Tyrone's Turn

For too long the focus on good beer in Northern Ireland has been centred around Belfast. Well not any more: enter the Wine Rack in Stewartstown. Now, as you would guess from the name, wine plays a big role in this shop and you won't find a better advocate of all things vinous than proprietor Michael Mulgrew. But Micky's also a fan of the fruit of the hop and has recently massively expanded his beer selection to become the best in Tyrone (if not all of NI, Belfast excluded.)

Just a small selection
of what's available!

The new beers are lovingly presented in a fancy dancey new fridge; to ensure all beers are delivered to you in tip-top condition and comprise a range of the best from the island of Ireland, UK and even further afield. Prices are keen and plenty to choose from; so get yourself along there post-haste!

Alongside increasing the range in his shop, he has formed the Mid-Ulster beer club which has already hold a sold-out tasting of Farmageddon and McGargles Beers with more in the offing. I can exclusively reveal the next event will be on Saturday 3rd October 7-10pm and feature not one but two of the best breweries Northern Ireland have to offer; Belfast's flying-run start-up Boundary and local favourites Pokertree. Brewers Matt and Darren both know each other fairly well (having been co-organisers of ABV); so expect a good bit of craic and tall tales as they guide us through their respective beer ranges. If we're lucky we may even get to sample some brand new releases. (If you want to get ahead of the game Micky keeps a good stock from both brewers in the shop). To book for the event (tickets cost £12) please call in to the shop or give Micky a ring on the number below.

Following that tasting we hope to welcome 8 Degrees into our midsts as part of their grand tour of the North later this year. Stay tuned for further details. Tastings should be a fairly regular occurrence, probably alternating with wine events, with even more plans for next year. Did someone mention antipodean brewers? ...certainly wasn't me.

The Wine Rack

36-38 The Square, Stewartstown BT71 5HZ

0288773 8092

@atthewinerack

Full Disclosure: Micky reached out to Beer Ireland for help with improving his range and I responded. After all the shop is mere minutes from my door; so benefits me too! Every county should have a flagship destination like the Wine Rack, which will challenge other local outlets to up their games. Micky has even more things planned but I'll leave those for another day. I have not and will not be receiving payment for my advice, but have of course been given some free beer samples.

First collaborations

A comment on using ingredients for no real reason
from the excellent (sadly defunct) Trouble Brewing

A mark of a maturing beer scene is brewers reaching out to each other to collaborate on a brew together. Some commentators dismiss this as a cynical attempt to generate beer sales (often at a premium) without necessarily bringing anything new to the table; often characterised by bunging ingredients in with no real thought about the process. Whilst this is sometimes the case I don't see an issue with trying to make more money from selling a beer; its up to the consumer to decide whether or not to part with their cash. In my opinion, when done well a collaboration can create a beer better than the sum of its parts, or with a difference to a breweries usual output.

Collaborations have only just begun to emerge on the island of Ireland, with Carlow collaborating with Pinta on a stout (Lublin to Dublin) and Eight Degrees with By The Horns on a Belgian white (Horn8's nest) last year. They were both amongst my top-rated beers last year and show that Ireland's beer scene is beginning to coming of age. There was also a limited collaboration special (North & South of the River) between Donegal and Inishmacsaint for the Wild Atlantic Way festival last year (missed it, unfortunately). However there were no intra-country collaborations to be found - until now that is.

Yes, Gordy from the aforementioned Inishmacsaint teamed up with the redoubtable Darren from Pokertree after meeting at the very beer festival Gordy's other collaboration was released. They decided to produce a Christmas beer together, christened Crann, a "Saints & Sinners" collaboration. Being rural breweries in Fermanagh and Tyrone respectively they wanted to reflect their environment and the historic practices of foraging for ingredients (of which Gordy already has some form, having previously produced a bog myrtle beer).
Crann is Irish for tree, which fit in well with the planned use of spruce tips, a trip to the local An Creagan bog also yielded wild cranberries, which added a double-meaning to the name. Rounded out with raisins (not local obviously!) and a Belgian yeast resulted in a 6.6% biere de garde. Brewed on Darren's kit in Carrickmore (its a bigger set-up) and released in 750ml bottles to add an element of theatre to a beer designed for the Christmas dinner table.

I thought I'd missed the boat on this however as it was released before Christmas. Luckily when I was in Belfast earlier this month The Vineyard had just received a second shipment; so was able to snag a bottle for sampling. 

As you can see it pours an attractive pale amber with a fluffy beige head. On the nose are the typical spicey yeast esters you'd expect from a Belgian yeast, alongside a herbal, slightly tart nose. Medium body with creamy wheat spices, its very soft and easy drinking. Flavour wise its fruity, peppery, touch of banana ester, tart citric light finish with long esters. It's very much redolent of a German weissebier, with additional herb/spice complexities and very much enjoyed. I wasn't overly able to taste the influence of the fruit though it probably added to the overal complexity. It did remind me somewhat of William's Brothers excellent Nollaig, though of course with more emphasis on spice than hops. There may still be bottles available from the usual suspects if you're quick (there's only 1500 bottles!)

Darren seems particularly pleased with how well the beers sold, given the typically conservative palate of the province and fully intends to rebrew the beer for next Christmas. Darren and Gordy fully intend to team up for further collaborative efforts later this year (Crann did have a #1 on the label after all!), and, though he refused to be pinned down on specifics, gorse, elderflower and cherries have all been mooted. These are likely to be in 500ml bottles as people may be less willing to stump up the cash for a big bottle when not for a specific occasion. As Darren and Gordy both enjoy Belgian ales and with such a wide range of examples to draw from they're all likely to be Belgian inspired. In fact there should be something new mashed in on Monday...
Darren has also recently collaborated with Marble in Little Barney to celebrate the newest addition to his family; there may be a few bottles left in circulation. They have since been joined in the list of collaboration-friendly brewers by Boundary who recently collaborated on a sour ale with Galway Bay. There are also a number of collaborations happening south of the border, but that's a story for another day, I look forward to tracking down and trying them all!

What are your thoughts on collaborations within the beer community and are there any you have particularly enjoyed?

*For those who didn't work it out the Saint refers to Inishmacsaint and Sinners to the story behind Pokertree

More new NI brews!

The Beer Nut pointed out that Strangford Lough Brewing Co is no more; so Norn Iron were back down to 9 breweries...that is until Pokertree launched their first bottled offerings at Belfast Beer Festival a few weeks ago. 30 bottles of each and I snagged a pair for review purposes (volunteering for the festival does have its perks after all!)

I brought these back to the hotel room and daisy asked "what smells of lemons"? Turns out the wax seals are made from scented candles! The consistency isn't quite right but that's something to tweak for next time. So are these beers all style and no substance? Read on for the details.

Red Earl is different from your standard Irish Red...its much darker than most and there's some interesting sour cherrry in the aroma. However it does have a low hopping rate in common with many Irish reds and its a little too caramalt forward for my liking but its certainly better than most.

Ghrian Golden Ale is very different to your usual blonde beer...its actually a wit with lemon peel and corriander front and centre. It actually reminds me somewhat of Camden's Gentleman's Wit, with plenty of fresh lemon and some kiwifruit NZ hops that really make it zing...search out this one for sure.

Darren's first few ales have bucked the usual "holy trinity" trend and by the sounds of it the rest of the range also mixes things up a bit...ones to watch certainly.

Another new brewer is Clearsky...currently contract brewing their first

release at Hilden - Fulcrum. I met brewer Steve (good name!) briefly at Belfast but haven't had a reply to my email yet. Fulcrum is a weiss beer and to me tastes like Hilden's Barney's Brew without the additional spices...which is no bad thing as its a perfectly decent wheat beer. I look forward to see more from these guys and hope they get a brew kit at their trading address as its a few miles from Beers I've Known HQ.

Finishing up the selection of new bottled beers are a couple of offerings from Inishmacsaint who until now only had a single release - Fermanagh Beer. 

This had a special edition release at the festival brewed with hops grown by Gordy's own fair hand on his farm...could this be the first commercial NI beer with local hops?! Its certainly an improvement on an early version I tasted with some herbal and blackcurrant hop notes complementing the full bodied wheat spiciness.

Also up for grabs was their new Brown Porter which I was less enamoured with. It started off well with  oaky brown malt and blackberry on the nose but it finished a bit thin...perhaps needing more speciality malts to make up the body but certainly great to see a dark beer differing from the typical  Irish dry stout and with a few tweaks this could be fantastic.

A decatet of brewers!

Northern Ireland brewer numbers will have near doubled by the time 2013 is over. Northern Ireland is finally waking up to the beer resurgence going on in both Britain and Ireland! Along with the Red Hand brewery in Donaghmore and a top secret brewery development in County Down in conjunction with Belfast's Love and Death Inc, we're gaining new breweries in both  Fermanagh and Tyrone.

The first brewery I read about in Easyjet's in flight magazine of all places! I'm not sure how George wangled that but its certainly gained him a lot of notice, with orders and enquiries for his flagship blonde ale flooding in over the last week. Have no fear that this will be another generic golden ale/lager substitute producer as a stout and an IPA are also both on the way.

As a chemist he should certainly know his stuff and I'm looking forward to trying his first beers in the coming weeks and months. He's delivering to the vineyard in Belfast this week; so be sure to go check it out. The brewery itself is housed in a picturesque building, with George and his wife Helen also running a tea room next door.

Dr George Catchcart Sheelin brewery

Facebook

Closer to home for me is Pokertree Brewing. Darren is also planning a blonde ale, alongside other such Irish staples as a red ale, stout and pale ale...but with a twist. Ghrian (blonde) will be hopped to the hilt with tasty antipodean hops - galaxy, green bullet and Nelson Sauvin whilst the red ale Ruby Earl will be robust with a darkside. Completing the quartet are Tain a Rye Pale Ale and a Treacle oatmeal stout. 

All of these beers have been through pilot batches and are moving onto the shiny new full size kit with the first brew due this week. Bottle conditioned beers should hit the market in time for Christmas and in the meantime we may get our appetites whetted with the cask he hopes to have ready for Belfast Beer Festival.

Darren Nugent Pokertree Brewing

@Pokertreeales

Facebook

I look forward to sampling these new beers and chatting further with both Darren and George, perhaps even having a nose around their breweries if they'll let me!

So by my reckoning that gives us two brewries each in Co. Tyrone (Red Hand and Pokertree) and Co. Fermanagh (Innishmacsaint and Sheelin), four breweries in Co. Down (Ards, *secret*, Strangford Lough, Whitewater), Clanconnel in Co. Armagh and Hilden in Co. Antrim. Come on Derry/ Londonderry brewing potentials, pull your finger out!

You can read about other breweries in Ireland on my new Irish beer page

Edit: Beer Nut remidned me Clanconnel are now contract brewed at Hilden, meaning Armagh are strictly sans brewery too.
Strangford Lough Beer Co may no longer exist due to a $1.7m lawsuit ruling. Certainly their main staff were laid off.