Hops and barrels

Time for another DOT post, following the release of a bunch of new offerings in recent weeks.

We start with the hoppy cans, and Running On, described as a DDH pale ale. It's an even 5% ABV and a hazy yellow-grey colour. The icemen of Instagram won't be pleased by the big and fluffy head which forms on pouring. The aroma is surprisingly muted, just a vague breakfasty citrus-juice thing. There's a modicum of orange juice in the flavour, with a sweeter twist of mandarin and then a savoury dreggy finish. It's a little watery for the strength too. I expected bigger and bolder -- more hop fireworks. It didn't really deliver those, however. Grand drinking, but nothing special.

The name of the next one doesn't suggest any wows either: Just Another DIPA. "Big, bold and juicy" says the label, advertising Hüll Melon, Galaxy and Centennial hops, oats, and a Vermont yeast strain. Again there's that unattractive greyish tint to the hazy body. I didn't get juice. I got a concentrated cordial effect: a jarringly sweet and thick tongue-coating fruit syrup with a hard alcohol finish. Beyond it -- and you have to look hard -- there's a certain spice, a white pepper or nutmeg quality. That does help take the edge off the sweetness, but not enough to make this beer palatable. There's no freshness, no zing, and definitely no juice. Thumbs up for the absence of gritty yeast, but this doesn't come through with the hops. Just Another DIPA? It wishes.

OK, so before I lose all faith in DOT, we turn to the new bottled barrel offerings, something much more in their wheelhouse.

Barrel Blend V is a saison aged in white wine barrels, coming out at 5.8% ABV. It's a bright and clear gold, forming only a thin white head. Smoothness is the watchword here. While there is a residual trace of the earthy spices normal to saison, it's overlaid by soft and luscious fruit, some of it from the base beer but I'm certain the barrel makes a big contribution. There's lots of honeydew melon and a sharper lemon-peel citrus. A touch of oak spice arrives in the finish, which is remarkably quick and clean for a barrel-aged job. My only criticism here is that it's a little too smooth, the subtle flavours running the risk of making it seem bland. I think I wanted something punchier, but this isn't it, and that's not really the beer's fault. This is one for leisurely sipping.

What happens to an IPA when it's given 20 months' maturation in wine and whisky barrels? In this case it becomes Serving of Serendipity. It poured out almost totally flat, the still amber liquid resembling filtered apple juice. Lime is mentioned on the label blurb as one of its features and it really is dominant: a spritzy squeeze tasting very real indeed. There's a definite whiskyness in the rasping dry oak finish, though there's surprisingly little alcohol heat for 7% ABV. It's an odd one for sure, and not very beery with it. There's an idiosyncratic charm, however, one that kept me coming back until the glass was empty.

A storm last winter claimed a big chunk of the fig tree at the bottom of my garden. Shane from DOT was interested in taking the wood and when he called to collect, he kindly left a couple of bottles from his stash. These don't seem to have been released commercially and there's absolutely no information provided on them. I could ask, but where's the fun in that?

This one says "Cellar Range" on the label, so that's what I'll call it. It's a murky red-brown colour with some fairly large chunks bobbling about in it. There are signs of extended ageing here: a blast of sherry vinegar in the aroma and a highly attenuated thin texture. I'm guessing wine barrels have been used as there's a red grape note in the flavour alongside black cherry and milk chocolate. The ABV has to be quite high too as it brings a pleasing belly-warmth after two or three swallows. The vinegar tang returns in the finish and that made it hard for me to enjoy this. There's plenty of lovely complexity still, but I think it was past its best.

The last one is a total mystery, though the label is a segment from DOT's 2017 Tequila Saison so I'm guessing it's related to that. The apple-juice look returns: a clear copper colour and pouring quite flat. I'm definitely getting tequila from it; a strong lime bitterness with a sizeable chunk of dry oak. That's it, though: there's nothing beyond these big and punchy flavours. While it doesn't taste like a saison, it also doesn't taste any way aged, and in fact would benefit from some mellowing out. I liked it, though. It pushes my margarita buttons nicely.

Despite DOT's move into hoppy can territory, the slow-production barrel-aged concoctions are its best work. That's the stuff it's harder to get from any other brewer, local or abroad.

Advanced for his age

Dublin's DOT Brew celebrated its first birthday with a slew of new barrel-aged small-batch beers, brought out to meet the public in Idlewild (and later Abbot's Ale House in Cork) a few weeks ago. The Idlewild event was fun, with only three lines dedicated to the selection so turnover was quick. If only life could be like this more often.

First of the newcomers was Teeny Tiny Barrel Aged Pale Ale. As the name hints, this is a mere 3.5% ABV. The barrels in question are Chardonnay, where it spent 9 months and the resulting aroma is fantastic: a sumptuous juicy white grape ripeness. I was down to earth again with the first sip of the clear gold liquid: it opens with quite a harsh pine sawdust flavour, which I'm guessing is the oak at work. The Chardonnay fruit does come out increasingly as the beer warms, and delivers a refreshing tartness in the finish, but after a while the fruit and the wood become overpowering. There just isn't enough heft in the underlying beer to counterbalance them. It's a fun experiment, but one which could do with a little fine-tuning next time out.

The next beer also highlights its smallness, going by the name of Baby Bourbon Birthday Barrel, though there's not much babyish about its 6.2% ABV. It poured black and headless, giving off a husky woody aroma with a pinch of vanilla thrown in. That develops beyond a pinch in the flavour, with vanilla becoming the dominant feature. The wood calms down and it's all very gentle and chocolatey after that. Great dessert drinking.

Tequila Saison was next on the roster. This is light and clean, saison as it should be, founded on dry grain husk flavours with a burst of white pepper spice right in the middle. The tequila has definitely made its mark on it, and there's more than a hint of that sweet prickly pear fruit flavour that's particularly prominent in the likes of Sierra Nevada's Otra Vez. The novelty feature doesn't dominate, however, and allows the beer to maintain its classical saisonosity. There's a lightness of touch here that belies the frankly unreasonable 6.2% ABV.

From a 6.2% ABV beer that tastes light to a 6.5% ABV one that tastes much much stronger. Cherry Choco Bourbon Dark leaves little to the imagination, being a dark ale aged in bourbon barrels with added cocoa nibs and morello cherries. It gets great value out of all that, resulting in a veritable sweetshop of flavours, opening on Parma Violets and Highland Toffee bars and moving through Opal Fruits, Refreshers and even a Bounty. Though thick and quite oily it's light enough to not get cloying as the multifaceted flavour kicks in. This is a sensation and would really shine in bottle form.

The final beer is a big-hitter at 9.5% ABV, named Cab. Sauv. Malt Rye, based on a brown ale with three kinds of rye and double barrel ageing: the Cabernet Sauvignon followed by Irish whiskey. It tastes very strongly of chocolate, so much so I was wondering if it had got mixed up with the cherry chocolate one. There's a bit of cherry fruit character, but boozy, like cherries soaked in port. You end up with something along the lines of Mon Cheri chocolates, which is great 'cos I love them. The texture is light despite the high strength, and despite the roll call of serious ingredients it's an incredibly fun beer to drink.

I tend to be quite sceptical of advanced barrel-ageing with weird ingredients. For a lot of brewers it's just gimmickry, at best well-intentioned, though sometimes I suspect only done to make the name of the beer look awesome when written down. But this set from DOT has, for the most part, really got the best out of the barrels used. Hopefully we won't have to wait a year for the next set.