This evening I have been comparing classic American Pale Ales. First up was Odell’s 5 Barrel Pale Ale, that’s the one I have poured in the picture above. They’ve added hops several times during the brewing process and you can taste it. It’s fresh and piney but not in a car air freshener kind of way! The Flying Dog’s Doggie Style has their trademark ‘shocking’ name and distinctive Hunter Thompsonesque bottle artwork but sadly you can’t drink either of those. It’s a little smoother than the 5 Barrel and you could drink a lot worse on a night out…. BUT I’m gonna have to say the 5 Barrel is the better beer!
Beer fit for a King!
Wychwood’s King Goblin is a fine offering from the brewery that brought the world Hobgoblin. Do you know the way that Obama (and everyone else who has ever visited these fair shores) was given a pint of the black stuff? Well if you’re a visiting dignatary in the land of Eng they may gift you a bottle of this fantastic beer. It’s a beautiful amber colour, it has a great balance of hops and maltiness and there are some banana and pear flavours in there… Perfect for supping beside the fire on a dark Autumn night!
A pair of pilsner pretenders…
Ok, ok, I have an unhealthy alliteration addiction. Sue me! This duo are both from Scottish rebels Brew Dog. The Fake Lager is a traditional style bohemian pilsner. It has more maltiness than I’ve come to expect from Brew Dog. It’s still a hell of a lot more interesting than your average pilsner. Dog Wired is made in collaboration with New Zealand’s 8-Wired Brewery. It’s an imperial pilsner and not surprisingly it’s a good bit stronger at 6.8% to Fake Lager’s 4.7%. It’s also way hoppier with Nelson Sauvin and Motueka hops in the mix. There is some citrus fruitiness as well.There has been a lot of rhetoric written already about Brew Dog’s beers, not least on their labels, but if they keep making beer this good I think they should be let away with it! The Dog Wired is the better of the two for my money…
Irish Perfect Ale
Whitewater’s Hoppelhammer is of course a triple hopped India Pale Ale which is brewed in the Mourne Mountains. A friend recently enthused that it ‘…is bloody lovely! Best Irish Pale Ale I’ve ever had, so impressed.’ And you know what? He was right! Brief history lesson for any non beer buffs: India Pale Ale came into being out of necessity when extra hops were added to beer to help it stay fresh on the long sea journey from England to India during the 19th century. Soon the English developed a taste for this hoppier Ale and it has since become a very popular style among microbreweries in America and now here in Ireland! So back to where we started, Hoppelhammer has plenty of hops as the name would suggest and slight fruitiness too, this combination makes it a very enjoyable ale.