All was quiet on New Year ’s Day!

On a wet New Year ’s Day, with the Year not even 12 hours old I had my first brewery tour. It could possibly be the some sort of record, but who knows. Gordon of 9 White deer was very kind to agree to show me around the brewery. On our way back to Dublin, after spending New Year ’s Eve in Kenmare, we passed through Ballyvourney. The home town of 9 White deer, we stopped off to meet Gordon and have a look around the brewery. 

The brew house its self is a 22 HL system, Gordon was very active in the design and build of his brew-house. Which can be seen reflected in the design of the heat system. The kettle is heated via a steam powered external wort boiler which to maximizes the entire kettle. Which I was told is fairly unique for a system of its size. Something you’re more likely to seen with the bigger boys. As the external boiler is kept at 105 deg C there is no scorching of the wort. 

A glimpse of the rakes within the mash tun

They have range of different fermentation vessels. Four double brew 45 HL and two single 25HL. Which in total give a capacity of 300 hectoliters or 30,000 litres.  Gordon added his own cooling system to the fermentation vessels. Copper coil was placed around each fermentation vessel that supplied glycol for cooling/heating.  Which was the insulated to maintain the correct temperature.  

Walkway for ease of access to the fermentation vessels. 

They have added a state of the art bottling line can fill 1700 by 500ml bottles per hour. There is very little oxygen pick-up as each bottle is double flushed with carbon dioxide. Give the rate of bottle, I suspect it keeps the people working on it very busy.

The Home brewing system, from which it all started with. I was very envious when I first was the system over on Beoir. Gordon’s ability to fabricate such a system and having it to play around with. It has now been promoted to become the pilot brew house from 9 White deer and an assist to the brewery 

Lots of lovely shiny kegs. They went with the brewery name on the kegs over the somewhat traditional method of a color code on the kegs 

  

Stag Ban a 4.5%, 30 IBU's. It’s a pale- gold beer with a nice white head. The aroma is of citrus and lemons, which finishes with a little fresh cut grass. The hops used are First Gold, Amarillo and Cascade. Which would add the citrus notes noticed the nose. It has a medium body, dry, with almost with a clean enjoyable lager quality to it. Ban very much reminded me of some of the classic golden ales and a very drinkable beer.  I suspect Ban as a base beer would be a good platform to experiment with some single cask hopping.  

Stag Rua a 4.5% Irish red ale. It’s a dark ruby in the glass, with some caramel aromas. But this much dryer beer than some Irish reds would suggest. There is a little caramel flavour which is then firmly backed up with a roastiness from the grain paired with hop tannin's and bitterness. Some different for the Irish red ale lover and welcome addition the Irish craft beer scene.  

Photo via 9 White Deer

Thank you very much to Gordon for venturing out on a cold and wet News Years morning to show me around the brewery.  For disclosure I did receive beers to review. 

Go West

In mid-January Beoir members were invited down to have a look around Galway hooker's new brewery. In Oranmore  just outside of Galway. The first of the new generation of micro-breweries after the Porterhouse. They began brewing in 2006 on the site of the previous Emerald Brewery just outside Roscommon town.  In May 2041 they moved to a much bigger site and kit in Oranmore. Their flagship beer Irish Pale ale (IPA), a clever play on the common IPA acronym. Which is a firm favorite of mine. Hooker have gone on to launch a few other beers such as their Stout, IPA, weiss and a dark lager. 

With one of the most iconic tap handles around,their "sail" counter mounts are made from larch by the Adrian Qualter. It is also used the same wood that the Galway hooker boats are made from, a nice use of traditional materials. 

The new brewery 40 hl brew-house,  is a cathedral of steel. That is just over 24 UK barrels in old money. This in comparison to the previous 650 litre system. The brew-house is a combination of a combined  mash/latuer tun (right) and kettle/whirlpool vessels (left). The malt  and auger, are just out of shot to the right.

There is plenty of room in the facility to expand if need. The brew-house was designed with the option two additional vessels (mash/lauter tun) if required. The fermentation vessels and bright tank (foreground) are double volume (80hl) allowing for increased capacity. The operation also captures the heat for the heat exchanger, which is feed back to the hot liquor tank. Making the system very green in operation. 

Yeast storage and collection system, which allows the brewery to re-pitch in a safe and clean fashion.  

While on the tour we got to try fresh from the fermenter their new Sixty knots IPA. Aidan kindly drew off a few liters  fresh  from the fermenter. It tasted bitter, was would expect from such a fresh beer. But it was all about the aroma, all citrus and pine in spades too.

I caught finally caught up with the bottle version a few weeks later. 6.5% abv and 60 IBU’s, very much a big brother to the pale ale. The colour was a dark amber, more that the sample from the fermenter would have suggested. But the aroma is big pine/grapefruit. Taste, there is a mix of the hop bitterness and crystal/biscuit malt. Which I found played a nice foil to each other. It reminded a bit of Hilden’s Bucks Head, a classic English style IPA finished with lots of American hops. 

The highlight of the trip for me was the cask Galway hooker stout, hand pump and sparkler. You couldn't have ask for more. Coffee and chocolate aroma, medium body with a nice soft finish, in top condition. There is not much more fun to be had than in a brewery, been able to pull you own pint via a beer engine. 

There the third addition to their permanent line up was the release of Galway Hooker dark lager. Not as dark as I was expecting, it  reminded more of an Alt or Veinna lager. Aroma, sweet cereal with a slight nuttiness. Flavour wise some Carmel finishing with a pleasant hop bitterness. A different and welcome take on a classic style. The image below is courtesy of The Beer Nut  blog post The west.....

Thank you to all at Galway Hooker, for a great and fun day.

Dinner at 57 The Headline's

The annual birthday dinner was coming up and decided on some where we would dine. Usually it would be some in the city center that also had a good craft option in house or very near by. This year I had one or two in mind, more for the food, as their craft option was not great. But then there was a very good blog post by Ruben aka Tale of Ale  Big Bullies. In short looking at the "downward" pressure some of the big brewing corporations and conspiring pubs are placing on the Irish consumers craft select. Read his post is very good. So I thought about places that my wife and I had not dined before. Also somewhere that would tick the Irish craft supporting beer box. So the, 57 The Headline came to mind. Not that I not been there before for beers. But it was somewhere that is a little out of way for us and neither of us had eaten there before. So off we went, normal I can do the quays to The Headline in around 20 minutes of a fast walk. But was my Emer, my wife was in heels we opted for a cab.

When we arrived, I was lucky enough to catch the end of the Kinnegar tap take over. I opted for their Black Bucket, a 6.5% Black Rye IPA that I had Irish Beer Whiskey Festival a few weeks before and loved. Cool, tasty and it hot the spot, Emer when with a white wine. I can’t remember which one but there was a good menu to choose from. We were impressed with the relaxed atmosphere in which we could peruse the papers and enjoy our drinks before look at the dinner options.

 

After our drinks we looks at the food options. We opted for the 2 starters, 2 mains and the choice of two drinks for 40 euro. I went for the Lamb meats balls. Three large Turkish meatballs, bulgur wheat salad and some warm flat breads. Emer opted for the Calamari, served with a well put together salad and cumber and mint dip. Both dishes were large, tasty and well-arranged. The Calamari was perfectly cooked, which can  all to easily be overdone. The offer cane with a choice of a drink each. There are eight wines to choose from. Great for those that are not into craft beer.  An with thirteen Irish crafts beer to choose, there is something for every Irish craft beer fan.  I opted for Trouble brewing Dark Arts a personal favorite of mine and I find a good beer to have meaty dishes.  For mains we bother went for the burgers, large and well-cooked. Which were  accompanied by  a side of some tasty chips and it was just what  I was looking for. Prompt and efficient service round of a very nice meal of us both. 

Up next on the beer front  was the new release from   Trouble brewing's Hop Priority. A  Triple IPA weighing in at 11% ABV via keg and hops were Mandarina Bavaria, Amarillo, Equinox and Vic Secret hops. But its one beer I   missed at the Irish beer and whiskey festival 2015. As it was on cask but not in condition at the time. It's  a huge big juicy hop bomb, of tropical fruit and pineapple.  A hop potpourri for any craft beer fan. There is a big body but it's not cloying or over sweet, just perfect. There is some considerable skill of brewer in keeping this 11% monster very drinkable. 

We finish our meal and decided on one last drink down at the bar. Last beer of the night was Kinnegar white rabbit (Keg) a 4.8% American wheat beer. Hops possibly citra, sadly I did not take a picture of it.  But I did take one of the bottle version I had a few days later. It is interesting to compare the two, I found the keg version to have much clearer tropical hop profile, soft wheat ending with a pleasant bitterness's. The bottled version was a some what hopped up wit feel to it. With more of a lemon citrus noise ans taste to it. Both were well brewed version of the beer, but I felt that the keg version was the winner.

I spotted this handsome fella at the bar and had to take a picture. Well that wraps up this post, great food, value and choice of some excellent Irish craft beers.Well worth a visit or possibly two for libations, food or a combination of both .

Short pour: "Saison's in the sun"

Dungarvan Brewery celebrates their 5th anniversary this week. Hard to believe five years has pass by so soon. I have know Cormac, Dungarvan's head brewery and one of it's founders from the old homebrewing threads on Boards.ie. From this  an interested group founded Irish Craft brewers (ICB). Which ICB in turn evolved into Beoir as an "Independent group of consumers with a primary goal of supporting and raising awareness of Ireland's native independent microbreweries". 

From a small band of homebrewers on ICB, emerged some of Irish best know craft breweries, Trouble Brewing, Metalman Brewing and Dungarvan. As of Dungarvan's beers their Blackrock stout is one of my favorite beers on cask. But it's hotly contended by Helvick gold. 

For their 5th anniversary brew they decided to do something different. Not the usual barrel aged imperial stout or double IPA. They opted for a collaboration  brew with  Nøgne Ø to  produce a seaweed saision (6.5% ABV). Using locally sourced Dillisk seaweed, possibly a world first or for Ireland at least? But what a week to release a sasion on the Irish market,  five days of glorious sunshine. 

Colour: Light orange.

Aroma: Candied citrus fruits, slight sweet malt. Finishing up with a light classic saison phenols  and hint  of spiciness.

Taste: Dry, light to medium bodied beer with crisp carbonation. But the refreshing carbonic bite from the bottle conditioning  that lightens the body further.  I do like my saison's to air on the dry side. Then following with some Belgian phenols/pepperiness. Towards the ends I got a woody/ smoky taste  possibly from the seaweed, that was rather pleasant.  All ending with a light hop bitterness and a hint of  saltness. Brewed with lager malt and East Kent goldings hops is a firm nod to the traditional Wallonia  brewing. A very well brewed sasion, possible one of the best I have had from an Irish brewer. With the unique addition of Dillisk seaweed. I had the beer in its bottled form, but there are keg and casks knocking around. The interplay between the carbonation and the Dillisk seaweed would  make these different formats worth seeking out. 

Short Pour: Missed beers

Mescan: Westport White (Wit) 5%.

Historically, Belgian White or wit’s in the Irish craft beer scene  had played a some what secondary role. There had been a tendency from Irish brewers to favor the it's Teutonic cousin, the German Hefeweizen  as the wheat beer of choice.

Batting for the German Hefeweizen's, Franciscan well Friar wise , Galway Hooker Ban Weiss, Opus II and Porterhouse Haus weiss. An representing Belgian centered wheat beers, Kinsale Williams Wheat (now closed). **Comparison based on my memory, reality maybe different**

But one issue with German Hefeweizen was the use of dry over liquid yeast. While the dry German Hefeweizen are grand, I find they don't quite capture the true essence of the style. Compared to the liquid version, such as White labs WLP300. Also compounding the issue is that some of these Hefe yeasts need to be top cropped. So as to maintain the selective phenotype and this doesn't always suite conical fermentation. Whereas there are a couple of dry yeast that produce some very fine Belgian wheat beer such as T-58 (Safbrew) and Brewferm Belgian Wheat. 

Colour: Straw yellow with a fluffy white head

Aroma: Belgian phenolic, herbal

Taste: Dry with a slight sweet cereal and some mineral notes. Lightly spiced with the classic Belgian wit spice combination of crushed coriander seeds and Orange zest. I prefer a light hand with spice's as it something that can be over done all too easily.  All in all, a tasty and refreshing beer, one to try. Hopefully  one we will seen in kegs as the summer rolls in.

Reel Deel: Jack the lad 4.5%

Colour: Darkish yellow.

Aroma: New world hops, citrus with a pleasant sweet  tropical edge.

Taste: Lots of C hops with a citrus edge finishing with some sherbet and a little grass. Dry with a slight bitter finish, medium body. A very nice and well brewed IPA. Possibly lighter that a lot others at 4.5%, but certainly very drinkable. 

Irish Beer & Whiskey Festival 2015

Helping out at a beer festival can be a good bit of fun, and this year was no exception. The Irish Beer and Whiskey festival has moved from CHQ down on the quays to it new location in hall 1 at the RDS. I found myself helping out at the concession stand with a few other of the Beoir members.  The hall is a much bigger venue than the old CHQ and a better one in my opinion. Much more seating than even the Septembers festival too. The only down side was the reduce number of glass wash stand and potable water for people, but this are minor quibble to what was a great festival.   

Lager space hall with plenty of seating and room for everyone to get around.

There where some great beers on offer and a few festival special that where launched for the event.  Given that I was volunteering there was a lot less note taking that I probably should have done. But here are some of my favourite  beers and ciders that I came across at the festival.

First up was a beer I had heard very good things about on the grape or beer line, Black Bucket from Kinnegar. A black rye IPA (6.5%), probably a first for Ireland. Flowing with big flora, pine and citrus zest aroma. Black in colour, but without any major roastiness like many good blacks IPA. A medium bodied beer that finished up with a lingering hoppyness. Overall a very well crafted black IPA. 

Two new beers that  8 Degrees  had on keg for the festival where, polar vortex which I  had previously reviewed Weather Experience: Polar Vortex. Although the review was based on the the bottle serving rather than keg. Both format where equality good. The second  was Enigma (6%) a SMaSH beer, single malt and single hop in this case the newly release Enigma hop from Australia. 54 IBU's weighing in, high for a pale ale and with the 6% ABV this could easily be many breweries IPA. But that's just how the roll over at 8 Degrees.  A golden color in the glass with an a aroma of melon, with a touch of candied oranges too. This then followed up with a slight dank-ish  hop herb aroma, possibly very slightly peppery.  That in total works really well.  Finishing up with a nice clean bitterness. The malt is some what in the background, but this beer is all about showcasing these new hop which it does in spades. 

Trouble brewing possible brought the most specials to the festival. Sadly the cask of their Triple IPA, (11% ABV) was not ready on the Saturday when I was around. But it is good to see a brewer hold back a cask till its in the right condition before tapping. One of my top beer at The Irish craft festival last September (2014) was  their Vietnow IPA. This current version was dry-hopped with  Comet hops. I am not sure if the standard brew was dry hopped with the same hop. I did pick some herbal/glassy not that I did not remember from last time. But it all worked out very well.

Up next was their new released Fallen Idol and the second Black IPA-dark ale of the festival. Weighing in at 6.3% and hopped with Chinook, Citra and Vic Secret. The aroma is a big load of citrus hops finishing with some dank-ness. The flavour has a little roast with  a  good bit of resin from the hops in the finish. But that just in total adds up to a near perfect CDA-Black IPA in my book. Again another masterfully brewed beer for the trouble brewing boys. The last of their festival special I got to try was Wandering Star. A 5.3% blonde ale, brewed with Golden Promise malt, and hopped  with Summer and Huell Melon. A tasty beer, lighter in taste and aroma  than the previous tow. I did pick up some stone fruit and a little melon. I could see this been a very popular summer beer.  

The one cider I tried over the even was Stonewell Festival, golden in colour, low in carbonate and in all a very tasty cider

Independent brewing had two beer for the festival. The first was their  Pale ale casked hopped with citra. The aroma started of with a musky tropical fruit finish up with  a light citrus notes. Which I presume was the contribution of the citra. The second and my favourite of the two was there special festival IPA and their first IPA I believe. A big bitter beer with lots of orange and grapefruit aroma. The 7% abv was not as apparent as I would have believed for such a strong beer.  

There was green beer to for those who want it. Independent brewing gold ale was infused with a natural green colouring from Spirulin. Not the first time seen in Ireland the  Bull and Castle  did a similar thing a few years ago to great success with tourists.  

The only White hag  beer I got to try was their White sow  on coffee rocket (Randell). The base beer is a oatmeal milk, which is a solid beer with a creamy body with a very nice roasty finish. The hook for me was coffee rocket (randell) with 3FE. The aroma was of big fresh well brewed coffee and one I would love to see around again.  

The third black IPA that I was looking out for was the releases of O Brother Brewing Bonita (India Dark ale), Spanish for " pretty, cute"  and it certainly is.  7% ABV it is well hidden in this beer. A little roastiness  on the palate like all the best Black IPA's. Bitterness was low, which allowed some sweet hop flavor come through. The aroma was a big C hop fruit which I thought were coming from  a combo of Simcoe/Columbus with maybe some Cascade.  A lovely beer for a such a new brewery. 

I helped out for a bit behind the bar for Mountain Man and its possibly one of the fun-est thing to do at a festival. As you  get to meet some great people and the fans of the beer. One beer I was looking to was their Sneaky owl, I missed the Franciscan wells cask festival. A dark English style bitter, ruby in colour and with a firm malt backbone. Aroma was of dark fruit with a light bitterness a beer that would be prefect for serving on cask. A beer that was  very popular with the punters, while I was on the bar.  On cask was hairy goat and it was also in top condition proving very popular too.  

Sam from Blacks Brewery and Derek Neville from 8 Degrees chatting over a glass of Polar vortex. Its always great to chat to the brewers over a few beers.

The food offering where much more extensive than last years CHQ event, much more in line with the September event. there was some old favorites like the Pie man and Jane Russell sausages.  

Jugging buy the quality of the three CDA's-Black IPA's its a style that Irish brewers have really nailed down.

All in all a great festival and I think the new venue was a hit with everone

Meet The Brewers 2: The fog or smoke of War

One beer I left out of the last blog post complete by accident was St Mels Spring bock. Its very unusual to see a bock been brewed on these shores,  but a very welcome  one. Weigh-in at 5.6% ABV, on the light end for a bock. But making it a more sessional beer than some of it tutionic brethren. A dark gold in colour, with a clean finish in short a very tasty lager. But the hook for me was the following smoky flavour, something that's push this beer into the must try range. A beer that is reminisce of some of the great German rauch beers and one that I hope is brewed long enough till the first BBQ of the season can be lit. Liam the brewer said there was no smoked malt used, but you have to admire the brewing alchemy that can coaxes such flavours from the yeast.  One definitely to look out for. 

Picture via St Mels FB page