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On the turn
The first Irish beer round-up of 2019 is here. I'm clearing up the tail end of last year's new (and new-to-me) releases, and taking a look at the early crop from the past few weeks.The Swan on Dublin's...
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Bear with me
It was a pleasant surprise to find a couple of beers from Bear Republic joining the line-up at Marks & Spencer. Time was, this was one of the go-to Californian breweries for seekers after those...
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The Art
A new raft of beers from Tipperary start-up Canvas arrived in DrinkStore late in 2018. I picked a handful to try over the quieter days of the Christmas vacation.First up was Sweet Gale Ale, just as the...
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Thorny thorny thorny
Three beer beers from Derbyshire's Thornbridge today. The brewery is probably tired by now of being told that they said they'd never can their beer and then they canned their beer. My first experience...
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Barcelager
The Barcelona Beer Company's range has been quietly chugging along on the shelves in these parts for a couple of years now. On a recent trip to Stephen Street News I noticed that there was one in the...
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Get bent
The wild yeast wizards of Denver are today's subject, with a couple of cans from Crooked Stave.Can one is the pastel-styled Sour Rosé, a light 4.5%-er, oak-aged and brewed with raspberries and...
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Take one down and pass it around
Bottle shares aren't usually my bag, but I'm not completely averse. When Wayne and Janice announced they were putting one together at Piper's Corner in late January I figured I'd tag along and offload...
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Points of order
A rapid catch-up with some beers from London brewery Five Points today. They've been fairly throwing them at the Irish market and I can't hope to keep up. Here's what's in the backlog.There's a series...
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Taken to cask
Can you believe it's already the ninth year of Franciscan Well's winter celebration of cask beers? I made my way down as usual on the Saturday, tasked once again with helping a panel of Beoir judges to...
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No flagships here
Round-up time: a broad mix of mostly-new Irish beers.Boundary has a raft of new cans just landed, with more on the way. The buzz has been positive, and I've done a terrible job of keeping track of...
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Stone immaculate
A couple of new Californian IPAs to begin today, both part of Stone Brewing's "Hop Worship" series, developed, I guess, in case people thought Stone is a brewery that doesn't really care for...
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Do you want anything from the shop?
I was going out to the Mace on the South Circular Road. This modest convenience store with a kick-ass beer selection is possibly the only place in the country you can pick up an Ambrosia rice pudding...
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What Larks!
Wicklow's lager specialist, Larkin's, has been busy with the warm-fermenting yeast of late, dropping two new IPAs, both of which I caught up with at 57 The Headline.The lower-strength one is called Dog...
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Super, darling
There's no particular story behind this bottle of Lagunitas's Super Cluster: it was just there in the DrinkStore fridge and I bought it. It's 8% ABV, hopped with Citra, and I was a little worried I'd...
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Four course meal
The formalised pairing of beer and food was a big thing about a decade ago. It was very much driven by the industry rather than consumers, and when they left it behind it fell into abeyance, though I'm...
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Trigo drinking
Big-craft American lager is today's theme. Isn't it cool that Sierra Nevada and Founders, who built their reputations on hoppy ales, have a market for pils too?But before the pils, a relatively recent...
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Gripes and grapes
Gotta love the unexpected samples that occasionally get served up at UnderDog. Barry was sharing a bottle of Û Baccarossa by Bologna's Ca' del Brado brewery, one evening late last year.It's a bit of a...
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Soured up
Beer from Manchester's sour specialist Chorlton Brewing has been drifting into Ireland and onto bar taps since the middle of last year. I haven't been seeking them out, exactly, but a handful have come...
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National celebration
This year, the St Patrick's Day long weekend coincides with the opening of the seventh Alltech festival at the Convention Centre. To celebrate, I'm bringing you a week of posts about Irish beers,...
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To the point
It has been a slow start to 2019 for DOT Brew: a few rare special editions and exclusive blends, none of which have crossed my path. And then last week, in landed three fresh cans of non-barrel-aged...
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