Session sequencing

It was tough picking an order in which to drink these Fyne Ales: all pretty low ABV session ales; two of the three on the pale side; all claiming generous hopping. Um. Errr. Best to just muck in and see how it goes.

So first up was Piper's Gold. The name's a bit of a turn-off. I'm sure there's a Scottish equivalent of paddywhackery and "Piper's Gold" stinks of it: haggis an' kilts an' aw the rest of thon oul shite. But beers don't get judged on their names on this blog. Much. Behind the label there's a slightly hazy blonde ale of 3.8% ABV. I didn't see anything on the label about bottle conditioning or an admonition to pour carefully, but I think there might be a bit of a yeast component in the flavour: a slight grittiness. Surrounding that it's fairly nondescript. The best bit is a little burst of juicy fruit bubblegum in the aroma. Tastewise you don't get much: that yeast, plus a slight rough oiliness which I can only describe as coconut even though doing so caused my wife to give me the you-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about look (to which, fortunately, I'm immune at this stage). All in, it's quite drinkable and you'd be happy to see it on tap in the pub. It probably doesn't lend itself to considered analysis, though. Nothing for it but to open the next beer, then.

I had been going to put the darker Highlander at the beginning of the sequence, until the label started talking about its citrus aroma in capital letters. A malt-driven hoppy amber ale? That could go any way, so I put it in the middle. It's not that dark, as it turns out: rose-gold to amber rather than anything redder. That citrus aroma? Yes, it's there to an extent, but not in a big way. I'd have thought the busy fizz would have pushed more hops out, but they just mustn't be in there in any great number to begin with. And neither's anything else really: it's another light, simple pale ale with a little too much water and fizz to be properly enjoyable.

Doubt was starting to creep in about whether these lacklustre offerings really were from the same brewery that made Avalanche and Vital Spark. Luckily I had the big gun saved up for last. Beer geek scuttlebutt has it that Jarl is the money-maker of the line-up. Off with the cap then...

I swear I was wielding the bottle opener at arm's length, but I got a massive hop waft along with the first hiss: almost skunky, in fact. Leaning in to the bottleneck I get a smell that takes me right back to wrong turns in Amsterdam on a cold Friday night: a different sort of skunk but all botanically related. Appearance-wise it's very very pale, blending in with my walls until the camera flash drew out the contrast. Expecting an incendiary hop-bomb from the aroma (despite only 3.8% ABV) I was very pleasantly surprised on the first pull: lots of really quite sweet fruit in the juicy mandarin and nectarine bracket. It fades quite quickly and the hops (all Citra, I'm told) add a final bitter flourish, before the palate is clear and ready for another gulp. While trying deperately not to sound like an insufferable fanboy, I must say this is probably the best bottled session beer I've ever come across. It's a recipe that deserves to be ripped off mercilessly for the greater good of beer-drinking kind. But while that's happening, a standing ovation for Fyne Ales for Jarl. Believe the hype.

So not the end-to-end quality bevvy experience I was anticipating, and I'm very happy with the order I picked: Jarl is unfollowable by anything other than more Jarl, or someting from a totally different end of the beer spectrum -- imperial stout or one of them mad fellas. I get the impression that Fyne are primarily a brewer for the on-trade, and that the bottles shouldn't be expected to live up to the pub experience. But if Jarl's better on cask than bottle I may actually implode with joy.

CAMRA, action!

Yesterday I paid my first visit to a CAMRA-organised event, the 2007 Belfast Beer & Cider Festival at the King's Hall. I was in early and spent the whole afternoon merrily ticking away. I'll be needing two posts to cover everything, so here goes:

Dragon's Fire was one of the first up, a light ale from J.W. Lees. This has a powerful raw maltiness of the sort you get from chewing grains of crystal malt. There's very little bitterness or alcoholic weight to it which, coupled with the sweetness, put me in mind of an unhopped, unfermented wort. Tasty, but curious. Another pleasant odd one was Tom Wood's Old Timber which does exactly what it says on the pump clip, giving off a strong woody aroma and having a sharp woody foretaste, followed by tea-like notes and a touch of burnt corn right on the end.

Staying on the light side of the colour chart, there's the gloriously-named Tabitha the Knackered. It wasn't just the name that intrigued me: the festival programme described this as a "Belgian style warming Tripel", yet having only 4% ABV.The answer to the enigma was a rather disappointing straw-coloured lagery quaffing beer. A better session option is the legendary Woodforde's Wherry, perhaps best known in its homebrew kit form. This is a pale amber bitter with light hops on the nose and almost no carbonation. Coupled with a slightly thin mouthfeel and only 3.8% ABV, this gently citric ale goes down very easily and pleasantly.

There were a couple of beers on from Fyne Ales in Scotland. I tried out Vital Spark, a dark amber bitter, marvellously smooth with a chocolate-and-hops character and some strong tannic notes at the end. Thrappledouser is another deep orange Scot, mildly and refreshingly hoppy. The award for best use of hops, however, goes to Pressed Rat & Warthog by the Triple fff brewery of Hampshire. This deep dark ruby ale has a powerful hoppy aroma and delivers an electric hops burst to the back teeth at first sip. If one takes the time to savour it, there's a tart and sweet peachy flavour at the front of the tongue backed up by some tea-like tannins. This one's a full mouth workout.

On to the dark side, then. Adnams Old Ale, while not a stout, has smooth roasted stouty flavours with just an added pinch of vanilla. More complex is Black Adder, which has a sweet and malty nose and a big mouthfeel. The foretaste carries a sense of the forest floor: earthy, mushroomy. After that there are pleasant bitter coffee notes and a wisp of smoke. Dark Island from the Orkney brewery is another smoky dark one, but quite easy drinking with it: I'd expect nothing less from the home of Skullsplitter.

Finishing off the dark section are two superbly well-crafted beers: Black Dog from Elgood's is a mild, and is the appropriate shade of very dark brown. There's a distinct hoppiness and a slightly fruity crab apple bitterness, but they're balanced beautifully with the warm roasted notes of the classic mild. A slightly thin mouthfeel make this very moreish and a beer I'd love to spend more quality time with. On the heavier side is O'Hanlon's Port Stout: a powerful, filling, satisfying beer. The ruby port with which it is laced is present on the nose, but not so much in the taste. Instead there's an intense coffee bitterness coupled with dry and malty stout flavours. A beauty.

That's a run through the lower strength beers on offer. However, a range of top-shelf casks were available to the discerning and/or foolhardy strictly by the half pint only. These powerhouses will be the subject of my next post.