“Tis the season for stouts”, they say. “Load of rubbish”, I reply. Stouts are for all year – not just winter, though I’m sure there’s a better sounding slogan in there somewhere. Let’s round up a small handful of Irish stouts, north and south, and see what happens. Before you ask, I do own more…… Continue reading Stouts: The Orange, the Peanut, the Ginger and the Bourbon
Regular readers of this irrelevant little corner of the internet may already be aware that I do love a good coconut stout. Oh yes. (I also love pineapple on a pizza and if you have a problem with that, you need to sort yourself out.) So when The White Hag released edition two in their…… Continue reading Enter Coconutopia
There was recently a view among beer drinkers that sub-3% ABV beers (if you could find any) were low in taste. That changed when Ireland’s Whiplash brewery, despite brewing some of the country’s finest DIPAs over the past few years, released a 2.8% micro IPA called Northern Lights. That beer hit a new high among…… Continue reading Searching Low and Low
Two of Ireland’s better microbreweries recently came together for a collaboration brew. County Sligo’s The White Hag and County Donegal’s Kinnegar teamed up to produce The Hare and The Hag, a 6.5% ABV ‘Irish Coffee Nitro Stout’. A nitro stout should have a creamy and smooth texture when poured upside down from the bottle – few…… Continue reading From Wonderful to Woeful to Wooden Cask
I’ve just returned from the Irish Craft Beer and Cider Festival in Dublin and what a great festival it is. Organised by Beoir who champion craft beer throughout the land the festival is held in the RDS every November. Unlike the Belfast festival, which is organised and run by CAMRA NI with the bar in…… Continue reading Irish Craft Beer Festival 2014
Quare Swally 