrong one here: unlike De la Senne, BBP has not yet made the move to being a fully in-Brussels brewery. But it's coming, as is their all-new lambic brewery, so I have no qualms about giving them this award, though the quality of the many beers released under their name is phenomenal too.

Best New Brewery Opening 2021: Farrington's
Pickings were slim in this category, but there is definitely promise in what I've tasted from the new brewery in Kildare, so they get the gong.

Pub/Bar of the Year: DeRat
I didn't spend much time in pubs this year. It has simply stopped being the fun it used to be, and Dublin lacking a beer bar with serious variety and turnover means there's not much to attract me and my notebook out. Calling in for one beer on a dismal evening in October was enough to secure this prize for DeRat in Utrecht. It was busy but not crowded, highly convivial and with a fantastic selection. For half an hour I had a glimpse back to how pubs used to be. Should it ever come back, I will not be taking that for granted.

Best New Pub/Bar Opening 2021: The Beer Temple
There's only one serious contender in this category: the takeover of this grand prime location on the corner of Dame Street and Parliament Street by the newly combined Galway Bay and BRÚ breweries. They had a short run at normality during November, and I enjoyed my visits. I look forward to making more of it in the months, and years, to come.

Beer Festival of the Year: PINT Jubileum
Another default winner. The bijou little festival at Bierbrouwerij Mommeriete in Gramsbergen to celebrate PINT's birthday was my only beer festival of 2021. I did enjoy it, though.

Supermarket of the Year: SuperValu Sundrive
This shop goes through phases of being good at beer and is currently on something of an upswing. On more than one occasion this year I found beers on the shelves which had not yet made their way to the independent off licences. This award is dedicated to whomever it is who keeps saying "Yes" when the Grand Cru van opens its doors.

Independent Retailer of the Year: Craft Central
My time in the city centre has been limited all year, so when I'm looking to pick up beers, efficiency is important. Craft Central / Stephen Street News hasn't quite been a one-stop-shop for me, but it's the next best thing. I have availed of browsing the fridges, click-and-collect and home delivery, and it all just works.

Online Retailer of the Year: Yards & Crafts
February saw Brickyard in Dundrum pivot to becoming an online off licence as well. I've only used them a few times, but it's always been because they have something in stock that I can't find anywhere else. That's the service I need most from an online operation and what makes this one stand out for me.

Best Beer Book or Magazine: Beeronomics: How Beer Explains the World by Johan Swinnen & Devin Briski
I've had this book since 2018 but for whatever reason never made the time to read it. This year I did, and really enjoyed it. The writers are economists, so take the working of the market as the starting point of their examination of beer and brewing through history, from the church's taxes on medieval gruit, through to the grand consolidation which resulted in AB InBev vs. everybody else. The chapter on how TV advertising was responsible for the death of local American beer brands is particularly enlightening -- it's nice that there are still new stories to tell from 20th century beer history.

Best Beer Blog or Website: Boak & Bailey
Our little community of beer commentariat is getting littler, but Jess and Ray are doing steadfast work to keep it together and, where possible, expand it so it's not the same old voices. Their Saturday morning round-ups are essential reading, and they even find the time for the occasional blog post (and beer reviews!) among the newsletter, Patreon and social media material. Being the Head Girl and Head Boy of Beer Blogging College can be a thankless task, so this is just to say thanks, it is appreciated.

Simon Johnson Award for Best Beer Twitterer: @Nickiquote
This reformed beer blogger rarely mentions the stuff any more but there's plenty of good (better) content besides: art, music, dry wit and a rich seam of quality retweets. Nick has kept me amused and entertained all year.

Best Brewery Website/Social media: Whiplash
Two in a row for the Dublin brewery. In my citation last year I complained that they were a little too Instagrammy for my liking, but it's all on Twitter where I can see it now: lots of detail on the many new releases and re-releases over the year, plus of course the iconic artwork. Questions get answered too, which should be taken for granted but not every brewery on social media does it. Well played to all the humans behind the Whiplash accounts. 


Is that enough? I think that's enough. On the cusp of this blog's 18th year it only remains for me to say thanks to you, the reader, for keeping my hit counter ticking over. Have a safe and happy New Year, and I'll be back with the first of 2022's posts on Monday.

The other Bay Brewery

Dundalk Bay Brewery, the beer-making offshoot of metal fabricator Spectac, cut its teeth on straightforward traditional recipes for the pub trade, and I'm sure that's still what keeps the lights on. They've had a playful side since fairly early on, however, and that has definitely shifted up a gear since they appointed Dave Guilfoyle as head brewer. He seems to have brought the same level of creativity here as to his previous jobs at Pearse Lyons, Trouble and Bo Bristle.

That observation was prompted by pouring Brewmaster Tropical Hazy IPA. Breweries who don't specialise in trend-chasing haze but try and chase it anyway tend to turn out examples that are orange and, too often, clear. I had Dundalk Bay down as one of those breweries but this lad is properly yellow and opaque, looking just like the cool kids made it. The aroma is a pleasant mix of vanilla and meringue meeting citrus zing. There's a nice blend of creaminess and lightness, so I was surprised to find it's a very full 6.8% ABV. That should have guaranteed me a big flavour but I found it a bit limp in that department. The vanilla is still there, and there's a savoury kick from the hops, but it's lacking fruit analogues: no citrus, no juice. While it looks the part, it fails to walk the walk. I blame the hopping: it needs much much more than what it got. This is a great beer if you want an easy buzz: it slips back beautifully smoothly. It won't please the insufferable hopped-up hazeheads, though. While I have no particular quibble, I think it just misses what it set out to be.

Another beer was released at the same time, and can you believe it's taken this long for an Irish brewery to produce a Nitro Imperial Stout? I'm happy it was Dundalk Bay who eventually got round to it because I'm a longstanding fan of their imperial stout. Let's hope they didn't ruin it, eh? The widget rushes, the beer surges, but it doesn't look like they've gone overboard with the nitro: a slim and trim layer of cream sits over the jet-black base and from it emerges a proper aroma of caramel wafers and milky coffee. I thought I was in for sweetness but BOOM there's a blast of green vegetal bitterness right up front and I love it. It's creamily textured, of course, but there's a little prickle of cleansing carbon dioxide too. Once the hops have calmed down you get still-bitter tarry black coffee and a mildly sweet vanilla for a modicum of frankly unnecessary balance. The gas is the only gimmick here and it's a respectful one. The rest is simply a gorgeous, classically constructed, 8% ABV imperial stout. A round of applause for this from me.

It's cool if DBB wants to hone its haze into something more fashionable, but do not touch that imperial stout recipe. We need this sort of antidote to all the pastry everyone else is churning out.