Dreaming of a white one?

During the too-short lead-in to Christmas 2018 I dropped up to the Open Gate Brewery on my way home one evening, to check in with the final releases of the year. The venue is in something of a wind-down, planning to close for a major refurbishment during the month of February. As such, there were only three new beers for me to try.

Hoppy Return Lager made certain promises with its name that the beer failed to live up to. Though a full 5% ABV, it arrived looking a very pale white-gold colour with no head. It is full-bodied, so no criticisms there, but the flavour was all wrong. For one thing there wasn't very much of it, coming across plain and grainy. There's a strange touch of banana as well. It took me a while to notice that flatness was also an issue, making the dead taste seem even more lifeless. I had it side-by-side with the mass-produced Open Gate Pilsner, and it's nowhere near as hoppy or characterful as that one. It's inoffensive, and has apparently been quite popular. Just goes to show.

I wasn't sure what I was getting when I moved on to the Winter Pale Ale. This was also 5% ABV, and a dark gold colour, heading for pale amber. Though brewed with American hops it did a wonderful impression of English bitter, being dry and tannic. There was a spicy floral-herbal seasoning which reminded me of beers that make strong use of Challenger hops, in particular. The hopping is raw, fresh and cold, the beer smelling like walking into a brewery's hop fridge. Yummy. It's light, clean and refreshing, something I'd very happily have sat over a pint or two of if I hadn't been rushing around.

That just leaves the 10% ABV madman, Spiced Barleywine. This had an even stronger herbal aroma, of real herbs this time, rather than hop-derived analogues. Sweet ginger biscuit is what the flavour offers, with the spicing warming the back of the throat pleasingly. Oddly, ginger isn't mentioned as a feature on the official description, just cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom. The texture is remarkably thin for the strength, and it doesn't really match the style. There's a certain richness to it, a long and Christmassy satsuma and ginger finish. But it's also dry and quite astringent. I got a tiny twang of marker-pen phenols as it warms, but thankfully that's mostly masked by the spicing. In conclusion: jolly.

And with that we head into the teeth of my Christmas and New Year tasting notes, starting in England on Friday.

A few social beers

My Easter weekend began last Thursday afternoon with leaving work and heading straight for the Open Gate Brewery at St James's Gate. I'd been invited, with Will from 5 Lamps Brewery, to talk to staff about beer and brewing. With that out of the way it was over to the bar to see what was new on the roster.

They've added two new lagers to the line-up. From the in-house brewery there's Amarillo Pilsner which, as the name suggests, is a pilsner using Amarillo hops. Not too many of them, mind. It has that same soft whisper of new world varieties that you find in the likes of Smithwick's Pale Ale and Hop House 13. It's not an exciting beer (and I am the sort that can get excited by really good pils) but it's clean, crisp, refreshing and decent.

Its twin is one for the "outreach" taps -- the Open Gate branded beer lines that have cropped up in pubs around the country. Like all such beers, it isn't brewed at Open Gate at all but at the main brewhouse at the north end of the campus. Open Gate Pilsner is the name and this time the hops are Cascade and Citra. The volume knob has been turned up a lot louder in this one, with a heavy, greasy dank funk on top of the light and clean malt base. It's certainly more characterful than the Amarillo Pilsner which I drank alongside it, but didn't meet my requirements for the style quite as well.

The latest stout is the portmaneau'd NitrOatmeal, which looks innocent and creamy but packs 8.4% ABV in there. That's not immediately apparent on tasting. It's smooth, obviously enough, and also sweet, with a big hit of ripe strawberries front and centre. Only after swallowing does the reality of the strength kick in, with a sharp and hot alcohol burn which is shocking at first but becomes more pleasingly warming as it goes down. While enjoyable, it's still a beer to have just the one of, I think.

The Open Gate IPA series, with its now de rigueur "v" numbering sequence, continues with number four: Pretty Citrusy. This is a heavy beast, amber coloured and 6.4% ABV. The citrus is the olde worlde sort, more oranges and lemons than lime or grapefruit. The hops are more than balanced by a heavy biscuit malt making an IPA that straddles the Atlantic, too zesty to be English style but with a bready weight you rarely find in an American. It's nice though, but not exactly thrilling.

My one for the road was the brand-new Open Gate Ginger Beer. I confess I didn't detect the ginger straight away but felt silly for it because the ginger is really obvious. What I did notice is its beautiful refreshment powers, akin to an ice-cold bitter lemonade. The ginger doesn't give it heat; it's gentler than that, flavoured like a ginger biscuit or cake. The big fizz adds to its cleansing qualities and tie off a light package which provides everything required of summery ginger beer.

I said my goodbyes and made for the second engagement of the evening, 57 The Headline where a Rascals Brewing tap takeover was in full swing.

The main act here was the release of Project Sour #4: Blood Orange Sour. It's a sour beer with added blood oranges. Rather than spritzy tartness, it's quite heavy and savoury, giving an almost gose-like saltiness. The oranges give it their flavour but not really their juice. It's fine, but I think I'd prefer if it were tuned a bit higher, with either more fruit or a punchier sourness. No pleasing some people.

Though not part of The Project, I guess, there was another sour beer on tap: Pilot Brew Sour with strawberry and black pepper. They've gone soft and heavy again, though it's less surprising in this one, with its 7% ABV. The strawberry is laid on jammy and thick, then spiced, quite beautifully, with coarse and oily black pepper. It's a strange combination and it works really well, though more cleansing sourness would be an improvement, as I think lowering the ABV would be as well.

Last of the the new ones, for me, was Pilot Lager: only 3.9% ABV and once again infused with oranges. It's a very pale yellow shade and nicely crisp with the orange coming through subtly on a low carbonation. It's clean, refreshing and just flavourful enough, reminding me of an evening drinking Bavaria lager with a dash of Pisco, once the house special at The Abbot's Ale House bar in Cork. Unorthodox, perhaps, but a great way to jazz up an unremarkable pale lager.

So endeth my evening. Cheers to all at Open Gate, The Headline and Rascals for the entertainment. After the Good Friday hiatus -- hopefully the last -- Easter's festivities continued on Saturday down in Cork...