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The rough with the smooth
Ballykilcavan is one of the few Irish breweries with a brown ale in regular production. In 2023 they had a go at barrel-ageing one, using bourbon casks. Late last year, they did it again, this time...
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About time
There was a gap in the initial line-up from Changing Times brewery, Dublin's newest, when I reported on it last year. Tap lines had been set aside in the brewery's partner pubs for Clockwork, a stout....
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Fully on board
Today in backlog clearance, I have the winter specials from Hopfully, and big fellows they are too.The lightweight is daintily named Dancing Shoes, a barley wine of 11.7% ABV. It's a lovely dark red...
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Bull in a candy shop
A new selection of Bullhouse beers arrived in Dublin in the last few weeks. I don't buy everything of theirs I see, but I do like to check in now and again. Let's see what we have here.The first I...
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A lesson in lager
I was very sceptical going in to Franciscan Well's latest collaboration, with their Molson Coors stablemates, Staropramen. I'm not even sure what the name is: the badge says "Franciscan Well Docklands...
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Global conflict
Sensing there's just too much peace and harmony in the world these days, Rascals has taken it upon itself to shake things up with its first two new releases of 2025. "North vs South" is the theme,...
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Peaks and troughs
Skiing has never appealed to me, so a brewery that seems to have made it its whole thing was always going to be a tough sell. Beer is more important than branding, of course, and even though I hadn't...
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Eternal return of the same
Today's beers were released late last year by Galway Bay Brewery but strictly speaking they're not new ones. They were brewed and sold as versions of The Eternalist sour ale, and bottled about three...
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A Thorny question
I'm taking a punt, and a liberty, with this month's Session topic. Boak & Bailey are hosting and have asked about "the best beer you can drink at home right now". Though an inveterate ticker, I do...
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Lunar ticks
I have a whole new brewery for you today: Moon Lark, from Poręba in southern Poland. I have no idea by what means their cans ended up in Dublin shops, but witaj! regardless.IPA features heavily, so I...
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More of that
I got my hands on the first Sierra Nevadas of the year last month. They're two IPAs, so very much what the brewery is good at, if somewhat disappointingly unoriginal. We already have several IPAs made...
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What've you got?
The off licence shelves were festooned with a plethora of gaudily-hued Tiny Rebel cans. This Welsh brewery hasn't exactly been a favourite of mine over the years, and has received a degree of...
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Slow starter
Things seem to have been a bit quiet as regards DOT output, at least in the places where I buy my beer. Of the cans, Note pale ale is among the most recent, and that came out in November. 4% ABV with...
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Brew, bruv?
While we wait for the grand opening of O Brother's new taproom outside Greystones, they still pop the occasional can out, and not just for Aldi. Latest in the independent trade is Bookends, an amber...
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Traun: Legacy
The solidly Bavarian Traunstein beers have been available in these parts for a while, though I don't make much use of them. When UnderDog had a pair on tap simultaneously I had two thoughts: that I'll...
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Paddy's pales
It's time for 2025's first random round-up of pale ales from Irish breweries. And on our national day too. Let's see who's willing to stick their necks out and represent hoppy Irish beer in 2025. I've...
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No Rec commendations
A new brewery for me today: the abruptly named Rec, from Barcelona. The first tranche of beers included a variety of styles but I picked just two to give me an impression of how they go about their...
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Hop and change
Today I'm catching up with my late winter beers from The White Hag, all in hop-forward styles, as is the brewery's wont.The first is Swell, claiming to be no more than a classic American-style pale...
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Doing it properly
I guess it's because the annual Spring Beer Festival at JD Wetherspoon falls close to International Women's Day that they've used it in the past to highlight female brewers. This year I didn't see any...
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Supplemental
As promised on Monday, an assortment of cask ales which I found in and around the recent JD Wetherspoon beer festival, but which weren't actually part of it.Acorn's Old Moor is where we start. This is...
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The state of the art
"This could be a review of a beer you’ve enjoyed, or perhaps one you haven’t." O the temptation to just slap the Session badge on a pre-existing draft post and deem the job done. Critiquing beers is,...
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Lash in the hops
Today's selection is from the haze merchants at Whiplash and is end-to-end haze, of a variety of sorts. Can't have too much haze, right?The brewery has form on doing good low-strength hop-forward beer,...
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Ketchup, catsup...
The Jesuitical analysis of comparable beer styles never ceases to amuse and bemuse me, bless all the dear pedants who take such things seriously. Before us today is the question of how a "dry-hopped...
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What's going on?
Three beers from Galway Bay are the subject today, beginning with Figo, a pilsner which they've deemed to be in the Italian style. That means extra hoppiness, inasmuch as I understand the term. It's a...
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Secrets and mysteries
Time for another peep into the Guinness brand home's experimental brewery, or at least it was last month. Here's what I found.Open Gate has a remit to name its small batch beers after local places and...
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