#FlagshipFebruary Part 2

Yellowbelly Brewing Citra Pale ale 4.8%

This American style pale ale uses BAGS of citra hops in it so if thats your thing – get on it.
All good core range beers offer drinkability, flavour, popularity and consistency to become a winner. Its not that long ago that this little beauty was only available in 330ml cans for home consumption, stepping it up to 440ml was a nice addition but I pray regularly that one day Yellowbelly HQ will announce a pint can version of this. If anyone in Ireland will take the plunge and do something like a 568ml can – they will.
As of 06/02/2019 Citra Pale ale was voted the Beoir.org members BOTY for the previous 12 months of 2018. Congratulations to the ‘Bellys

Galway Hooker Irish pale ale 4.2%

Galway Hooker Irish pale ale is another beer I have criminally neglected for the last few years despite it being brewed locally to me for in the region of 13 years.
Straight up, no messing about, this is a cracker. Hopped with cascade and a very simple malt selection this is akin to a Sierra Nevada pale ale – from Galway. Its popularity is reflected in it availability, decent beer outlets carry at least one Galway Hooker product most likely this one. It is available in tonnes of Galway restaurants and bars and even Dublin airport have had it on tap for a while now.

Porterhouse Brewing Plain porter 4.2%

Plain porter is another quality beer from Porterhouse. All the usual porter adjectives apply here. Its roasty and chocolatey, full mouthfeel without a heavy body, appropriate amount bitterness, nice earthy flavours from classic porter hops like East Kent Goldings. Winner of several beer awards, never disappoints.

8 Degrees Bohemian Pilsner 4%

In the recent past 8 Degrees have given their Bohemian pilsner a new face-lifted label and tweaked the receipe. Being as simple in ingredients as they are, pilsners don’t hide flaws. If you are going to make a pilsner one of your flagship beers then do it correctly, like 8 Degrees have. All the Bohemian pilsner trademarks are here.
Saaz hops – check. Rich bready biscuity malt – check. Soft water profile – check. Stylistically accurate – check.

Kinnegar Brewing Scraggy Bay IPA 5.8%

Scraggy Bay is not as bitter as I once believed it was (this is more to do with me becoming a lot more accustomed to more bitter beers than Kinnegar themselves toning the beer down).
Scraggy Bay is an English style IPA, nice floral aromatic hops, nice body, superbly balanced all round, all the piney and grassy bitterness you are looking for is reserved for Crossroads American IPA. Kinnegars core range is carried countrywide and its a big seller from north to south in Ireland and export is looking well too I believe.

The White Hag Little Fawn Session IPA 4.2%

Little Fawn pleases even non craft drinkers and I am pretty sure it has converted more than one or two people over the years. 
Using 100% Irish malt along with buckets of flavour from those late mosaic hop additions makes it a strong contender for one of the best brews in the country in my eyes.
Clocking in at 4.2% really does give this an edge in session terms, I know I would happily tuck away a few Little Fawns if that was one of the options infront of me.
If you havent had a Little Fawn from The White Hag then what have you been doing with yourself? Another beer thats readily available across multiple retailers in 4 for €10/3 for €9 type deals. Is it safe to say this is an Irish classic yet?

#FlagshipFebruary Part 1

February 2019 saw the new initiative from Stephen Beaumont of Beaumont Drinks over Stateside about supporting and revisiting some flagship releases we have all come to know and love over the years.
As well as some of the bigger known American brews like Founders All Day IPA and Sierra Nevadas 30+ year old classic Pale ale I decided to revisit some Irish flagship/core range brews that are in my experience usually very easily acquired in most decent beer outlets around the country.
Lets start the reviews with some cliches like these beers keep a brewers lights on year round, they pay the bills, they allow experimentation on other smaller batch seasonal projects etc etc. It’s true. They do.

Flagship February website

Founders All Day IPA 4.7% 355ml bottle

First up is one of the bigger craft guys from ‘Merica.
Michigan based Founders can thank this beer for approximately 50% of their entire sales, not bad for a brewery that was consistently in the 8-10% ABV bracket back in the day before All Day was released. All Day IPA is as it sounds, one for one for the session. Bright and citrusy, a teeny little bitterness reminder from the hops, it’s seriously tasty – you could devour this by the keg. Im sure plenty have.

Larkins Helles Lager 5.0% 440ml can

If I am honest this particular can was a bit of a disappointment. The carbonation was super low, the head dissipated too quickly for me leaving a less than satisfactory mouthfeel. Ive had this beer before and it was a lot better, maybe a dud can caused by a seaming issue on the canning run? With a Helles its primarily about the grains used shining through and complimented with a sparing use of German hops, I can see that they have the elements of it here, the lack of carbonation really took away from the bright by nature of a Helles. I have no reason to believe that Larkins have messed up with this batch, all their other offerings are top notch.

Porterhouse Brewing Temple Lager 4.2% 500ml bottle

Also known as Temple Brau, this is an easy going lager. This will definitely not offend even the biggest Saturday night Heino Temple Bar drinker, it might even impress them. Classically hopped with a crisp clean slightly off sweet finish from the malt. Its a core range offering for a reason.

Whiplash Rollover 3.8% 330ml can

Another beer that I have neglected to try for a while, Rollover sits perfectly within the manic Whiplash range for me. This is what Whiplash themselves describe a New England style IPA at Session strength ABV. All the hops with less than half the alcohol that Whiplash is known for. This beer is a pleasure to drink, its got a nice hop bite on the back end without venturing into soupy juice double IPA terrority.

Galway Bay Full Sail IPA 5.8% 500ml bottle

Being a Galway native I’ve got a soft spot for Full Sail from time to time. In its tenth year of existence it’s one of the original juicy American influenced IPAs in Ireland. Its a beer I drink regulary whether in bottle or on draught.
Moderate bitterness from the American hops sits perfectly alongside a nice a simple malt bill. Well balanced throughout and a decent shout at 5.8% ABV too. It’s no mystery why this is as popular as it is. Tastes just like more. A real fine flagship beer for Galway Bay.

Kinnegar Limeburner Pale ale 4.7% 500ml bottle

The first of two Kinnegar beers I will be revisiting for #FlagshipFebruary is Limeburner.
Alongside Helles lager my other favourite style is the pale ale and its many many variations.
Limeburner is a treat, I almost forgot how damn good it is. An ideal beer for a hot sunny day, extremely refreshing and full of flavour while still light enough in both alcohol and body that you could be forgiven for putting away a few of these with or without something to eat. Another cracking core range offering thats possibly not given nearly as much love as it deserves.

More to come…

Dry January options

January is now the month of dry-ness in Ireland (for some) and it leaves beer drinkers like me looking for a decently flavoured and satisfying malt based beverage – alcoholic content aside. Low and non alcoholic beers are seeing decent growth worldwide recently so the options are increasing.
Ive picked up all of these beers locally between a few different retailers so this is what was at hand, no special effort was made to track any of these down but there are a lot more out there if you feel the need to find them.

Brewdog – Nanny state pale ale – 330ml bottle

This is one of the more accessible newer non alcoholic offerings you will find in decent beer retailers. Nanny State has lots of hops in it, all the big name hops from Centennial, Columbus, Cascade, Amarillo and Simcoe backed up with a pile (EIGHT) speciality malts. With that sort of a hop and malt bill you would be expecting this to be phenomenal and I suppose its not bad.
The hops are evident from the moment you open the bottle, its definitely hopped up, its got a decent amount of bitterness to begin with but personally I would find the bitterness grating after a few but where it falls down is bodywise. Unfortunately the usual thinness associated with non alcoholic beers is here despite the heroic grain bill its got. Its worth a try I suppose.

Mikkeller – Drink’in the sun – 330ml bottle

Similarly enough to Nanny State this is a relatively new regular addition to Irish shelves from Danish brewing outfit Mikkeller. Its an American style wheat ale coming in at 0.3% abv. This is not like any other non alcoholic beers you may have tried previously. Its pours a nice hazy golden colour with a fluffy white head. Tropical and citrus fruits foremost with Drink’in the Sun, super easy drinking, bright and refreshing. Bodywise the wheat carries it nicely, you would be forgiven for thinking this was a session ale with an ABV higher than 0.3%. Recommended.

Heineken – 0.0 – 330ml bottle

This, along with Erdinger Alkoholfrei will most likely be the most readily available non alcoholic offering you will find in your local pub/retailer.
Im not a Heineken fan, I find their regular pilsner to be weak, watery and tasteless. This is no different, its all of those things – with no alcohol. Its got that skunky aroma that comes with beers in clear and green bottles and seems to be a trademark of our Dutch friends. Would I buy this again? No, I definitely would not.

Erdinger Alkoholfrei – 500ml can

A German brewing legend like Erdinger should fill you with confidence that they can make fine beer consistently. Im a big fan of their usual offerings from Dunkle, Urweiss, Oktoberfest and Schneeweiss but unfortunately this falls way short of anything else Erdinger produces. I am a fan of nearly everything from these guys but not this, its a got a weird tin/metallic aroma off it, very weak bodywise for a Weissbier and a sweetness thats associated with NA beers. Its probably the most readily available non alcoholic beer you will find but for me this doesn’t taste like beer at all. With a better selection of other NA’s now available I would not pick this up again.
(I tried both the bottled and canned Eridinger Alkoholfrei and both have the same metallic aroma so its nothing to do with the packaging in my opinion)

Weihenstephaner – Alkoholfrei Munich Helles – 500ml bottle

Munich Helles is one of my favourite beer styles. Its a simple German classic, doesn’t rely on a mountain of hops, it shows off the malt beautifully and you can easily drink a few of them so when the worlds oldest brewery makes a non alcoholic version of their helles I’m on it. This was the first real good non alcoholic beer that I have ever had. Its got a great bready aroma thanks to the malt being allowed to shine. The NA version of this beer works well for me because the regular version has a light enough body and mouthfeel to begin with so this doesn’t feel like its missing anything. The hops deliver a nice spiciness to the finish that will refresh you. I really like this beer from Weihenstephaner, its a good alternative to its regular Helles.
Recommended.

Thornbridge – Big Easy – 330ml bottle

Another beer thats newish to Irish shelves but falls into the same category as previous non alcoholic beers, lacking in any sort of body. The Big Easy pale ale is hopped with Amarillo and Cascade bringing out the tropical aromas and flavours as the dominant features for me, The body is really thin, disappointingly so. I got the feeling of drinking a flavoured fizzy drink more than a beer which is odd. It pours like, looks like and smells like a decent beer but it falls short of something I would rebuy.

Maisel Weiss – Alkoholfrei – Weissbier – 500ml bottle

For me this is the best non alcoholic beer I could get my hands on. Maisel Weiss Alkoholfrei delivers that full bodied, tasty and satisfying beer that everyone associates with German weissbiers. I think I might struggle in a blind taste test to distinguish between this and the full alcohol version. As you would typically expect from a weissbier theres lots of clove, banana and mild bubblegum going on here. While this would be my personal go to for a low/non alcoholic beer it was also was the cheapest at €1.60 per 500ml bottle so its got great value in its corner too. Of all that I sampled this is by far my favourite.

Open Gate Brewery – Pure Brew – 330ml bottle

Not quite sure how long this one from the Open Gate Brewery in Dublin has been around, a matter of months to a year maybe? Its a non alcoholic lager brewed differently, by that they mean it hasn’t been brewed as a full strength beer and the alcohol boiled off as per many other non alcoholic beers, its to do with a specially developed yeast strain according to Guinness.
All I have to say about this is that its priced appropriately (€5 for 4 330ml bottles) to garner plenty of sales. Its going to have its regular buyers – I won’t be one of them. Weak, watery, thin, aroma and flavour free. No thanks.

Baltika – Zero – 475ml bottle

Baltika Zero is my final non alcoholic option. This really is a poor beer. Another green bottle disaster, definitely lightstruck/skunky with more than a touch of oxidation by means of a cardboard aroma. Taste wise this is sweet from the corn used in brewing it, again not something that I go for. Colour-wise this is about as pale as you can get without it being completely water – think all of the light American big name lagers out there, this is right up there with them. Honestly this is one beer I will never buy again or recommend to anyone.

Other decent options
While none of these meet the spec to be classified as non alcoholic they definitely deserve a mention and should be considered if you are looking to stay under the 4% abv mark for any reason.

O’Brother Brewing – Freewheeler – Super Session IPA 3%

Whiplash – Northern Lights – Micro IPA 2.8%

Stiegl – Radler – 2%

Larkins – Galaxy Quest – 3.8%

Very special mention:
Yellowbelly Brewing & Black Castle Drinks – Designated Driver – Dry hopped Craft Soda

Galway Bay Brewery – Vignette Session ale

So the most recent offering from Galway Bay Brewery is here. I tried this about a week ago. Vignette opens bright, dry and hoppy, the head was nice but disappeared quite quickly.

For me I could pickup fantastic mango, peach and citrus aromas. Its got an almost Belgian yeast/mild saison characteristic about it that works so well with an on the money carbonation.
With such a summery beer this is ideal for sinking a few.

For arguments sake I would say this is a good comparison to GBB’s earlier release of Weights and Measures. That said, Vignette appears hoppier to me with a slightly lower ABV than Weights and Measures.
Vignette is not as thin as you might imagine for a 3.5% ISA, that’s impressive.

Over all this is great, exactly what you would call for on a summers day but possibly JUST a bit expensive for its ABV. Considering its locally brewed and served in a bar associated with the brewery it just seems stretching it at €6 a pint.

GBB – Vignette 3.5% ABV ISA €5.50 with beoir.org voucher/€6 per pint without.
€4 for half pint/glass.

It’s a draft only small batch release on tap at Galway Bay bars and maybe one or two other dedicated beer bars around the country.

(EDIT – I have been reliably informed (Thanks BeerNut) that Vignette has been released in bottles too so it should be easier to find countrywide in all the usual good stockists)