The first virtual session of 2021 happened on January 29th and was of course hosted by Craic Beer Community who have been a real lifeline for the Covid lockdowns.
Here are some thoughts on some of the beers in the January beer box.
First up was a beer from Hope Brewing which was actually a collaboration with Brian from Craic Beer Community. Miroslav Gose is a 4.5% gose with salt and coriander added. Lots of zesty lime from the coriander or perhaps yeast despite there not being any fruit additions.
A touch of salt but not as salty as many a gose I’ve had. Tart, bordering on sour. Like a limey, salty saison with a lingering, dry citrus finish. It was a great way to kick off the evening as it opened up my palate and left me ready for anything.
I was rather shocked to realise that I’ve never actually written anything about Larkin’s IPA on the blog? I suppose I just drink so much of it I just assumed I already had. At 6.5% this is your perfect IPA in terms of alcohol. It has a great big body and lots of hops. While it seems like a NEIPA, it’s certainly not. It has a very bitter finish. There’s some grapefruit yes but that green, dry hop character is really at the front here. It’s an absolutely fantastic beer, with a bitter but juicy finish. I mean honestly, I can’t wait to get back to the pub and have some pints of it again.
Pixel Barrel 4 from Canvas Brewing is 6 % amber IPA which was aged for over two years in a red wine barrel. Plenty of brett characteristics with a slightly chalky texture. It’s a little tart but also vinous, very much a red wine feel. Some vanilla and tannins from the wood. There’s a whiff of Rodenbach off this but of course it’s far more bitter than a typical Flanders Red.
Off to my local brewery now, Rascals being the other side of the Phoenix park from me. I can walk there in a bit over an hour or cycle there in about 20 minutes or less.
Rascals Breakfast of Champions is a 6.1% oatmeal stout with coffee from Imbibe.
The texture is creamy with a big dark chocolate and coffee flavour. Probably the best coffee stout I can recall if I’m honest. The finish is milky coffee with a hint of something slightly spicy, almost as if it saw a chilli addition or perhaps just something peppery from the yeast or hop addition. Either way, it’s lovely, more of that please and I really do need to try and get some Imbibe coffee beans.
Dead Centre in Athone is never one to miss out on a Craic beer box, probably because their Beer Cloud service supplies the box but this one is another collaboration with Craic Beer Community.
Augustus Scoop is a 10% Imperial brown ale. Up front there’s a lot of alcohol, there’s no mistaking the ABV here. The base beer is malt intensive. Plenty of vanilla and it’s all absolutely lovely but a little young, a bit of aging might be nice with this one. No chance of that as it’s basically a one off.
Cheers again to Craic Beer Community and all the breweries that come on to the zoom sessions to talk about the beer. This is just 5 of the 12 beers in the box, 6 of which were opened on the night. The missing beer is Brehon Just Because DIPA which I’ll talk about in the next post along with some other Brehon beers.
