A whip round

Today I have a selection of beers from Whiplash. I've been making good use of their Dublin bar, Fidelity, which has made finding some of their more esoteric output easier to find than hunting in shops.

Allta Dark Sour is first, created as a house beer for Dublin restaurant Allta but available elsewhere too, like Fidelity where I found it. It's dark: at the brownish end of garnet; and it's properly sour: the classy balsamic vinegar tang of Flanders red ale. Any more? I thought I detected some sweet bourbon vanilla in the aroma but it turns out it's cognac barrel aged, so that's the oak component. I can't say it tasted like brandy, though. From the dark malt there's a little caramel and a crisp roasted edge, then we're back to the sourness and the typically Flemish cherry and raspberry tartness with sweeter date and tamarind. It's an odd choice for a restauranty foody beer, but maybe they're pitching it as an aperitif. Regardless, it's rather nice, especially when allowed warm up and round out.

Staying in Fidelity, a new lager called They Reminisce Over You, in the still-sort-of-fashionable "Italian" style. The board shys away from calling it a pilsner and I'm not sure why that is: it's properly crisp and even a little creamy in the central European way. The hop profile is not what it could be, however, and I didn't get a whole lot of that character. In both flavour and aroma there's a mild summer fruitiness, of honeydew melon and white grape, but almost imperceptible. For the most part this is dry: clear and clean but avoids feeling thin or overfizzed. On a sunny summer evening it worked well as a refresher: 4.5% ABV and served at 3°C, numbers fans. I could have let it warm up to see if more flavour emerged but I doubt that's the brewer's intention.

My mantra of don't muck about with classic German styles has been observed with Don't Call Me Uncle, as straight a dunkel bock as you like. It's crystal clear and a gorgeous shade of cherrywood red. The aroma is a perfectly balanced mix of caramel malt and herbal noble hops, and there are no surprises from that in the flavour. It's 6.5% ABV and full bodied, which means the malt is foremost in the taste: bourbon biscuit, hard toffee and a little burnt breadcrust dryness. The hops take a back seat and, as someone who has occasional difficulties with pungent German hops, I'm glad of that. Here, they're limited to providing only a minor tang of acidity, preventing the sweet profile from getting cloying. It works, in that effortlessly refined German way, which I'm sure is not easy to do. Usually, bock fails to push my buttons but this example is spot on.

The brewery's can labels have become rather less engaging since they changed designer. The new one doesn't even have their name on it. Anyway, this is Desire Lines, a 6.8% ABV IPA, opaque as you like and hopped with Azacca, Galaxy and Motueka. There's a lovely fresh tropicality about the aroma with maybe just a hint of naughty dank in the background. The texture is nicely creamy, with low carbonation for enhanced suppability. I was a little let down by the flavour after that. There's rye in the grain bill, and the main thing I get from the flavour is a savoury, almost smoky, bitterness, which tastes very like rye to me. The fruit side of the hops, suggested by the aroma, doesn't really come through. It's certainly not juicy, though does have a stimulating hard bitterness in the finish. Ultimately I think it's a bit bland. With all the named varieties of ingredient I think I have a right to expect more complexity than was delivered.

Its ABV twin is Embracing Facts, another hazy IPA, this time with Hüll Melon and El Dorado. There's an annoyingly generous head and the standard Whiplash beaten-egg body. The aroma is sweet, fruity and crisp, like Skittles, and again we get that creamy meringue mouthfeel. But also again the flavour disappoints. Here it's standard haze problems: a rough and savoury grittiness, too much heat and a garlic or spring onion effect which drowns out the mix of grape melon and stonefruit which I can just about detect hovering in the background. The fun side of the off-flavours is a spicy nutmeg character, but I wanted fruit, dammit, and it didn't deliver. Whiplash used to be the one reliable brewery when it came to hazy IPA but they seem increasingly to be making ones that aren't to my taste. That's not on.

Let's regroup for a pale ale, one at 5% ABV called Slide. It's hazy, of course, and hopped using Strata and Galaxy. They give the aroma a pleasing mandarin juiciness, which is promising. There's a surprising amount of bitterness in the flavour; a hard resinous quality which isn't unpleasant but isn't what I was expecting either. The orangey fruit side sits behind this, though isn't strong enough to make the beer taste juicy or sweet. Once I had adjusted my expectations, I enjoyed it. They haven't skimped on the hops, and the bitterness builds, tasting almost like raw cones by the end. There's a very slight haze sharpness, but the hops prevent it from doing anything seriously problematic. It's not an easy drinker, but I like its sheer uncompromising wallop. Strap in.

At the same ABV but calling itself an IPA is Note To Self. It also says it's "West Coast" and it's the translucent gold of Sculpin and friends. I had been expecting grapefruit, though the aroma is sweet mandarin, which is lovely, but where's the bitterness? It's not really in the flavour either. There's a certain pithiness, but that's being charitable. Zest is as intense as things get, and there's certainly no resin, all of it finishing quickly with little to no aftertaste. We're in accessible-quencher territory here, rather than Whiplash hop fireworks. It's in a small can and sits comfortably beside the brewery's core offerings Rollover and Body Riddle -- built for the six-pack, or indeed pints at Fidelity. 

Finally, it looks like Chimes, the lovely lime-flavoured pale ale that Whiplash made for Dublin burger chain Bunsen, has been retired and replaced by the more plain-spoken Bunsen Pale Ale. This is 4.8% ABV and, as you might expect, fully hazy. There's a balance of sweet and bitterness, lemon juice meeting soft vanilla. I was served it very cold, in a chilled glass, and it's probably best consumed this way. There's a grittiness which begins to make its presence felt as the beer warms, accompanied by unwelcome oily garlic. But when cold it's clean and zesty, and does an excellent job of scrubbing burger grease off the palate. There's certainly no indication that they've skimped on hops, just because it's not pitched at hardened beer enthusiasts.

It seems Fidelity is definitely the place to go if you want Whiplash beer that isn't a hazy pale ale of some sort, although it does sell lots of them too.

Not so scaldy

There was a late rush of beers from Whiplash at the tail end of 2020. Of particular interest to me were the darker ones as this is an area where the brewery excels, even though most of its output is crowd-pleasing hazy pale ales. I am not the crowd, so let's see how much they pleased me.

We start light, at 7.1% ABV. Heart of Chambers is a "coffee and oatmeal double porter" created in collaboration with fancy-pants coffee merchants 3FE. I picked up an early growler at UnderDog. My jibe about the lightness is shredded by the texture: it's extremely thick and creamy in a beautifully silky-smooth way. A fair whack of warming booze comes with that. The coffee isn't subtle, beginning with a raw-grounds roastiness that lasts all the way from the aroma to the finish. It would have been better without that, but it doesn't ruin the party, because everything else is spectacular. I love when coffee contributes that cherry and rosewater quality and this has it in spades. A more orthodox latte flavour follows, combining with creamy vanilla to create a kind of coffee cake effect. It intensifies on the palate, passing Tia Maria and finishing back at the sharp burnt roast that started in the aroma. Malt? Hops? Nahhh, this is all coffee, and if you don't like coffee in beer stay well clear of it. I enjoyed its uncompromising boldness and the complexity. Half a litre was plenty, mind.

Second-weakest of the dark ones is a 7.2% ABV Baltic porter called Melody Noir. Other than a strength that's perhaps lower than the 8-9% norm, there's no messing with the style parameters here. It's a bit softer than a Baltic porter might typically be, lacking the dry lager crispness in favour of a velvety milk chocolate cream. It would be at risk of getting cloying were it not for quite a hard liquorice bitterness: if you're going to provide balance in a beer this weighty there's no point doing it by half. The mission is successful and the whole thing is very satisfying to drink. Despite its popularity, Whiplash is no novelty brewery. When they make beer I don't like, it was meant to be like that; when they get it right for me, however, it's just the way I want. Melody Noir is that, for Baltic porter.

Something more Whiplashy follows: Disco Mystic, a straight, hazy yellow double IPA, 8% ABV and using Strata and Citra. A properly punchy blend of heavy dank resins and lighter citrus zest forms the aroma, with a little hint of savoury garlic at the edge. Nothing too disturbing, however. It's mostly quite sweet, with the juice element balanced against bitterer pith. Though the texture matches the ABV -- full and rounded -- it's clean and not cloying or sticky. This is well-balanced and easy-going fare, for a big IPA. While not offering any unusual complexity, it does its thing well, demonstrating Whiplash's polished expertise at this kind of beer. Very much a fan-service piece, and there's nothing wrong with that.

A triple IPA of 10.5% ABV is next, and we're still not finished. Headlines is a three-way collaboration with Garage, Naparbier and Barrier. It's a very savoury guy, pouring thick and soupy into the glass: pale orange with a strong aroma of garlic and sesame paste. That oily, acidic garlic twang is where the flavour begins, and forms the bulk of it, to be honest. A generous sprinkling of white pepper is the only other complexity. It's far too rough and gritty for tropical sweetness, and I can't find any citrus pinch either. Ooof. You'll love it or hate it, I guess. As a true-to-style traditional hazy triple IPA, it's bang on style. The way you react to the description is likely what you'll think of the beer. 

Next up, taking a break from the big booze, is a mere 5% ABV pale ale called Hot Pursuit. This is hella hazy: pale yellow and full-on foggy in the glass. The aroma is fresh and fruity: OJ straight from the squeezy machine; a bit of apricot or nectarine, early in the morning at a continental market. You get a more intense acidity on tasting: your American style grapefruit job primarily, with an aftertaste of tangerine and satsuma first, then dry cotton and chalk dust. Yes, it's one of those hazy ones. On balance... yeah, I suppose my thirst did get quenched. It's an unexciting pale ale, the sort of thing haze enthusiasts keep in stock for everyday use. A can of the flagship Rollover session IPA shortly afterwards hit the same spots much more satisfactorily. Still, I'm sure Hot Pursuit will find an audience. 

A dark and double-figured beer to conclude: Fatal Deviation, Barrel Aged. The original version of this massive imperial stout tasted of "a decadent mix of espresso and gallic cigarettes" when I reviewed it in 2017. The new batch has had over a year in bourbon barrels, bringing the ABV up to 11%. The only remnant of the tobacco effect is a nicotine-coloured head. The aroma goes light on sweet American whiskey and big on sappy wood with just faint coffee and chocolate behind. The flavour, too, wears those oak resins at the front, and there wasn't much else at first, when I opened it cold. Given time to warm up, there's an affogato effect, of vanilla mixed with strong espresso. The bitterness level is low, but at the same time it's not a sugary, sticky mess. The alcohol is there to boost the flavours and succeeds without getting in the way. Overall, it is mellow and slow going: entirely appropriate for something costing €15 a can. You can bet I made the most of it.

A pretty decent showing here, on balance. I would really like if more strong porters like Heart of Chambers and Melody Noir were part of the brewery's regular throughput. Hold the French toast.

Rapid fire

The special edition beers are fairly flying out of Carlow Brewing these days. They have two one-off series running in tandem and a moment of near-synchronicity between them meant that I got the latest from each in a single box, courtesy of the brewery, on Friday afternoon.

From the 20th anniversary series comes 'OPsession, a 4% ABV session IPA. In recent months this has become one of my favourite beer styles, with White Hag's Little Fawn leading the field. I'm always on the lookout for a beer that can better it. 

The first surprise here was the colour: expecting pale and yellowy, I found it the copper shade of a vintage French cider. And almost as tannic too: the first sip delivers a strong astringency that won't really let much else past. It even smells like heavy black tea. What's not present in any of this are the hops. The label mentions citrus but I can't imagine the copy was composed after the beer came out of the brewery filter because there is no citrus character of which to speak here. There is a certain level of bitterness in the finish, but again it's that tannic astringent sort, rather than anything bringing hops to mind. If feeling charitable I might describe this as a decent example of dry English bitter, albeit in a fizzier-than-usual form. But those of us who have become accustomed to Little Fawn, Via Maris, Rollover and the like will not find anything recognisable in this session IPA, sadly.

The other series is O'Hara's Hop Adventure and the latest addition is Aramis, a relatively high-alpha French hop of Alsatian and English pedigree. The beer spec is the same as its predecessors -- a 5% ABV pale gold IPA -- but once again the hop adds something very distinctive to the drinking experience. My first thought on tasting was creamy and I couldn't think why. Most likely it's a noble hop characteristic, that it reminds me of first-rate Bavarian pils, which are all about that soft creamy taste. The label mentions spices and I get a certain amount of that too: the cedar and nutmeg you find in Belgian tripels and their ilk. I also get a sort of weissbier-like banana effect, strange in an IPA but not off-putting or unpleasant, and definitely part of the hop's business rather than something up in the fermentation: the underlying beer is perfectly crisp and clean.

This is a subtle and interesting one. You can roll the flavours around and find different things with each sip -- coconut? chilli? blackcurrant? melon? -- but if you want to drink it down as an easy-going pale ale there's nothing in the profile loud enough to prevent you from doing so. Certainly, the mission of the series to show off the variety of flavours available in the world of hops is fulfilled.

One missed step and one unique perspective: a reminder of why variety is so important to the beer drinker, and not just the one with a blog to fill. Thanks to the Carlow crew for the bottles.

Feel the Gs

We don't have celebrity brewers in Ireland, for very good reasons, but if we did, Alex Lawes would be a candidate. From award-winning homebrew before winning awards for homebrew was really a thing, a spell at James's Gate, to Rye River where his tenure as head brewer has seen some of the best hop-forward beers Irish brewing has produced arriving and making waves, both under the brewery's own McGargle's brand, and the two supermarket house labels it produces. So it's entirely unsurprising that there's been a buzz about the first beers under his own solo marque, Whiplash.

"Brewed under contract for Whiplash by Whiplash at Rye River Brewing" explains the copy on the label: the honesty of the text offers refreshment before I've even taken a mouthful. Scaldy Porter is the first one I opened, a 33cl bottle at 5.5% ABV. It's a thick beast, glugging slowly out of the bottle to become a dense black glassful topped by a dark tan head. Roast looms large in the aroma, and that dark -- almost burnt -- character is the centre of the flavour. Around it orbits an array of other tastes, nothing outré, but it's unusual to find so many in a single beer. You get strong espresso, a milky creaminess, bitter dark chocolate and some chewy butterscotch toffee. It's all rather serious and there's an acridity in the finish that doesn't exactly invite the next sip. The label describes it as a "robust" porter; I'd say downright surly. While definitely tasty and well-made, you do need to be in the mood to do battle with this one. Easy drinking it isn't.

A change of format for its fraternal twin: portentiously-titled Surrender to the Void double IPA comes in a shiny monochrome can styled like one of them high-art Danish contract brews. It's 8.5% ABV and beautifully clear, a pale orange-gold. From the get-go it's another complex one. Various hop elements vie for superiority in the aroma, loudest among them the juicy mandarin and viscous pine resin. There's nothing viscous in the texture however. Though the carbonation is low and strength high, it has a fantastic light touch, the warmth only really becoming apparent after a few swallows, and happening in the belly rather than the mouth. Assuming the best-before is a year from canning, mine had spent a mere week in the tin before I drank it, which goes some way to explaining just how banging the hop flavour was. Bitter pine is the first impression, but it steps off after only a second letting sweeter zesty orange oils come through, lightening further to tangerine and mango. This fades quickly leaving a sticky marijuana funk as the finish. The malt base is... there, somewhere, probably, but you don't really get to taste it: Surrender to the Void is a beer with a hop obsession and wants to share it with you, loudly and at length. Alex received big plaudits for McGargle's Francis' Big Bangin' IPA and I hope this one gets equal attention. It's a better beer, in my opinion, and I'm not the sort of beer geek who thinks that you just need to up the ABV and add more hops to achieve that. There's a roundness and a nuance to Surrender that's rare in strong and hoppy Irish beer but which this pulls off neatly. If anyone fancies putting it in a blind taste against Galway Bay's Of Foam & Fury I'd be interested to see the result: I think the contention would be very close.

Alex very kindly gifted me a couple of cans of his third beer, released the week before last. Rollover is a session IPA of just 3.8% ABV. It's a murky little chap, pouring a cloudy pale orange and looking more like a witbier in the glass than anything else. A clever bit of sleight of hand sees the addition of oats to the grist, presumably to help boost the body of what might otherwise have turned out a little thin, and it works too: the texture is convincingly weighty, providing a perfect platform for the hops, though it's rather flatter than I expected. Sweet satsumas are the aroma, laced with some sharper pine, and the flavour performs a similar double act. First it's juicy orange sherbet but that's quickly upstaged by bitingly acidic resins. The pineyness grows as you go along and does bring the cumulative effect a little too close to floor cleaner for comfort -- I think I'd like a touch more fruit softness than this offers. Those after a bitter bang for their buck will definitely get a kick out of it, and there's no question about the freshness, though its sessionability will depend on your tolerance level for explosively flavourful new world hops.

So that's Whiplash: another front on which Irish beer is rendering imports increasingly unnecessary.