What beer are we drinking this week? Episode 3

youcancallmeal · 31-12-2020 08:41PM

Had the 3 beers from the new Dublin City Brewing Co. Lager was lovely, clean and crisp. The red ale was good too, like Smithwicks but with more flavour. The pale ale was a bit meh, overly malty and have had much better.

Also had several of the Larkin single hop series and they really do put the White Hag single hops(Smash) to shame.

Insect Overlord · 31-12-2020 11:57PM

Finishing 2020 in style (and guaranteeing a hangover to start 2021) by opening a Crann Beatha with dinner, sipping Mikkeller's Beer Geek Flat White for the duration of a Zoom party, and setting up to enjoy a 2020 200 Fathoms for the count-down. Yurt. :cool:

BonnieSituation · 01-01-2021 12:17AM

Pouring this into the glass was a thing of beauty. So bloody thick and viscous. Incredible.

Delicious as well. Very much get the whiskey edge to it. But there's an abundance of coffee as well going on.

Also, warms you up like a dram. Great stuff altogether.

Fall_Guy · 01-01-2021 08:38AM

BonnieSituation wrote: »

Pouring this into the glass was a thing of beauty. So bloody thick and viscous. Incredible.

Delicious as well. Very much get the whiskey edge to it. But there's an abundance of coffee as well going on.

Also, warms you up like a dram. Great stuff altogether.

Cracked one open myself last night and enjoyed it a lot. Pure decadence. Going to try the Porterhouse barrel aged offering tonight for comparison and see if I concur with The Beernuts sentiments on it being the best of the Irish barrel aged stout bunch this year.

the beer revolu · 01-01-2021 11:52AM

Land and Labour Cuvée L&L mixed fermentation beer. Seriously good Irish sour.
By Lambic standards, this isn't cheap but it's very, very good. Balanced, clean, funky, sour. I like.

Wide Street Brewing, The Wild Table, mixed fermentation beer. I thought this was fairly poor. Very watery and a bit yeasty honky. It kind grew on me as I drank it but watery kept coming to mind.

White Hag Cauldron of Plenty.
What a shltshow, horrible disaster of a beer. Down the sink this one went. Bought what I thought was an oatmeal porter. On closer inspection a small sticker mentioned Brazilian coffee or something.
Ends up tasting like a reasonable stout with a cheap, knockoff Tia Maria added, along with a dash of artificial tasting caramel syrup. This was a horrible, artificial tasting beer. I feel robbed.

Does anyone here actually like this beer?

Other than the Heather sour, I'll never buy another White Hag beer again!

01-01-2021 11:55AM

They definitely need to stay away from stouts. I do like the single hops pales though and Atlantean is always a good sup, small can aside.

the beer revolu · 01-01-2021 12:01PM

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

They definitely need to stay away from stouts. I do like the single hops pales though and Atlantean is always a good sup, small can aside.

Those single hop series were all NE style with no mention on the can so they pissed me off as well. I'm done with them.
(at least they didn't end up going down the drain, I just didn't particularly enjoy them)

senordingdong · 01-01-2021 01:22PM

the beer revolu wrote: »

Does anyone here actually like this beer? !

I liked it. But then again I saw the coffee sticker before I bought it, and love a good coffee stout/porter.
A nice backbone of chocolate malt, slight sweetness from the oats to intersect with the deep dry roast coffee notes.

Reginaldsmythv wrote:

they need to stay away from stouts

I agree that the dark druid series has been awful but black boar is one of their staples and its a great stout.

BonnieSituation · 01-01-2021 08:13PM

the beer revolu wrote: »

Land and Labour Cuvée L&L mixed fermentation beer. Seriously good Irish sour.
By Lambic standards, this isn't cheap but it's very, very good. Balanced, clean, funky, sour. I like.

That sounds lovely. Very much up my street. Cheers for the heads up. Be a nice one to serve up on February 1st.
Know of any stockists not in Galway?

Other than the Heather sour, I'll never buy another White Hag beer again!

I completely forgot about my stock of these until last night and found 2 of them in a long forgotten moving bag!

Zaph · 02-01-2021 12:48AM

Continuing my mini 200 Fathoms tasting session, I had a 2018 bottle two nights ago. It was deliciously rich and smooth, as much of a step up from 2017 as 2017 was on 2016. While obviously it's a year younger, I'd still say it's aging better than its predecessor. I've two 2017 and one 2018 left. Kind of wish it was the other way round.

Which brings me to 2020, which I'm drinking at the moment. It is every bit as good as people have been saying here, imo the best 200 Fathoms since the 2015 release. I'm guessing that it's the extra time it spent in the barrels, but the only word I can describe this beer as is decadent. The whiskey gives it a lovely warming feeling without overpowering the flavour or making it harshly boozy. I did a tour of Teelings a couple of years ago and they had an on-site only whiskey which was aged in barrels that had previously been used for 200 Fathoms, and it was the best whiskey I tasted that day. I'd love to see what they'd get from doing the same with this batch of barrels, I reckon it could be something very special.

Insect Overlord · 02-01-2021 02:49AM

Zaph wrote: »

I did a tour of Teelings a couple of years ago and they had an on-site only whiskey which was aged in barrels that had previously been used for 200 Fathoms, and it was the best whiskey I tasted that day. I'd love to see what they'd get from doing the same with this batch of barrels, I reckon it could be something very special.

Check your local Dunnes. They're selling Teeling Small Batch aged in 200 Fathoms casks. Not 2020, but a lovely one all the same. €54.11 a bottle though.

the beer revolu · 02-01-2021 11:19AM

Enjoyed a couple of Guinness West Indies Porter last night.
Fancied something black.

Pen Rua · 02-01-2021 04:05PM

Last night inadvertently became a White Hag double bill.

I had their collab with Cloud Water, an English "extra special bitter" brewed to celebrate the ESB. Unusual dedication, but a good beer in the end.

Second on the evening was their normal imperial oatmeal stout. It poured like oil - super thick. It was a great stout all in all. I've had a run of the desert / pastry / absurd stouts put out over the last few months (and still have many more to work through) so it was nice to revert to a standard stout. The can had significant residue in it, which I thought was unusual.

l14masasddadsg · 02-01-2021 04:11PM

senordingdong wrote: »

Gas!
Sold here has an exotic foreign import.

Isn't it though? Imported from the UK presumably?

I paid €5.50 for the can, with the added cost of shipping to Ireland, I don't think that's too out of line.

nestegg · 02-01-2021 05:18PM

Craft central have some 200 fathoms if anyone is looking.

Poorside · 02-01-2021 11:06PM

Had the White Hag Dark druid earlier, way too sweet.

the beer revolu · 03-01-2021 10:00AM

I really enjoyed Hope Handsome Jack IPA last night - lovely old school balanced IPA.

8degrees Full Irish is still a good IPA, too.

dominatinMC · 03-01-2021 07:06PM

Poorside wrote: »

Had the White Hag Dark druid earlier, way too sweet.

The White Hag have gone down a lot in my estimation over the Winter. Maybe it's because I sampled too many of their "experimental" stouts, but they seem to be overreaching. Sometimes less is more.

Macy0161 · 04-01-2021 12:29PM

I had a few over Christmas and New Year, obviously.

Still prefer a straight Imperial, over barrel aged, and I don't think I'll really bother with barrel aged at all next winter. Pointy Shoes the only one I've really loved, as I found the barrel subtle in the taste. It could be something I missing with them, but I'm definitely missing it!

Whiplash Let. It. End is outstanding
Wicklow Wolf Mad Mex I've really loved
I'll be trying to pick up more Blacks Worlds End

Still have the Kinnegar one to try, but looking forward to it, despite my intention of my own version of "Dry January" to try and go a bit easier on the abv's.

Pen Rua · 04-01-2021 12:57PM

First year into craft beer - is the amount of barrel aged beers this year normal, or was there something exceptional this year? Toward the end of the Christmas period, it felt like everyone had one out to cash in on the gimmick (which I bought in to of course!)

irish_goat · 04-01-2021 01:25PM

Pen Rua wrote: »

First year into craft beer - is the amount of barrel aged beers this year normal, or was there something exceptional this year? Toward the end of the Christmas period, it felt like everyone had one out to cash in on the gimmick (which I bought in to of course!)

I think we're seeing a few more alright, possibly due to their being more distilleries popping up so more avenues for a microbrewery to procure barrels.

Macy0161 · 04-01-2021 02:09PM

I should clarify that I really liked the Otterbank wine barrel aged mixed fermentation beers, and previously enjoyed whichever 12/12 Wicklow Brewery did in Port barrels, so maybe it's just whiskey I don't like (as I definitely like stouts). I think I've one barrel aged left - the Ballykilcavan Red.

RasTa · 04-01-2021 03:04PM

Pen Rua wrote: »

First year into craft beer - is the amount of barrel aged beers this year normal, or was there something exceptional this year? Toward the end of the Christmas period, it felt like everyone had one out to cash in on the gimmick (which I bought in to of course!)

Yup, brewers love putting stuff into barrels. I was surprised when even Whiplash released one.

Pen Rua · 04-01-2021 03:19PM

RasTa wrote: »

Yup, brewers love putting stuff into barrels. I was surprised when even Whiplash released one.

I haven't made a trip to an off license in a while (so probably have missed it by now), but I saw on Untappd the local place was selling it for upwards of €13 or so? Maybe north of €14.50. As much as I am a fan of Whiplash, I'm not sure I'd be willing to drop that much on a can? As much as we deride the wax sealed bottles, they do add to the premium nature of a product versus a can.

04-01-2021 03:22PM

I'm sick of removing wax, almost as sick as I am of going to the bottlebank. Squash can, green bin, job done.

irish_goat · 04-01-2021 03:28PM

I find the bottle opener has no issue taking the cap and wax off in one piece. Maybe I'm just getting lucky though.

BeerNut · 04-01-2021 03:29PM

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

Squash can, green bin, job done.

Apparently the sorting machines will sometimes fail to recognise squashed cans, or ones with plastic labels on. It's best to leave them unsquashed and peel the labels off. Some of the shrink-wrapped ones have handy perforations for zipping the sleeve off before binning the can.

04-01-2021 03:31PM

I don't like the barrel aged stouts so most of mine was on the Otterbank range, maybe there's a pile of it on there as I always had to cut it off first. That said, it's well worth getting into one of those no matter what the means.

04-01-2021 03:34PM

BeerNut wrote: »

Apparently the sorting machines will sometimes fail to recognise squashed cans, or ones with plastic labels on. It's best to leave them unsquashed and peel the labels off. Some of the shrink-wrapped ones have handy perforations for zipping the sleeve off before binning the can.

I know in theory I probably should but the green bin is too small and the pickups too infrequent not to squash them.

Even if someone was taking off the branding and leaving them in their shape they are still a dream compared to bottles though. The bank near me is always full and they get stinking after a while sitting. Can is way quicker to chill if you bang an unplanned one in the freezer too

Macy0161 · 04-01-2021 03:45PM

Finally, I'm justified in having "beer wall" in the mancave of the peeled can labels! Our green bin needs standing on between collections, so no way could cans go in unsquashed.

I'm 100% a 440ml can convert now - far more efficient use of fridge space than bottles.

What beer are we drinking this week? Episode 3

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