Barrowside trilogy

Carlow Brewing has undertaken a bit of a refresh regarding its range and branding. I'm not sure where it's going and which if any of the existing beers are about to vanish, but I do know we now have Leann Folláin in 440ml cans and three new IPAs.

The first is very much a trend-chaser, though not a trend that Irish microbrewers have made much of: the slimmers' beer, for want of a better term. O'Hara's Lo-Cal Session IPA comes in 330ml cans, normally to be found in four-packs for €10. The can doesn't tell me how many calories are in it, which strikes me as an unusual move, though I can say it's 4% ABV. In the glass it's a pale lemon-yellow with a little haze and a freshly sharp and citric aroma. I'm getting vibes of modern northern English bitter, like Marble's Pint. There's a soft texture and an abundance of body so, like a good bitter, it doesn't taste compromised by the strength. The flavour has plenty of legs too: lemon candy, fresh spinach, oily pine and even some naughty dank resins on the finish. This is very jolly indeed and entirely suited to the four-pack format. Don't let the diet-oriented handle fool you: it's the whole package for a session IPA.

I'm not sure in which order to take the other pair. Normally I'd drink in ascending order of ABV, but the weaker here is badged as a West Coast IPA so I'm going to begin on the hefty 6.8% ABV Hazy IPA. With 51st State back in 2017, Carlow was among the first Irish breweries to present a commercial beer in the New England fashion, and they still haven't got the colour right. While most everyone else has the knack of yellow emulsions, this one is amber, and translucent rather than opaque. The label doesn't lie, though: "Juicy - Tropical - Stone Fruit" it promises and all three elements are right there in the aroma, a concentrated mix of passionfruit, guava and mango. There's a brief stumble in the foretaste where it turns savoury, opening on a dry rasp of caraway seed. Luckily the soothing tropical fruit is there behind it, here joined by a slightly citrus edge of tangerine, and a heaping helping of gullet-warming alcohol. Anyone coming to this expecting a hazy IPA like what the cool breweries make, and charge seven quid for, is in for a let-down everywhere but their wallet (this was €3). On its own terms, though, it's fine and actually rather enjoyable. Especially when that booze kicks in.

West Coast IPA should be much more in the wheelhouse of this mid-'90s veteran. It's the same sunset colour, though completely transparent, of course. The aroma was reticent, but there's pine and dank deep in there, so it gets a pass. On tasting it's surprisingly -- disturbingly -- similar to the Hazy one: the same savoury kick and boozy burn. The fruit is missing, of course, but the texture is still quite big and a little syrupy. There's none of the clean dryness I like in this style, and it's missing the fresh hop zing too, tasting rather sluggish and sweaty. Again it's OK, but it needs either a lighter body or much more generous hopping, I think. Full points for not being hazy, I guess, but as a West Coast IPA it leaves me wanting.

Who would have thought that the low-calorie offering would be the stand-out, but here it is. Dirty great pints probably aren't part of the plan, given the branding, but I would very happily indulge in some in due course.

Brits abroad

Stillage arrangements at Borefts meant a couple of the English breweries had especially impressive bar set-ups. None more so than Thornbridge who had seven casks on the go with Dom (right) & co. at the taps. I started with the beer I'd been looking forward to most: Coalition Burton Ale was brewed at Thornbridge with the help of London's Kernel brewery and recipe input from Ron Pattinson. Strong and sweet is what I'd been told to expect from proper Burton, so I wasn't expecting the bitterness in this. 80 IBUs, apparently, and with a powerful, almost metallic, hop bang. Behind it there's a lovely soft and quenching beer, laden with tannins. I really liked it and would love the chance to taste it a few months down the line. Sadly I doubt the small batch will last anything like that long.

Also on the Thornbridge historical roster was their Courage Russian Imperial Stout, one of the iconic strong beers of Britain and one which I understand current brand owners Wells & Young are due to bring back to the market soon. In the meantime, Thornbridge have knocked up this 9.5% ABV version, dry-hopped and seasoned with sea salt. It's sticky and incredibly sweet with big brown sugar notes, tasting a little unfinished to me. Ordinarily I'd still be very impressed, but at a festival inside the De Molen brewery the standard was somewhat higher.

Evenlode was Thornbridge's other dark offering, and the weakest beer they brought, at a tiddly 6.2% ABV. A dark brown porter, it has a slightly sour and yeasty aroma and tastes very dry with lots of roasted grain. Poking around the back of the flavour I found some peaches and scented soap. The missus got a liquorice hit from it. I can see this working better in quantities greater than the 100ml festival glass.

On the paler side of the Thornbridge range there was Geminus, an imperial IPA made on rye. I'm rarely a fan of rye beers and this heavy-drinking pale orange one just gave out too much of a sweaty hop vibe to be enjoyably drinkable. Your rye-based mileage may vary, of course. Halcyon 2009 IPA was a much better proposition. Despite getting on in years now, this has masses of fresh mandarin pith sitting slickly on a smooth, heavy body, shown off beautifully by the cask conditioning. It's a little sweet and sticky, with a touch of boiled sweet about it, but the hops stop it from being cloying and keep it drinkable, even at 7.7% ABV.

That just leaves the two 10%+ whoppers on the Thornbridge stillage. Alliance 2007 (picture, right) was another collaboration beer, this one brewed with the help of Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery. Pouring a very attractive dark amber shade, it shows off lots of boozy wood but in very suave sophisticated way: all smoothness and charm with none of the cloying impetuousness of younger wooded beer. I can see this working great as a fireside beer. It's fine in a brewery car park on a sunny September afternoon too, mind. The same goes for Alchemy XIV barley wine. Though rather pale for the style it's quite big-bodied and loaded with flavour. I got honey, toffee and lavender in different measures: the floral notes complementing the sticky malt quite beautifully.

All-in-all a great showing from Thornbridge and I really relished the opportunity to try the beers I read so much about but rarely see in real life.

Next we go up to the windmill beer garden where Manchester's Marble brewery had their gravity casks arrayed. They weren't playing the same high-strength game and even brought along Pint, their 3.9% ABV bitter. Perhaps they were trying to attract custom from the Dutch beer consumers' union. Pint is a clear yellow shade and very much hop forward. I found it a little watery, though the flavour did start to build quite nicely as I drank. Obviously it's not meant to be consumed in these tiddly festival glasses. At 5.9% ABV, Dobber worked much better. This hazy pale ale has lots of satsuma in the aroma and adds a coriander spiciness in the flavour. Supremely refreshing, I thought.

I didn't get Chocolate Marble at all: a soapy nose and rather dry tasting but with very little discernible chocolate. But then it was my last beer on the Friday so perhaps it's another one that needs a larger serve to be appreciated. Decadence imperial stout was much better suited to the festival milieu: there's a wonderful union of big bitter hops and rich dark chocolate to give a powerful coffee and oranges taste sensation.

Marble Barley Wine is quite a simple and pleasant one. Over 10% ABV and oozing big ripe strawberry flavours. For something more complicated and complex, there was Old Manchester, brewed with recipe input from Fuller's John Keeling. The hops are a mix of Goldings, Motueka and Simcoe, brewed to 7.3% ABV and given an extra dose of dry Simcoe. The result is a loud beer, yelling candied fruits at first, then throwing a serious big citric tang and hard bitterness into the glorious cacophony.

Another English brewery I don't see enough of, but there was one set up just behind Marble whom I'd never met before at all...