The manager of Cooper’s Craft Beer Pub and Kitchen in New York just happens to be an Athlonian. Despite the fact that Athlone isn’t exactly a spawling metropolis myself and David had never met and he contacted me through the (sometimes) wonderful medium of Facebook in January. He promised to bring a few special beers with him on his next trip home and he definitely didn’t disappoint.
David is a friend of Justin’s and Justin is the main man in Naughton’s Bar so we arranged to meet there. Some of the crew from O’Brien’s Off Licence and their partners also stopped by. I was early and had a Dungarvan’s Helvick Gold to start my evening.
We began the tasting with Stone Enjoy by 20/04/14. This double IPA is made to be consumed as fresh as possible. David reckoned it was bottled about three weeks earlier and that was plenty fresh enough for us! It had a great floral hoppy aroma but it didn’t bludgeon your tastebuds with hops the way some hop forward beers can. Fantastic brew.
Next we had Rueuze from The Bruery who specialise in Belgian style beers. It’s a sour beer which is a bit of a rarity in this country. It smells like very ripe fruit and it’s made with wild yeast. Despite what you may think this is a perfect beer for a nice Spring afternoon.
Dogfish 120 minute IPA is the stuff of legends. It’s only produced once a year as it’s very expensive to brew. The beer is continuously hopped for two hours. It’s about 20% so sharing it between six of us was probably wise. I’d say it’s like a hoppy brandy but that would be selling it short.
Last but by no means least we had the Founder’s KBS or Kentucky Breakfast Stout. The first thing that hit me was the rich coffee aroma. It’s warm and smooth after being aged for a full year in bourbon barrels. Beautiful beer.
I’d like to thank David for bringing the great beers and Justin for being a very welcoming host. David is back in July and we’re already making plans for it!