Brown Paper Bag Project

There's been a distinct lack of Irish beer reviewed on this blog, mainly due to the fact that there hasn't been much Irish beer I've found interesting enough to bother writing about. Sometimes it seems that Irish craft breweries spend their energy and creativity competing with the big breweries, and making beer not much tastier or interesting. This has finally changed with the Brown Paper Bag Project. While at their own admission they're not technically a brewery (they don't brew their own beer) they are no strangers to the beer industry in Ireland, the owners also being the owners of L.Mulligan Grocer and W.J Kavanagh, two of Dublin's finest pubs for people looking for good beer.
The first beer they released is a 7.4% single hop Belgian style ale called Dr.Rudi, named for the variety of hop used. Nothing like this has been released by an Irish based company before, and it's a fantastic beer. The bitterness of the hops played nicely with the fruitiness of the belgian yeast and also brought an earthy spiciness to the beer. An amazing start. The newest release is a 5.8% brown ale, a description which isn't all that exciting to be honest, but as soon as I opened it, i knew it was going to be something special. Eschewing  the usual blandness of a british style brown ale, this is a hugely bitter, very dry take on the style, with dark chocolate and coffee in the aroma, and an almost espresso like bitterness on the finish. Very complex at only 5.8%, and another brave move from such a new brewery, or 'Brewing Collective' as the Brown Paper Bag Project describe themselves. These beers wont be around long, so definitely get them whenever you get the chance, and hopefully the demand will encourage them to brew more. Cheers!

Duvel 8.5%

Duvel is one of those beers that can be an oasis in the desert of a bad off licence. So widely available, but great quality. A prime example of the tripel or belgian strong pale ale style, it's been around forever and its wide distribution helps keep the price very affordable. It pours a hazy straw colour, and produces a frothy ice-white head. The aroma is spicy clove, with all the banana and bread aromas you'd expect from a classic belgian beer. The taste is much like the aroma, with the carbonation making it almost creamy. The dryness makes it very refreshing, and not too sickly sweet like many tripels. Special mention has to be given to the Duvel glass, which is quite simply the best beer glass on the market in my opinion, and what I drink most of my beers out of.

Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro

Left Hand's Milk Stout has now been available in Ireland for quite some time in it's original form, and it is a classic example of a milk stout. This however is a different animal, with Left Hand somehow managing to get nitrogen into the beer without using a widget. Nitrogen is used with some draught stouts to give a creamier mouthfeel, like draught Guinness for example. This blows Guinness out of the water however, with a creamy almost vanilla like sweetness, a full bodied mouthfeel and flavours of coffee and milk chocolate. The fun begins with the pour, with the bottle offering instructions to 'Pour Hard, Admire and Enjoy.'  The nitrogen in the bottle seemingly activated by a vigorous pour. Simply put, this is the perfect milk stout, and should appeal to both craft beer geeks and Guinness drinkers looking for more flavour.

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout 10%

Brooklyn 's Black Chocolate Stout was a definite eureka moment for me, as soon as I poured it I knew I was about to have my mind blown. While I have gone on to have bigger and better imperial stouts, there is few that can match this offering from Brooklyn, New York for value or availability. It weighs in at a hefty 10% ABV, so definitely not a session beer. It pours out inky black, with maybe a very slight hint of red towards the edge of the glass. On the nose, as expected, there's a big dark chocolate character, with warming alcohol. The taste again is all dark chocolate and bitter black coffee, which all comes from various varieties of malt, no chocolate or coffee is added to the brew. The alcohol is definitely present in the taste, but not in an obnoxious way.If you're looking to try your first imperial stout, i can't recommend this one highly enough.

Brewdog Hardcore IPA 9.2%

Lots of beer drinkers will get bitten by the craft beer bug after trying various Brewdog beers, such as their Punk IPA or their 5 A.M Saint, I know i was. But they do a lot more than session beers, such as this big boy. Its their take on an American Double/Imperial IPA, and hits the nail on the head. Depending on how fresh your bottle is, that is. A fresh bottle is a lovely floral, piney fruity beer, with the alcohol staying well hidden. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with a nice off-white head. These tend to sit on shelves however, so be wary of buying older bottles, because as with all hoppy beers, the hop character disappears over time, and what you can be left with is a sickly sweet, boozy mess. Not the most complex double IPA out there, but definitely worth picking up

Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye 6.6%

Ruthless Rye is a welcome addition the the excellent portfolio of beers from California's Sierra Nevada. Many people will have had their Pale Ale, which remains a classic example of the American Pale Ale style. Luckily for us, the ever growing size of Sierra Nevada has made their seasonal releases much easier to find, and can now be found in many mainstream off-licences, not just specialty beer retailers.
This is another IPA from Sierra Nevada, but the main difference with this one is, you guessed it, a hefty rye addition to the recipe. The rye serves to give the beer a spicy earthy backbone, which sits nicely alongside the dank whole-cone hop presence Sierra Nevada are famous for. Get it while you can, because once it's gone, you'll have to wait until next year. Cheers!

How to Drink Beer

I know what you're thinking, 'I already know how to drink beer.' If you're a beginner to craft beer, you might just be wrong. There are a few simple steps you can take to make your enjoyment of beer, and even good quality wine or spirits, so much better!
Step One:
Glassware
ALWAYS pour your beer into a glass. Even if it's not the correct style of glass for the style of beer, never drink it from the bottle or can. I prefer a tulip style glass, more specifically a Duvel glass, which is perfect for almost any style, because it's wide at the bottom but narrows towards the rim, to force aromas into your nose, where their supposed to go. No need to be pedantic about glassware though, just pour it into something.
Step Two:
Appearance
Put simply, does the beer look good to you. What colour is it? What kind of head does it produce? Can you see the carbonation streaming from the bottom of the glass. Is it clear or cloudy We drink with our eyes first.
Step Three:
Aroma
Stick your nose right into the glass. As I mentioned before, the correct glassware will help with this, but it's not essential, good beer will still smell good in the wrong glass. Start thinking about what aromas you can pick out, is it more malty or hoppy, is there an alcohol presence in the nose? This should give you a rough idea of what it should taste like.
Step Four:
Taste
Finally you get to taste the beer. No need for huge gulps like you would with a Heineken. Take your time, craft beer is to be savoured. Take a sip and let it coat the inside of your mouth. How does the taste match up to the aroma? What's the mouthfeel like? The mouthfeel of a beer can range from light bodied, such as a pilsner or hefeweizen, all the way to full bodied, such as an imperial stout or barleywine.

Follow these simple steps and you will soon find that you'll no longer simply like or not like the beer, but be able to explain your opinion either way, and perhaps appreciate styles you didn't before.
Cheers!

Brewdog Libertine Black Ale 7.2%

How long will it be until the term 'Black I.P.A' dies out? A black pale ale is surely a contradiction in terms. Name difficulties aside, it has become a very popular style as of late, with numerous breweries bringing out their take on this beer. One such offering is a newer Brewdog release, their Libertine Black Ale. Weighing in at 7.2% ABV it's a robust ale, not quite pitch-black as it's name would suggest, but rather a very dark brown, although it has the appearance in the glass of a traditional porter. My favourite aspect of this beer is how it confuses the brain. You expect big stout roastiness, but the aroma gives piney grapefruit notes, with some tropical fruit sweetness, with background notes of roasted malt and coffee. The style 'Black I.P.A' makes perfect sense as soon as you taste the beer, it sits right in the middle of a dry fruity I.P.A and a big roasty sweet stout, this is a very balanced beer. The medium to light mouthfeel makes it a very refreshing beer, and the alcohol is well hidden, dangerously so maybe. With Brewdog's recent expansion, this should become more readily available, although you should be able to find it in specialty off-licences and online. Highly Recommended.