Serendipity

It shouldn't surprise my readers to find out that beer isn't the only alcoholic beverage that I enjoy. In fact, even the not so eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed the link to all of my whisky posts above ^. I've also enjoyed cider from a  young age, but a drink class I've been getting into more recently is cocktails. 

It probably stems from my trip to the Maven in Leeds as recommended by Neil Eating Isn't Cheating where I enjoyed a very nice rum short drink. fast forward a year and I now have a well stocked cocktail cabinet at home and a couple of interesting old cocktail books to peruse for inspiration (more on those in a later post). It helps that my wife also enjoys trying cocktails; so I have a guinea pig for my creations!

From Love & Death Inc website

But I digress. Today's post is about a specific cocktail bar, Love & Death Inc to be precise. Its Ann Street location in Belfast (perched atop the fab Little Wing pizzeria) puts it within  stones throw of trendy shopping area Victoria Square and the more touristy area of Laganside.

To enter is to be transported back in time to American speakeasies of the 1920s. Oh no, I hear you dry, taht's been done to death already: well maybe so; but no-one does it quite like Love and Death Inc. Up the stairs from street level and you reach the bar area. All manner of bric a brac are suspended from the ceiling, including a full sized bike! Its always buzzing on evenings I've been in with a mixed soundtrack of easy listening and rock n' roll, though later on a DJ is often in attendance. There's also a nightclub upstairs, which I'm yet to investigate.

A view of the bar

 

From Love & Death Inc website

Staff are friendly and efficient, making cocktails with skill in front of your eyes. A number of them have entered competitions and performed well; not bad considering the bar is pretty new. The bar itself is an A-Z of alcohol with almost every liquer and spirit imaginable crammed into its many nooks and crevices, with a decent range of bitters and purees across the front. There's also food available, but I'm yet to sample this as both of my visits to date have been after dinner.

Dum dum (right) and (i think) Paradise Lost
with the comic book menu

One thing I particularly like is the menu (PDF), a collage of old comic strips, with speech replaced by cocktail descriptions. Average price for a cocktail is around £6 which is very decent considering the quality involved. I did splash out £12for a "dum dum" because it sounded intriguing with chili and orange alongside aged Guatemalan rum and sicilian digestif. That's it in the photo to the left. I thought about recreating it at home, but the rum is £100 a bottle so maybe not!

On my recent visit I stuck to rum creations. "Origins" features Appleton 8 and ginger and "To Have and Have Not" is an exposition in grapefruit featuring ruby grapefruit juice and grapefruit bitters alongside mint and rum. Both tasty and so appealing that I neglected to take a photo...

One thing that caught my eye this time around however wasn't a cocktail, but a half finished beer on my table. Still in its dark brown bottle with hand-written sticky label I'd discovered a new Northern Ireland brew! Turns out I'd managed to time my visit to co-inside with the release of the new house brews. I picked up the last couple of bottles, which I'll review on a later post.

So next time you're in Belfast, pay Love & Death Inc a visit, I promise you won't be disappointed.

Love & Death Inc

10a Ann Street, Belfast, BT1 4EF (map)

Facebook

Twitter @LoveanddeathNI

Celebrating Indpendents

July 4th is a day of celebration for one of our former colonies, ever one for subversion and puns I've chosen to celebrate Independents Day - for supporting local independent microbreweries.

The new branding

In view of that its a perfect day to post my review of the new Clanconnel (@Clanconnel) Beer-Irish Pale Ale*. Its undergone somewhat of a rebrand (as reported by The Beer Nut): A cleaner, more striking label design bringing the beers into one overall range named after the greyhound Master McGrath. Each beer is numbered with its own distinct colour, the pale is blue number 2. The rebrand is to make the beers recognisable overseas, where a lot of them are now destined, but have no fear they'll be available in the North and RoI and some keg and cask will also be produced.

At 4.4% its a good sessionable strength and like all good session beers builds flavour down the glass so that you're ready for a second almost immediately afterwards. It uses cascade hops alongside traditional English varieties for bitterness and aroma.

Pouring a burnished gold with fluffy white head and fairly aggressive carbonation, in the mouth its not OTT. The aroma is dusty pineapple and lemon pith, it tastes of shortcake with a dry bitter finish. A flavour of lemon cheesecake and a touch of resin builds toward the end of the pint.

I'll certainly be buying these if I see them in the shop and reckon it would be excellent on cask, lets hope Mark finds the outlets to take it!

The fifth beer in the McGrath's Range, White Ale, is out next month, look out for it!

*Mark was kind enough to send me a beer and pint glass in the post.

The rest of the Clanconnel range was reviewed here.

Clanconnel Brewing Beers

Northern Ireland doesn't have many breweries (5 now though!) so my task of reviewing each isn't too onerous. The difficulty is finding somewhere that stocks them! Luckily the fantastic Vineyard in Belfast keeps a good range; so when I had the use of a taxi I made the most of it and brought a big box full home, including the three beers which I am reviewing today.

Clanconnel Brewery is a fairly new (just over three years old) venture based in Waringstown County Down. They brew a range of but three beers, which seem to be the necessary portfolio for any Irish brewery, a stout, an Irish red and a blonde.

From the pictures below you can see that the labels have a simple yet recognisable design across the range, with only the background colour varying. By pure coincidence I read this post last night written for #TheSession by Nick at lautering.net. The logo is a crested crane, which is the family crest of the Waring family, for which Waringstown is named. The family motto "neither by violence or cunning" also applies well to the brewery whose beers speak for themselves with no need for subterfuge or flashy gimmicks.

Weaver's Gold, McGrath's Irish Black, McGrath's Irish Red

Clanconnel McGrath's Irish Red

First up is the McGrath's Irish red. According to the Clanconnel website:

"McGrath's Irish Red is named in honour of the 'Mighty' Master McGrath, the greatest greyhound to have ever raced and who won the hare coursing Waterloo Cup 3 times in 1868, 1869 and 1871.

Owned by the 2nd Baron, Lord Lurgan of Lurgan, Co Armagh Master McGrath became the town's most famous sporting hero being renowned both nationally and internationally. During his racing career he was defeated only once in 37 course meetings."

The brewery are interested in promoting local history and there is a good write up on their website about the history of the local area. 

On to the beer. It pours a russet-brown with fluffy off-beige head. The aroma is at first musty, a bit like an old attic but gains a more pronounced booze soaked dried fruit character after a few moments. The body is fairly dry, with gentle carbonation with shortcake, candy sugar and custard(!) flavours. Astringent yet sweet on the finish. This is one that I'd like to try on cask.

Clanconnel Weaver's Gold

Weaver's Gold (4.5%) is a different beer entirely. Named for the historic linen history of the area, this beer  pours a lovely burnished gold with pillow-y white head. Aromas of pineapple and lychee waft enticingly out of the glass. On first sip these flavours jostle for the attention of the tongue but soon disappear to be replaced by the shortcake maltiness of the Irish Red and end with a brief bitter spike leaving a clean palate and a need for another glug. I would have liked the hops to have lasted a bit longer. This is the beer using American hops and its definitely apparent, but their flavour is all too brief for my liking. Again I'd try this fresh to see if more of that hop flavour is retained. I definitely see it as more of a blonde ale than the lager that Tania found it to be.

Clanconnel McGrath's Irish Black

The final beer is one I've tried and enjoyed many times before. McGrath's Irish Black is the 2010 Champion Beer of Belfast and its easy to see why. This is the stout that Guinness probably used to be and wishes it still was. Its the best session-strength stout that I've tried. A good looking dark stout  with a roasted coffee/earthy aroma. Stouts that still retain the aroma profile of porters score highly for me. Fairly thick in body with a light brown head that is retained down the glass.  Chocolate malt flavours preside over the proceedings at first dry and roasted, giving way to a mellow finish and caramelised malt aftertaste.This is a beer that is even better on cask than it is in bottle and I hope to see it at Belfast Beer Festival again this year.

Clanconnel, then, is a good solid brewery, I'd like to see their beers more widely available in the North, though as ever they're fighting an uphill battle against the monolith that is Diageo. It would be great for them to expand the range with a few specials too. I recommend having a pint if you see these on draught anywhere and be sure to visit the Vineyard if you are in Belfast, at £2.04 a bottle these beers are a steal!