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Grand, Finnish
Well now here's an oddity: a Finnish lager showing up randomly in Lidl. If it was part of a bigger promotional range, the rest of them never arrived or sold out quickly. Pyynikin in Tampere is the...
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Three and more
Some new beers from the components of the Third Barrel collective today, beginning with Third Circle and West Coast, a self-explanatory IPA. It definitely looks the part, pouring a clear deep golden...
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Herd impunity
Tap takeovers? Remember them? BrewDog Dublin held them pretty regularly on Thursday evenings, back in the Before Times. I made a special effort to schlep out to Capital Dock when Western Herd was on...
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Not so fast
Drinking AleSmith Speedway Stout feels like catching up on my homework from 2010. Back then it was the talk of the online beer world and regularly topped best-beer lists in American publications. I...
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Dipping the toe
Beer from Manchester brewery Wander Beyond arrived in Ireland recently. I had never tried their wares so was curious, and remained so even when I failed to find anything in a style I usually like, and...
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The lock-in
All packaged beers for this random round-up, understandably, I hope.The first is the first offering from a brand new brewer, Crafty Hopster, based in Waterford and brewing at Metalman. They kindly sent...
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On the 'lash
Two recent releases from Whiplash today, both in the pale 'n' murky 'n' hoppy vernacular that their adoring public adores.The first one is a modest pale ale called Safe Changes, just 5% ABV and using...
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Farmhouse rock
Today's rough theme is Belgo-American farmhouse beers, which frankly may as well be a style in its own right at this stage. Here's how it's shaking out on both sides of the pond, illustrated via some...
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Best case scenario
With an extended pandemic situation upon us, theme beers were inevitable. The Third Barrel collective went big early on, bringing out an answer to the crisis from each of their constituent parts. They...
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Streaming service
A new pair from new Dublin brewer Lineman today, with some stylish new can branding.I began with Torrent, a straight-up, no nonsense, no gimmicks porter of 5.2% ABV. Given the success of the brewery's...
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Saisons and seasons
Marks & Spencer offers a significant range of beer styles under its own brand. OK, it's not exactly cutting edge -- no brut IPA or mixed fermentation ales -- but if you want to learn what, let's...
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Zany Lithuany
An "Australian Pale Ale" from Lithuania in a pint can? There was no way I was going to pass that by when I spotted it on the shelves of the local SuperValu, especially when it said "limited supply" on...
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Soft border
I had come to think of Boundary as being primarily a brewer of strong beers. They present very much in the contemporary US/Scandi fashion, and low ABV tends to be nothing other than an occasional...
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Kinnegar and friends
It's off to Kinnegarland today, to find out what the busy bunnies of Letterkenny have been up to.Most recently, the Brewers at Play series saw the simultaneous release of numbers 5 and 6. The former is...
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Sunshine status
It's strange and charming that a brewery as established as Anchor in San Francisco still has new beers for me to try. Quite a raft of them are now available in Ireland and I felt I should do some...
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A rate of Exchange
Like an increasing number of people, this blog is spending its birthday in lockdown. Happy 15th oulfella.To mark the occasion I have retrieved something from the cellar that, honestly, I meant to drink...
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Pistoff
Was it the haze that attracted me to Pistonhead Haze Lager? Was it the Galaxy dry-hopping? The Swedish brewing know-how? Nothing wrong with any of these, of course, but the fact was I had three beers I...
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Very new, very normal
The latest pandemic-related comeback is The Session, the monthly beer blogging jamboree that ran from 2007 until it sputtered out in 2018. Session enthusiast (in all senses) Al has resurrected it and...
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Themes may apply
Time for another unsorted round-up of new and new-to-me Irish beers. Content warning: some have pandemic-themed names, so if you're not into that, skip the first few.Hope had the latest in their...
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Heed the call
Hey, remember Siren? Once one of my consistent favourites among the new-wave "craft" British breweries, I just sort of lost track of them. UK brewing moved on and the most-discussed ones became...
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