Pliny the Employer

The presence of so many multinational companies in Ireland has, besides much publicised economic impact, brings  benefits to the quality and range of beers in Ireland. Incoming staff after trying the obligatory pint of Guinness in (insert name of traditional pub experience) soon long for the broad range of beers available at home and find themselves seeking out the many specialist beer bars and off licences. Irish staff spending time at company locations overseas have the opportunity to explore new taste beer sensations. I know several people in the tech sector that this is a key perk of the job! Indeed, some companies arrange craft beer Fridays for their staff. However, a further benefit presented itself over the past month. We all know that multinational companies also are vital sources of job creation and one of the newest MNCs to arrive in Ireland just went and hired @Beermack_ The final round of interviews took place in San Francisco (read the adventures of the Frisco Kid here http://beermack.wordpress.com/2013/09/25/san-francisco-beering/). Alex of course found space in his luggage to bring back some rare beers on this side of the Atlantic, which means for yours truly I got to try one of those fabled beers that features on many a beer “bucket list”.

Pliny the Elder is the creation of Vinnie Cilurzo, the man credited with crafting the first Double IPA during his days at the Blind Pig brewery back in the early 1990s. He didn’t brew his second DIPA which was Pliny the Elder until 2000, shortly after he acquired Russian River Brewing from the owners of Korbel Champagne Cellars in 2002. Vinnie had been brewing there since it opened five years earlier. It was under his ownership that this Sonoma brewery was going to make its mark on the beer world.

Defining itself as a DIPA, it was going to have a higher alcohol strength then the traditional IPA (Pliny is 8% ABV) and of course a higher degree of hopintensity, comprising Simcoe, Centennial, CTZ and Amarillo. Pliny was one of the beers that made Simcoe famous. It was also a beer that showed craft brewers that hop extracts were not the products of Satan. Instead the use of extract results in a smoother bitterness. It’s backed up by a balanced malt backbone that’s not overly sweet. The balanced nature of Pliny sums up the skilled craftsmanship that’s gone into this beer. In short this beer can be summed up as

  • Hop aroma  CHECK
  • Hop flavour CHECK
  • Hop bitterness CHECK

Pliny for me was marked by citrus (a blend of orange and grapefruit), pine and slight peppery flavour. Unapologetically, I don’t have more photos because I was simply enjoying the beer. The beer was sublimely balanced and it is up there as one of the finest beers I’ve had. Now for those that are used to DIPAs and newer stronger or more aromatic hops, this may not be a favourite. However, remember that 13 years have past since this beer was first brewed. Hops such as Citra were only in the development phase at the time. Things are called classics for a reason!

Short of working for a MNC, I’m going to have to make do with paying for my own beer pilgrimage to the West Coast to visit Russian River and others. Thankfully Aer Lingus is reintroducing its direct Dublin to San Francisco flight from Spring 2014. So I would be lying if I havent already been checking out the fares and hopefully looking to take advantage of increased competition on the Atlantic.

Musings on the best Irish beer fest yet

The All-Ireland Craft Beer and Cider Festival has attracted a lot of attention online and save from repeating a previous post, I have opted to provide a series of short observations on the festival. Oh and did I mention that I attended all four days because where else would I be!

Packed house on Festival Saturday

In no particular order:

  1. Biggest festival yet! Huge crowds over the four days (over 10,000 according to Ruben @TaleofAle). It was packed on the Friday and many had made their way up from the Aviva after the Ireland-Sweden march but Saturday was something else. The crowds simply kept on coming with a queue to get in and an even bigger one at the token stand.  if keeps growing like this, it’ll probably have to move into the main hall next door.
  2. Two collaboration brews can be best described as sweet. The O’Hara’s/JW Sweetman’s version containing honey. There’s a story to be told about it but can be best summed up as there’s a group of people out there nerdier than beer enthusiasts – honey people! Troubled Hooker from guess which two breweries (see my previous post if you can’t for the life of you work out who it is) was a mistake gone well. It was supposed to be a Double IPA but became almost a sweet Belgian Tripel, even sweeter than Kwak.
  3. Dry-hopped Irish reds, what’s the point? The malt sweetness is there for a reason. Leave the hops for the “Irish” pale ales & co.
  4. The Hop Randall festival goes to try the Kinsale Pale Ale with added Simcoe, Citra and Nelson Sauvin. The Hop Randall  has now been introduced by the Bull and Castle and the Bierhaus in Cork . Has it already been condemned to the realm of gimmick?
  5. Franciscan Well wasn’t picketed by members of the craft purist front and the casks ran dry fairly early on. Punters weren’t put off by this big beer-owned concern.
  6. In previous years Dungarvan trialled their seasonal beers for the following year (Comeragh Challenger and Mahon Falls). Cormac brought six variants with him, including a Saison, Amber Ale, Mild, session DIPA, Wit IPA and an IPA. I  still don’t know which or if any are scheduled for release  in 2014.
  7. Every time the show the All-Ireland Hurling Final On festival Sunday, it ends in a draw.
  8. In past years people flocked to the White Gypsy stand to imbibe on the stronger beers available. However, I don’t know what is happening down in Templemore as a string of very fine session beers turned up at this year’s festival.
  9. Did every band at the festival do a cover of The Lumineers’ Ho Hey? Don’t get me started about the Johnny Cash covers!
  10. Two barley wines at the festival and two were duly sampled. I know barley wines are known for their port/sherry like comparisons but I’m not going to go into how one was sweet (Porterhouse) and one was dry (O’Hara’s). That’s just going too far!
  11. Putting the newer breweries in one corner (although Brú was across the way) grouped in one corner was a great way of concentrating interest in them. One thing noticed is that the newer breweries have fantastic branding and T-shorts for sale (in the past this sort of behaviour was confined to Metalman and the Porterhouse).
  12. Beers to look out for include Eight Degrees’ Amber Ella (might give Howling Gale Ale a run for its money in the popularity stakes), Kinsale Pale Ale (a great beer to show to festival novices that Ireland can match Sierra Nevada et al), Mountain Man’s Hairy Goat (nice copper ale for the autumn) and hopefully Five Lamps will release the darker version of their Liberties Ale (they have a lager so why put out a golden ale?).
The fantastic branding from some of the newer breweries at the festival

 

Launch of The Good Craft Brewery Guide: Ireland

Launched at the All-Ireland Craft Beer Festival was The Good Craft Brewery Guide: Ireland by Tim O’Rourke. It provides an introduction to twenty-four breweries and their brews. Now before I go any further, Franciscan Well is included and I know that some would object to its inclusion but it is an indication of the fast changing world of brewing in Ireland and the lack of an agreed Irish definition for “craft” beer. More importantly it is reflective of Tim’s recent activities in Ireland as he is training unemployed people to be brewers though the Taste 4 Success Skillnet (he is currently running a course in Cork this week) and trying to get them placements in working breweries or encouraging them to start their own.

In researching this book he attempted to visit all operational breweries in a short space of time, it is perhaps unfortunate that some of “the breweries coming to a town near you soon” have already launched such as Kinsale Craft Brewery and Mountain Man Brewing. It is not a trawl of the wealth of information on the Beoir website. For those that frequent there, they would have more up-to-date information on specifi breweries (e.g. Red Hand and Baile Brew). This shows why  the more information out there on Irish brewers the better, especially for tourists. Resources such as this books shared light on these new and forthcoming breweries and provides addresses and other contact information. Given some of the more unique names of breweries here (e.g. White Gypsy, Bo Bristle, 9 White Deer etc) it can be tricky for the uninitiated to locate them.

Now those who know Tim, he has a wealth of information on brewing and breweries. Not only has he had over 40 years of experience in brewing for some of the biggest breweries in Britain and consulting for a number of start-up breweries around the world, he is also a brewing educator. He has trained countless brewers through the Institute of Brewing and Distilling (UK). He led the Great Baltic Adventure, doing what Pete Brown did for the IPA, by seeing a new  resurgence in Imperial Stouts in the UK (it was on this journey that the Black Sheep’s Imperial Russian Stout was first developed).

While this short book may not go into breweries in serious detail (what can you you expect in publication of 50 odd pages), its target market is those interested in finding out about Irish breweries and their beers. Tim brings his ability to broaden the knowledge of beer amongst non-technical people to bear in this book. This is best seen in the highly visual and easy to understand reviews of the various offerings from each brewery profiled. Each beer is ranked according to five characteristics: malty, roast, bitterness, aroma, fruity and colour. Perhaps bars and off-licences will find this useful to educate customers about the beers for sale.

The Good Craft Brewery Guide can be purchased online at www.beoir.ie (€2 discount for members) or at www.beerireland.ie for €10 plus p&p. For further information email Tim O’Rourke on tim@brilliantbeer.com or call Sarah Roarty on 086 0450111.

Have a picnic at a beer festival instead

Forget the Electric Picnic, the festival to be at the end of the summer is the Irish Craft Beer and Cider Festival. Continuing in its early September slot in the RDS for the third year, this edition promises to be bigger and better.


The festival got a bump in attendees in 2012, thanks to the weather and benefitting from the first Leinster home match of the season (supporters could benefit from 50% reduction in admission on presentation of match ticket). Nonetheless the organisers are determined to give it a go. Tis year’s festival is now a four-day affair. Gone are the three-day passes but Beoir members can benefit from discounted entry. There is also greater equilibrium in the beer festival calendar as beer festival took place a couple of weeks before the inaugural festival in 2011 and last year it was the weekend immediately following last year’s one. I wasn’t particularly complaining because needless to say I attended both (gutted to have missed the Secret Beer Garden 2013 in its new May slot).

The festival had a quiet start in 2011 and as all regular festivals needed time to grow in its surroundings. Noticeable improvements in terms of general attendee experience could be seen last year. This includes TVs to watch the important matches of the weekend (i.e. Ireland v Sweden and the All Ireland final) as well as the main stage being in the centre of the room as opposed to be at the end of the hall this first year. However, the key reason for being there is to enjoy the range of beers and ciders on offer and thankfully the opening hours have been revisited (Thursday 5pm-11.30pm, Friday & Saturday 12pm-12.30am, and Sunday 12pm-8pm). The later closing times are fantastic, particularly those who might be combining it with the football match nearby on Friday.

The festival allows attendees to get up close and personal with the breweries themselves. Unlike the in the IFSC, breweries operate stalls offering their wares. There are a number of first time debutants such as Donegal Brewing Co., Kinnegar, Kinsale Craft Brewing, Mountain Man, Five Lamps and newly launched Brú Brewing from Meath. It’s great to see Galway Hooker back at the festival after missing last year’s, bringing with them a range of beers that are nigh on impossible to imbibe outside of city of the tribes. J.W. Sweetman will be there under their new name, ownership and brewing skills. In 2011, my beer of the festival was Barrelhead contract brewed by Fransican Well for the guys behind Sweetman’s today and I can’t wait to try it once more.

Besides the array of fantastic stouts and porters, there will be a number of golden, pale, brown and amber ales. I am particularly looking forward to trying the range from Kinnegar (they were excellent when tried in bottles last June), Mountain Man’s Hairy Goat and Kinsale’s Pale Ale complete with hop randall in tow. Hopheads wont be disappointed this year with the Eight Degrees “hop off” contenders Cyclone and Hurricane putting in appearance, as well as Amber Ella made with the with aussie hop of the same name (used to be called stella but for some reason had to be changed). It will be interesting to get the opportunity to try the Franciscan Well’s IPA as well as Whitewater’s Hoppelhammer IPA because I’ve heard good things about the cask version.

Like all beer festivals, there will be a range of “special” brews. It’s great getting the opportunity to have first tastes of brews that may or not be put into wider production or based on feedback relieved they might be altered in future brews. Dungarvan will be bringing brews that will offer an insight into Cormac’s thinking of forthcoming brews. In 2011, they brought what was to become Comeragh Challenger and last year we got to try Mahon Falls then under thr imaginative name of Rye-PA. Alternatively festival specials might be brewed with unique adjuncts because of either the growing popularity of these beers or simply for the craic. The Metalman crew have done this in the past. This year we’ll see O’Hara’s Curim with peach as well as with mango and honey. Whitewater will be bringing Bee’s Endeavour, an ale with honey and root ginger. Let’s not forget that Trouble Brewing will once more be providing a scaled up version of the brew that scooped overall prize at the 2013 All Ireland Homebrew Competition, an oatmeal stout called Ormeau Dark. There will be also two collaboration brews at the festival the first being Troubled Hooker (can you guess the breweries involved?) the second one will be a Belgian-dubbel style from JW Sweetmans and O’Hara’s. Hopefully White Gypsy will be bring theirs and a side-by-side test could be done. There will be a noticeable increase in abv of the beers and offer and the accolade for the strongest on offer goes to the Porterhouse’s Louder. O’Hara’s will also have a barley wine. That’s two Irish barley wines at the same festival. Two! There were none last year.

For lager drinkers (much maligned by beer aficionados), there will be more choice over previous years. No longer will Dingle’s Tom Creans, Carrig lager and a couple from the Porterhouse. Brú will bring both a German-style pilsner and a Dortmunder, and people can get their malty lager fix from the Five Lamps. O’Hara’s bar will feature their Helles interpretation. The festival will show that lagers are not solely pale yellow thirst-quenchers and there is quite some depth to the cold fermented brews. Look to the amber lagers on offer from Whitewater’s Bullrush (no Belfast Lager this year) and the excellent sorachi ace-infused Sahara from Metalman. For those attending the festival with lager drinkers, why not introduce them to the range of Kölsch and other golden ales as a transition beer?

Finally, a lot of discussion has taken place online about the presence of Franciscan Well at the “craft” beer festival following their takeover by Molson Coors. For example, its beers have already been removed from the Beoir Finder app. This is an issue that will run and run until there’s an agreed definition for “craft” beer in an Irish context (or do we need one?). Alex aka @TheBeermack has a good overview of the debate on the presence of the Cork brewery at the festival and suggests that the festival might look at future years branding itself as “The Great Irish Beer and Cider Festival”. This would be inline with both its counterparts in the UK and the US where independent and large breweries participate and leave it to attendees to make up their minds. Although in the case of the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) with its focus on real ale, you wont see the likes of Brewdog, Kernel or Magic Rock participating. People will “nit-pick” until this issue is sorted but others may equally take umbrage over the presence of international offerings from Kentucky and Sierra Nevada at an “Irish” festival. There were rumblings at the GBBF over the increased presence of international beers and that they were taking attention away from the indigenous offerings. I certainly think it would be great to have additional beers from overseas at the festival because it could help boost international visitors to the festival (CAMRA and other EBCU-affiliated members get discounted admissions). Perhaps one year we may see Irish brewer’s Fergus Fitzgerald (Adnams) and Evin O’Riordain (Kernel) bring their brews to the festival. Sadly it was a missed opportunity this year during “The Gathering”.

All in all it promises to be a fantastic weekend in store for attendees. Apparently there will be ciders and whiskey as well but they’re really not my thing (at the moment) and perhaps an education will be required so if any one out there has the patience to teach me about them, get in touch.