Spooky greetings!

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Sláinte Competition!

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Who’d like a copy of Sláinte?  Why should I give it to you?  Best answer wins. 
Terms and conditions apply:
I’ve got to be able to afford the postage! 
This isn’t associated with anyone else,  I’ve just got two copies!

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Autumnal hue for an Autumnal brew

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Sierra Nevada’s Flipside Red IPA is one of their seasonal specials. I had it right after a Brewdog 5am Saint and it kept up the rich amber theme and amplified it with more citrussy hops and a nice dollop of maltiness. A fantastic beer for this time of year, it’s available in your nearest good off licence now. Sláinte!

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Simon’s Pumpkin Ale’s : not a guest post!

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Trouble’s Pumpkin Brew is the only Irish Pumpkin Ale at the moment * and it’s one of the few that have escaped the clutches of my arch nemesis** Sean Lightholder. I’ll never know how he hacked into my wordpress! This beer has been dubbed ‘the worst idea in the history of bad ideas’ in some circles. I’d like to disagree with that statement. Like many other fine things in this life Pumpkin Ale is an acquired taste. I’m not saying there aren’t any bad ones but Trouble’s isn’t one of them. Last year I had it on draught in The Bull and Castle. This year I picked up a few bottles in O’Brien’s Off Licence, Athlone.   I had it with a smore surprise. 

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I have to say it was a winning combination, the sweetness of the marshmallows was tempered by the spice in the beer. Try it if you haven’t yet. You might even like it!

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I’ve already mentioned Kentucky’s seasonal Pumpkin Barrel Ale which I had at the launch of next year’s Alltech Craft Beer Fair. As I said it smells like pumpkin pie but it’s deceptively strong at 10%. Again I recommend giving it a try, it won’t be around forever. Sláinte!

* Kinnegar are making a Christmas beer which will have pumpkin in it.
** He’s not REALLY my arch nemesis.

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Sean Lightholder’s Pumpkin Ales: Guest Post – Unita

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Nineteenth in the series of 2014 pumpkin beer is Uinta’s Punk’n Harvest Pumpkin Ale.
A very promising waft of harvest spice greets the drinker of this beer. Initially, a smooth
malt character greets the palate, but then a sharp unpleasant flavor interrupts the
experience. The second sip was much the same: smells great, starts great, and then
goes wrong.
I made my way through the whole bottle of this beer quizzically trying to figure out how it
starts so well and ends so badly. I could not figure it out: is that sourness? Soap? Faint
burned flavor? The aroma is right on and the initial taste is fantastic…perhaps the
distributer left the six­pack I bought out in the sun.
This would be a good beer to drink if you could enjoy only the first 1­2 seconds (before
the unpleasant flavors take hold). Disappointing.

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