Irish Beers (&Ciders) to Watch Out For 2014

Wow, what a whirlwind of a year we've had! Ireland has almost doubled the number of brewers in the past 12-18 months, to such an extent that many of my previous recommendations in September 2013 (whilst still good beers) just don't cut the mustard when compared to newer releases. I've also been busy sampling passing 100 Northern Irish (72%!) and 315 (50%) Irish beers & ciders total. Here are some I'd recommend (obviously these beers  fit my preferences, yours may vary! I've tried to include things you'd still have a chance of finding) In no particular order...

When Chris (Galway Bay) released his  of Foam and Fury it hit the market with much hype which certainly seems justified - its been compared to Pliny (the elder, Russian River) in some quarters. Its very much in the American vein, robustly bitter, tropical fruits and lots of pithy citrus. Also worth seeking out is Via Maris the table beer produced from the second runnings.

Kinsale Pale Ale especially when fresh this beer is a juicy balanced pith-bomb and probably the beer I've drunk most of from the island this year, look for it on keg or visit the brewery to get the super fresh stuff!

West Kerry Riasc Black my bottled beer of the year in Ireland, everything I expect froma porter nd then some: toasty, earthy, dark fruits, coffee all complemented by an addition of blackberries. A one off but the Carraig Dubh still stacks up well if you can't find it.

White Gypsy Scarlet was fresh at ICBCF this year lightly tart, balsamic strawberries and slight woody dry notes. heavier fruit and vanilla come through in finish. I'm hoping its not the last sour offering from White Gypsy. It certainly won't be the only brewery experimenting with souring in 2015 (Carlow and Galway Bay have also released intentionally sour beers and Boundary brewing have already announced plans!)

Eight Degrees Hurricane IPA has been rehashed and is now at a more sessionable (but not session beer) ABV of 5.8% Full of mangoes and passion fruit without the hop burn of the stronger version...juicy banger contender?

Sarah bravely put her N17 Oatmeal Stout on cask in front of thirsty bloggers (many of whom can get stouts on cask easily in the UK) and it went down a storm; dark ruby brown, rich leafy hops, chocolate, roast barley, medium bodied, good resinous bitterness. There should be no issues then getting buy in over here, just need more beer engines installed! The only new opening of 2014 making it on to this list!

Carlow's Leann Follain is already an excellent stout, but age it in Irish Whiskey casks and the magic really starts to happen. Slightly lactic, molasses, vanilla, full bodied, slight carbonation, rich, toasty, slight sourness, warming, prunes, long tongue numbing, dry finish.The perfect bottle to share and sip around a fire on these colder winter nights.

Dan Kelly's Fiona's Fancy is a great balanced cider in the Herefordshire vein (i.e. not enamel stripping tannic but not too sweet either). the apple is punchy and tastes as if its fresh off the tree despite having been pressed three years ago with a long fruity finish.

You wait a while for a decent BIPA then three come along at once. Along with last year's highlight (Kinsale Black) this year Trouble Brewing released the roasty, lots of pine and simcoe orange then burnt toast, full body and bitter Oh Yeah and Kinnegar created a dark version of their Rustbucket with Black Bucket Rye IPA. Look out for all three!

Tempted XL (barrel aged) is a festival special; so you'll need to come to one (try Belfast or ICBCF in 2015) if you'd like to try it. You'll be rewarded with a rich molasses nose and fruity rum married fantastically with dry apple pulp and caramel notes. Drinks like water; dangerous at 8%!

Cockagee Keeved Cider is something a bit different, keeving is an historic method of cider production which leaves a residual sweetness and removes the proteins to give a clear cider full of complexity; fruity, rich, sweet, smooth, complex apple flavours, dry and tannic yet sweet and fruity.

Andrew at Kilmegan impressed with his bone dry cider last year and new Irish Farmhouse cider takes it a step further. Slightly acetic dry tart apple with honey notes. Lightly sparkling fruity Cox apples, golden syrup, dry, slightly funky in finish, some vanilla. Look out for bottles in the North.

Farmageddon Gold was excellent on cask at Belfast this year, American hop freshness against a scant malt body allows all of the tropical fruit to shine through.

Brown Paper Bag Project's Gose was most unexpected beer this year but it doesn't surprise me it was those guys that made it. Was good fun guessing along on Twitter tart pineapple with some green apple notes on nose. Medium bodied, light carbonation, tart with citrus flavours with coriander and salt following in the finish as it warms. They've since gone on to make  a rye wine, Gratzer and fresh hopped IPA.

Pokertree Dark Nirvana is certainly the best beer Northern Ireland currently has to offer. A coffee black IPA it has Coffee (of course!), fruity dank hops, pithy citrus, herbal, full bodied. Low carbonation, dry, coffee, full of pine and hemp, delicious!

Whitewater's Festival Special bodes well for what may be upcoming from these guys, licorice blackcurrants on nose. Full bodied, slightly sticky toffee, some moderate resinous hops then plenty of burnt sugar, coffee and toast. Hopefully something makes it to bottle, which it is crying out for (bottle conditioned please!)

Another beer that went down well at ICBCF  was Hilden's Mill Street IPA. Chock full o' hops and plenty of citrus oozing out. This beer exists in different iterations but hopefully Owen will settle on the best and make a large batch in 2015. Fingers crossed!

MMXIII:Golden Pints

2013 has been a great year for beer. I've found myself buying fewer beers from overseas in favour of the extensive, generally fresher, often more inventive UK brewers. There's been plenty worth talking about, especially in bottled form (how I've done most of my drinking this year) but can't put everything in!  I've certainly had plenty of decent bevvys, brought to me by a bevy of brewers; so without further ado (and alliteration) here are my golden pints for 2013.*

Best UK Cask Beer 

 I've had plenty of excellent one of cask beers this year (Kernel Glengarioch barrel aged imperial brown stout anyone?) but for drinkability and one I've returned to many times this year its Dark Star Hophead. Most unusual was certainly Fyne & Wilds Cool as a Cucumber.

Best UK Keg Beer

Again, lots of super one-off beers (Summer Wine's rum barrel aged calico jack was superlatively good) but again, a session beer steals the crown..Magic Rock Simpleton is packed full of flavour for its 2.6% and dserves the crown.

  

 Best UK Bottled or Canned Beer

As in past years I've mostly been drinking bottled beers and the three that have wowed me most this year are Wild Beer's Ninkasi, Moor's Hoppiness and Marble's Decadence. Indeed, they're the only beers I've ever gone back for extra bottles of.

Best Overseas Draught Beer

Not really drunk many this year but Brooklyn's There Will be Black was a proper non-roasty bitter bruiser of a BIPA.

Best Overseas Bottled or Canned Beer

Yeastie Boys Gunnamatta was fantastic at the start of the year on my honeymoon and Green Flash St Feullien's friendship brew black saison really pleased me as its exactly what I was looking for in a dark saison.

Best Collaboration Brew

I have a feeling my favourite will be on many people's lists but its a superb beer: Wild/ Burning Skies/ Good George Schnoodlepip. Its just wacky sounding but worked really well.

Best Overall Beer

Of all of those beers above it has to be Wild's Ninkasi that takes the Crown. I urge you to try it if you haven't already.

From Ohbeautifulbeer

Best Branding, Pumpclip or Label 

So many breweries have re-branded this year; so many new breweries have launched with fantastic logos and house styles that this category has become really difficult! My vote has to be for Partizan however for their similar but different individual labels.

Best UK Brewery

Buxton still take the crown for me here, with Colin continuing stronge-ly (sorry!) from where James left off. James' bretted and barrel aged Tsara's were superb and Buxton imperial black rocks still holds the crown as best BIPA for me. The new range of sours the team are brewing now are fab and I really look forward to visiting their new brewery tap some time soon.

Best Overseas Brewery

As mentioned I've not drunk as much overseas stuff this year, but Yeastie Boys really impressed this year when in NZ.

 

Best New Brewery Opening 2013

Again, plenty of contenders here. My top 3 in no particular order would have to be Partizan, Wild & Siren who have all produced fantastic beers and seem to have been around for a long time. 

Pub/Bar of the Year

The Hanging Bat in Edinburgh is a Fantastic showcase to British beers and well deserving of top spot. Staff that care, an easy to see beer list and a token system to al

Best Beer City

Bristol has really flourished in 2013 with 4 new beer bars and 2 refurbishments following hot on the heels of Brewdog in 2012. Bristol beer week was also a fantastic showcase for the local talent in established and up and coming breweries.

Supermarket of the Year

Whilst most supermarkets in Northern Ireland are dire for beer choice, M&S has really extended the range with their own label stuff and don't try to hide who brews it...which I applaud them for.

Independent Retailer of the Year

Beer Ritz are still excellent as is Bitter Virtue in Southampton but this year's nod goes to Drinkstore in Dublin who I also shop with online.

Online Retailer of the Year 

This is a dead heat between Ales By Mail (fantastic idea to do best of London Cases and have put up with me doing part-orders for merging all year) plus Alesela, a one stop shop for decent Scottish beer and random rarities from elsewhere. Drinkstore have been fantastic as usual helping me to get hold of plenty of Irish one-offs. Honourable mention to Brewdog for sorting out their online shop (alesbymail again! 20% discount helps too!).

Best Beer Book or Magazine

Another fantastic year for beer books but best magazine has to go to Hot Rum Cow. Not just beer but all kinds of drinks, its an unputdownable read from cover to cover. Best book definitely For The Love of Hops.

Best Beer Blog or Website 

Its still Boak & Bailey I find myself most enjoying, especially with their longer reads and historical tidbits this year. The Beer Cast **has also really developed this year with plenty of interesting articles and exclusives, I think it won't be long until Rich makes the transition to print...

Best Beer App 

I already did a post on this, don't have a top app but I use ratebeer the most.

Simon Johnson Award for Best Beer Twitterer

I've had less time for twitter this year but the Craft Wankers are always entertaining and certainly deserving of the irreverence and joviality associated with this award. Rob @beerlens also deserves mention for his kind donation of early issues of Hot Rum Cow. Of course I concur that this should go to Simon in its first year.

Best Brewery Website/Social media 

Wiper & True's website is simply designed but packed full of information and easy to navigate. Top marks!  

   

Check Pencil & Spoon or Beer Reviews over the next few days for a summary post of everyone's nominations...who will be crowned brewery of the year?

*as usual I'm writing these at the start of December so as not to be swayed by other people's opinions...but I reserve the right to make changes in light of any decent discoveries in December!

Edit 6/12/13 **Turns out I'm not the only one who enjoys Rich's blog as he has just won a gold tankard for writing in online media...great job!

Irish Beers to Watch Out For

Following on from Boak and Bailey's suggestion (I think) here's some of my favourite beers available from (Northern) Irish Brewers. Its not an exhaustive list,I've not tried everything and with new breweries coming online all the time the next gem could be just around the corner!*

Whilst the majority of these beers are available in bottled form, i think they taste better on draught (cask/ keg) with the exception of one. Some of these beers started off as seasonals and became regulars, I hope the others don't remain as one offs.


White Gypsy's sessionable Weiss (aka Blond), 4%, really impressed me out of keg at Hilden Beer Fest a few years ago. Proper German weisse banana esters on the nose, hazy, full bodied with handsome foamy white head and spicy wheat and clove esters mean it can hold its own against stronger German offerings. Its now a part of the core range; so may be easier to come by. 

Tiny Beoir Chorca (West Kerry) produces a fantastic porter in the shape of Carraig Dubh. I've had it on both cask and bottle and both are lovely. A complex and mouth-filling porter with smoke, chocolate, coffee red berries and a touch of roast barley in the finish. Just how I like my porters.Condition spot on too. This may be a little harder to track down but drinkstore.ie often has bottles.

Via Beermack (Alex)

A recent trip to Waterford for the Beoir AGM saw me drinking Metalman Sahara (6%) at the brewery. Its a modern take on a Vienna lager with the deep amber colour and toffee malts but the addition of sorachi ace creates subtle cheesecake/ custard creams flavours that build and interact with US hops to give tangerine pith and noble hop dry bitterness leading to a long finish. I could still taste it half an hour later.

Another modern take on a traditional style is Brown Paper Bag Project with Doxie a 5.6% wheat ale with magnum, amarillo and cascade, which was released for a blind Twitter tasting.
In bottle form it has an interesting Belgian ester saison character, despite being fermeneted with a neutral US ale yeast. This is apparently due to warm conditioning post bottling and doesn't appear in keg form. Immensely drinkable, with plenty of pithy hop character, try side by side to see the differences dispense method can make to a beer.


Trouble Brewing Dark Arts is another from the porter spectrum at the more robust end. Thick bodied with roasted coffee and chocolate notes. They're expanding which should hopefully mean this beer becomes more widely available.




Another beer which really stood out recently is JW Sweetman's Pale Ale. Out of the growler the carbonation had diminished somewhat allowing the dank hops leafy freshness to shine through with grapefruit balanced by shortcake malt making this marvellously refreshing and a real showcase of cascade.

Sneaking into export stout territory is Carlow's Leann Follain at 6% It brings aromatic pipe tobacco, chocolate and a touch of lactose on the nose, dry roast barley up front and finishing with chocolate malt  and caramel.

Whitewater Hoppelhammer smashed onto the Northern Ireland scene last Novemeber at Belfast beer festival and really impressed me (finally a Norn Iron beer with hops!) Plenty of citrus fruits, oranges and tangerines to the fore...could be simcoe. Doesn't matter what it is its a hop bomb and very moreish.

Via Chilli and Chocolate

Ards Ballyblack is another newish addition from the newest (until recently that is) Northern Irishbrewery.
Dark brown black with lively white head its a dry stout how they should be made. Chocolate, roast barley and a slight chalkiness and very easy to knock back by the pint when served at (the correct) cellar temperature.




Another of Whitewater's specials that seems to have survived to be brewed again is McHugh's 300. At only 3.5% and often kegged, you'd be forgiven for thinking this is justa bog standard lager substitute/ golden ale but you'd be wrong. Alongside the biscuit malt and clean hop aroma there's a pleasing level of bitterness and somegrapefruit flavours which I suspect just might be cascade. Perfect summer refresher.

Back to black again for College Green (Hilden) Molly's Chocolate Stout. Unlike some, this derviews all of its chocolate flavour from the malt. Definitely worth hunting for in cask (try Molly's Yard in Belfast) It pours an attractivegarnet-brown with hints of beech-smoke then rich roast barley on the nose. A giid robust body withplenty of burnt toast, coffee and rich fruits thatlovers of high cacao chocolate would lap up and certainly drinksmore than its 4.3% ABV would sugges.



Perhaps the longest established Belgian style beer in Ireland is Hilden Barney's Brew. It gives a cough candy spicey medicated aroma on the nose with plenty of the requisite corriander. However this from a wit when a peppery punch of ginger sneaks up on you unawares demanding you to take another gulp. Its difficult to say no. Its available right now all over the UK as part of Sainsbury's Great British Beer Hunt, though sounds like it may not be at its best by some accounts.

Also look out for Dungarvan's Coffee and Chocolate Stout if its released in bottle form again, white gypsy's weisse which I loved, Franciscan Well's Bell Ringer and Eight Degrees Cyclone/ Hurricane #IPAoff duo. These were not included in the main post as they're not regularly available and may even have been one offs.

*Looks like this couldn't be truer with at least 12 breweries due online in 12 months and a whole host of specials available at the recent ICBCF. I reckon I'll need to do a new beers post in 2014.