Enough already

When Boak & Bailey kindly awarded me their 2020 Golden Pint for best beer blogger, the citation mentioned my "business-as-usual, non-plague-related content". So shall it be with my own Golden Pint nominations. I'll try and keep the phew-what-a-year, hashtag-unprecedented clichés to a minimum as I go through the categories below. That said, when picking a sipper to assist with my musings I couldn't go past Whiplash's recent offering Let.It.End.

The brewery describes it as a "futuristic stout", and if their prediction is correct, stouts of the future will be made with maple syrup and... French toast? Huh? It's a dense dark brown in the glass, and is that an eggy yellow hint to the head? The French toast thing has thrown me somewhat. As befits 11% ABV, and more, it is extremely dense: one of those beers where pulling it from glass to mouth takes a concerted effort. Although coffee isn't an ingredient there's a very strong coffee component in the flavour, with all the gritty, bitter and concentrated roast of a ristretto. Maple syrup, another ingredient, follows that to bring a contrasting sweetness, one which is just as concentrated and intense. I wouldn't describe this as complex: it's really just two extreme flavours butting up against each other. It's sticky and slow going, though the pay-off is a gradually growing warmth, which was the part I enjoyed most. Otherwise, it was just too much for me. Luckily I had plenty to distract myself with while sipping through it, what with...

The Golden Pint Awards 2020

Best Irish Cask Beer: DOT Barrel Aged Imperial Saison
I'm not aware of this beaut making it out into the world in any other form. Maybe it was the tail end of something. Anyway, I caught this late at the Franciscan Well winter festival in February and was very glad not to have missed it.

Best Irish Keg Beer: Galway Bay Märzen To the Fire
Seems like a simple sort of plan: brew your own clone of world classic Schlenkerla Märzen and stick it on draught in your chain of pubs. I know just enough about brewing to appreciate how tall an order that is, but this one nailed it. Drinking my first pint of it at The Black Sheep on 20th February I was looking forward to many more throughout the year. Just as well, then, that it translated perfectly to cans.

Best Irish Bottled Beer: Porterhouse Around the Clock
This field is getting smaller, though is probably now the purview of high-end cork-and-cage or waxed-capped bottles. The Porterhouse's new imperial stout is the latter, but don't hold that against it. Judicious use of barrel-ageing courtesy of the brewery's sister distillery has created a luxurious yet balanced masterpiece.

Best Irish Canned Beer: DOT Barrel Aged Session IPA
More barrels, but a very different offer to the last one. This was an exclusive to Redmond's of Ranelagh back in the late summer. Under 4% ABV but brimming with honey, dessert wine and white pepper complexities. If Redmond's still has any in the fridges, grab it.

Best Overseas Bottled Beer: Jopen Maria Magdalena
The little bit of travelling I did at the start of the year landed me this bargain black IPA. Its mix of citrus zest and tarry bitterness is everything the style should be.

Best Overseas Canned Beer: Hop City 8th Sin
Another dark one, this time a Canadian dark lager, from the makers of Moosehead. My expectations were low, but I discovered something akin to a superb Czech dark lager, a style we see very little of in these parts. This one is readily available in Irish off licences and is not to be overlooked.

Best Collaboration Brew: DOT / Brú Well-Rounded Individual
There was no shortage of barrel-aged loveliness from DOT this year, and this one on which Brú collaborated delivered the mellow maturity of barrelling at its best.

Best Overall Beer: Porterhouse Around the Clock
Of the seven contenders, the one which comes with a memory of being instantly wowed from the first sip was The Porterhouse's new imperial stout.

Best Branding: Hopfully
The Brazilian gypsy brewers moved operations to Metalman in Waterford this year and gave their branding a makeover. They had always been very artistic in their presentation, and the new style with clean and classy background colours makes their cans stand out even more. There were some lovely beers inside those cans too.

Best Pump Clip: O Brother: Bat Country
A recent one, but still a deserving winner. And while I didn't actually see it clipped to a pump, I did drink the beer via a draught growler and the badge was on display on the menu screens at UnderDog when I bought it, so it counts. Adam West and Hunter S. Thompson getting pulled over by the cops is, for me, a perfect mash-up of pop-culture and literary silliness.

Best Bottle/Can Label: Galway Hooker Cherry
Another serious take on a daft idea. I didn't know Popeye needed a gritty reboot, but here we are. Shout out also to Whiplash's Jupiters, which made me smile every time I took a can out of the fridge. What are those two up to?

Best Irish Brewery: DOT
Nobody has been quite so busy this year as the barrel wizard of Dolphin's Barn. Going beer shopping was the main reason I left the house at all, and DOT's exclusives with various off licences had me biking all over the city. I'm ending 2020 with a vast array of DOT ticks under my belt and a couple more cans still waiting to be opened in the New Year. In this season of goodwill I'll ignore the samey IPAs and concentrate on all the barrel-aged blended class that DOT has provided. If you want in on the ground level, you can find details of their barrel adoption programme in the link above.

Best Overseas Brewery: Oskar Blues
I owe at least some nod to our friends in the States here, having enjoyed several run-throughs of imported cans courtesy of the likes of Cigar City, Ska, Odell and of course Sierra Nevada. Of all of them, I think Oskar Blues had the highest hit-rate of good ones, so while this is largely an award for supply quantity and variety, there is of course a quality element too.

Best New Brewery Opening 2020: Otterbank
Does a brand that's been going for several years taking over an existing premises count as a new brewery opening? I'm saying yes, mostly to make things easier for myself. The first beer has been getting some great press, though it wasn't for me, while the second and third were legitimate hits. I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens when Declan really gets into his stride.

Pub/Bar of the Year: 57 the Headline
The resilience shown by Geoff and Máire in an impossibly tough year was nothing short of astounding. When the pubs were shut, The Headline became one of my go-to off licences and kept me well supplied with new beers. And for the brief time during the summer that indoor dining was possible, a couple of dinners here provided a welcome feel of normality.

Best New Pub/Bar Opening 2020: Crew
What kind of lunatics open a new brewpub in a year like this? Crew in Limerick did, and paying a visit is high on my list of priorities when that becomes an option.

Beer Festival of the Year: Franciscan Well Cask & Winter Ales
I made it to one beer festival this year -- go me! So Franciscan Well kinda wins this by default. I did have a nice time, though. A special mention goes to The White Hag for organising two highly enjoyable online events.

Supermarket of the Year: Aldi
When I started working from home, Rheinbacher quickly became my daily staple. The fortnightly restock at Aldi Terenure became part of that routine. Thanks for keeping the cans consistently in stock, folks.

Independent Retailer of the Year: Mace SCR
In the depths of the first lockdown I had to make a few emergency trips to the office, my route taking me past this unassuming cornershop. It was such a relief to be able to stop, stock up on new beers and continue on my way. Molloy's on Francis Street also provided stellar service of this kind.

Online Retailer of the Year: Craft Central
This isn't a category I would usually trouble myself with much, but in 2020 the market for beer delivery expanded hugely. The service from Craft Central was consistently brilliant, and what really swung it for me was the click-and-collect option which was instrumental in letting me stay on top of new Irish beer releases. 

Best Beer Book or Magazine: Brussels Beer City by Eoghan Walsh
As usual there was only one contender for this, but it's a worthy winner -- a fascinating delve into the chequered history of Brussels brewing, from medieval lambic to the now-vanquished industrial lager giants, to the city's modern beer renaissance.

Best Beer Blog or Website: Shut Up About Barclay Perkins
The unsinkable Ronald Pattinson kept the lights on all year, every day bringing something new about stout or war or sugar or all three, with a bonus sprinkling of naughty vicars.

Simon Johnson Award for Best Beer Twitterer: @RuariOToole
It was very much the year for weird and grim humour, and Ruari's Twitter provided plenty of it. Much appreciated, my man. Dudes rock!

Best Brewery Website/Social media: Whiplash
They're Instagrammier than I would like, but the information on their beers was always there when I looked for it.


I think that's quite enough of 2020, don't you? We start anew with hope in our hearts and mRNA in our veins, shortly.

As above...

At the beginning of the month it was off down to Cork for the first festival of the year, Cask Ales & Strange Brews at Franciscan Well. As usual, before I could enjoy any of the beers, I had to partake in the judging of the best ones in show. Tasting blind, it's a handy way of putting together an honest assessment of what was on offer. I just had to match the numbered reviews to the listings once judging was over. I got through twenty beers at the gig and I'm dividing them geographically, beginning today with all the ones from not-Munster.

And I may as well kick off with the winner, the Baltic porter from Dublin's own Rascals: Absolutely Baltic. This was brand new out and otherwise only available at the brewery. It's an orthodox 7.5% ABV, properly brown-black, though a little flat from the cask. The banana aroma was a surprise but not jarring, leading on to a subtle caramel flavour. There's a lick of liquorice and then a wholesome walnut effect. Nothing is too extreme in this even though it's full of character and cheering winter warmth. Just a smidge more fizz would have perfected it.

The Inchicore brewery also had a dubbel in the running, the fruit flavoured Cherry Poppin'. I've said before that flavoured dubbel doesn't do the style justice and this one, while nothing was wrong with it, at no point reminded me of dubbel. It's only 6.1% ABV, for one thing, a clear and deep ruby with an aroma of dark biscuits. There's a little syrup in the vapours too, and that turns to cough mixture in the flavour. I couldn't identify cherries specifically, just a general sweet and dark fruit, like you'd find in Málaga wine or PX sherry. A touch of dark chocolate brings Raspberry Ruffle bars to mind. It's fun, and a bit silly; treat it with the lack of seriousness it deserves and you'll enjoy.

Staying with the Dubs, DOT had some superb beers on the go, all of which somehow failed to win any awards. I know none came my way for judging. Pick of the bunch, and my personal favourite of the day, was a Barrel Aged Imperial Saison. Wisely, I came to this late in proceedings. It's a whopper 10.4% ABV but is clean and smooth; warm rather than hot. The dominant flavours are a mix of dry Sauvignon Blanc turning to dryer Fino sherry, allied with some sweeter Sauternes. The grape fun is accompanied by the peppery spice found in my favourite saisons. It's a great example of taking the features of a base style and building something different yet amazing from them. I imagine it's more difficult than just squirting fruit syrup in the fermenter, though.

At the opposite end of the scale there was the modestly-named General Sour at 3.5% ABV. It's a hazy yellow colour, and perhaps that contributed to the impression of custard I got from the aroma. Add in the sourness of the flavour, and you get a stick of rhubarb with your custard, the creamy texture enhancing the dessert effect. The sharpness is nicely balanced here: unmistakably tart but rounded and easy-going too.

At the same strength (related recipe?) there was a Session Pale, also with a bit of a vanilla quality in its flavour and a thick-set texture. Sweet orange cordial and a pinch of white pepper also feature. Despite that tiddling ABV I'm not sure a session on this would actually be possible. I was glad I only had a half to enjoy, but enjoy I did.

DOT's blip was a barrel-aged amber-brown yoke called Assorted Nuts. It tasted hugely of hazelnuts with a touch of wafer biscuits. Simple and smooth; clean and easy, there was nothing technically wrong with it, but at 9.4% ABV there really ought to be more happening. It's a strength at which "only OK" is not OK.

There was one beer in competition that I swore was a DOT offering when it came my way for assessment: it had that spicy, pithy oak-and-citrus taste that DOT's barrel-aged pale ales generally show. Except it wasn't DOT, it was YellowBelly's presumably experimental Mixed Fermentation Barrel Aged Special. Coconut/gorse and vanilla come out in the aroma, while the flavour is warm and herbal, like a spiced barleywine, with the weighty mouthfeel to match. Amazingly it's only 5.5% ABV. There's fantastic complexity here, though not the kind I expected. "Mixed Fermentation" means sour to me. Shows what I know.

Just one other YellowBelly beer today: Kazbek Dry-Hopped Ale, showcasing a Czech Saaz-a-like hop I've never encountered before. There's certainly a lot of grass going on; too much really. Steve reckoned it was the hallmark of a beer that's been left to dry hop for too long and I think he's correct there. Behind that it's a decent but unexciting grainy beer, the ABV 4.6%. If I had to put it into a style category I'd suggest a basic English bitter. It left me none the wiser about what makes Kazbek unique, if anything.

New beers from Barrelhead are all too rare, which is a shame. For this gig they sent along a thoroughly unfashionable but quite delicious English-style Strong Ale. It's a very pale example, its appearance resembling the Belgian sort of strong ale. I got no aroma from my judging sample and found the flavour quite hot, but in a clean-burn Duvel sort of way. It doesn't have the Belgian fruit esters, however: the taste settling to a very English bitter wax before some simple candy sweetness and a green weedy spice. No fireworks, no gimmicks, and not too dangerous at 6% ABV. This is one of those beers I wish there was more of a market for. Replace every milkshake IPA with it.

Two Ballykilcavan specials next, both veering away from classic styles, in the spirit of Strange Brews. The first was my second of the day in the blind judging and I didn't care for it at all. Murky, soupy, dreggy and hot; green apples, cheese and feet. None of those descriptors fit the profile of what turned out to be a Peach & Passionfruit Pale Ale. I could tell there was a decent beer at its core, a simple affair with fresh and juicy orange flavours. I blame the serving method for making a mess of it.

My last beer at the festival was their Cherry Chocolate Stout, a bit of a beast at 6.7% ABV. Cherry cough syrup, pie filling and cheap Black Forest gateau say my notes: altogether more wholesome than the previous one. The jammy sweetness is one side but it's balanced by a cherryskin bitterness that was the making of the beer. The base stout takes a bit of searching to find, but it's there too, making this a well-balanced effort, with two complementary aspects to enjoy.

This post began on the festival's official best beer and I'll finish on the official second place: Bullhouse Margarita Gose. Yes the concept is the worst thing to happen to Leipzig since 1943 but I genuinely liked it. It was lovely and smooth from the cask, and an approachable 4.5% ABV. From a red-apple aroma it goes on to be very salty -- the best part of a margarita -- with a jolt of real lime juice and plenty of coriander, something lacking in even straight-up craft-brewed gose these days. It's unsubtle, and risks turning cloying before long, but a judging sample was just right to spark joy. Built for the flight, and that's OK sometimes.

That's all the beer that travelled down the motorways to get to Franciscan Well. The next post will be strictly low mileage.