I was glad to be able to drink a few beers last night and also to have recovered my sense of smell. It’s incredible how much you can’t taste when you’re bunged up! Sean Colohan gave his brother David a bottle of Limerick’s Treaty City Harris Pale Ale for me to try. It’s named after Richard Harris who hailed from that part of the world, apparently he liked a drink. It’s a pretty malty Pale Ale. The label indicates that it goes well with spicy food and I had it with pepperoni pizza. I was getting some bubblegum flavours from it though and that kind of threw it off for me. It’s not something I’d expect in a Pale Ale. Have you tried it? What did you think?
In the wake of last weeks preliminary post about Metalman’s exciting launch of the first proper Irish beer in cans I was happy to be able to pick some up in my local O’Brien’s. Of course I’ve had this beer before on draught and from a growler. The good news is that it tastes just as fantastically fresh from a can! You need this in your life. It’s a modern day Irish classic Pale Ale.
Marcus Robinson of Reel Deel Brewery fame gave Liam Tutty a bottle of Jack The Lad IPA to pass on to me. Obviously free samples have absolutely no bearing on my honest opinion. But still it’s nice to get the odd one as I spend a fair amount on beer as it is. The minute I popped the cap off I got that glorious hoppy aroma that’s one of my favourite smells. I passed it under the nose of my non beer drinking spouse and she remarked ‘that’s pretty hoppy!’ The taste lived up to my expectations. It’s delicious and at 4.5% perfectly sessionable. There’s plenty of citrussy bitterness to keep you interested and it’s well balanced with malt and some wheat. The only pity was that I didn’t have any Cashel Blue in the fridge to accompany it. I believe that’s what they call a ‘First World Problem’. Irish Blond is now available in two of the pubs I frequent (The Malt House, Athlone and Don’s Bar, Moate) and I hope that Jack The Lad will be keeping her company soon. Keep an eye out for him. Sláinte!