What beer are we drinking this week, too?

Lovely Bloke

I think the recipes may be slightly tweaked.

Interestingly, I've also taken part in a stout blind taste test recently.

It had Guinness ES, Whitewater Belfast Black, Lidl Stout and Homebrew.

The Guinness came bottom, homebrew third, Belfast second and Lidl first.

I immediately recognised the metallic smell from the Guinness, which influenced my voting, but nobody else in the group of 5 got it.

I noted the Belfast as a "Irish craft stout", was convinced it was Dungarvan. The Lidl one had me perplexed, it doesn't have that harsh bitter/roast flavour, instead it is more chocolately and smooth.

***********************

Saison has weird flavours, but I do like sours.

BaZmO*

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

Saison has weird flavours, but I do like sours.

Some do, some don't. It depends on what you define as "weird".

I suppose you could call Saisons an acquired taste. Just like some people and "hoppy beers", takes a while to get used to them.

matrim

BaZmO* wrote: »

Some do, some don't. It depends on what you define as "weird".

I suppose you could call Saisons an acquired taste. Just like some people and "hoppy beers", takes a while to get used to them.

I only find Saisons / Farmhouse ales drinkable and don't get why some people rave about them so much. There's just something in the flavour that I don't find really appealing

lk67

badabing106 wrote: »

Crafty brewing company stout in lidl

Ghastly stuff, wouldn't wash my dog with it

I actually thought it was ok, and good value too. Preferred it - and thought it different - to Solas but like the O'Sheas best out of all of the budget ranges.

But my next beer tasting night is a blind tasting of all the budget and macro stouts, plus a couple of outsiders.

PropJoe10

Ruben Remus wrote: »

Just out of curiosity, can anyone here tell me if this is the same beer as the Solas stout which is also made by Rye River and sold cheaply in Tesco?

I recently did a blind taste test of four Irish stouts that are very similar in ABV. It was a fun experiment. In order of preference, I ranked them as follows:

1) Galway Hooker stout
2) O'Shea's Irish stout
3) Solas stout
4) Bru Dubh

The O'Shea's and Bru Dubh stouts are alright, havent tried the Galway Hooker, but that Solas stout was rank, I thought. Watery, pointless crap masquerading as craft beer.

Ruben Remus

PropJoe10 wrote: »

The O'Shea's and Bru Dubh stouts are alright, havent tried the Galway Hooker, but that Solas stout was rank, I thought. Watery, pointless crap masquerading as craft beer.

It's all about personal preference, obviously. I didn't love Solas stout but I thought it was quite interesting - I noticed some toffee, and slightly sour, flavours in it. Bru Dubh had an almost burnt bitterness that made it my least favourite of the bunch.

I would definitely recommend blind taste tests, though. When tasting beers of the same style, side-by-side, you tend to notice a lot more than you would otherwise.

Lovely Bloke

Speaking of porters, I'm sitting in Sweetman's having one of theirs.

It's really a very good drink, if only it wasn't served so cold

Insect Overlord

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

Speaking of porters, I'm sitting in Sweetman's having one of theirs.

It's really a very good drink, if only it wasn't served so cold

Looking forward to a pint of the same stuff this weekend! I should be able to pop in straight off the bus. A lovely drink.

Ipso

HopsAndJumps wrote: »

Pale ale, IPA & little sumpin.

I never had their Pale Ale, must check it out. When is the owner coming to Dublin?

Ronan|Raven

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

Speaking of porters, I'm sitting in Sweetman's having one of theirs.

It's really a very good drink, if only it wasn't served so cold

Had a pint of it on Saturday. Same complaint in that it is served way too cold.

Lovely Bloke

Liquid Mistress has a sherbet thing going on. It's quite nice.

Insect Overlord

Wicklow Wolf dry hopped India Pale Ale is only gorgeous.

Lovely Bloke

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

Liquid Mistress has a sherbet thing going on. It's quite nice.

I'm going to have to get a second

ben.schlomo

PropJoe10 wrote: »

The O'Shea's and Bru Dubh stouts are alright, havent tried the Galway Hooker, but that Solas stout was rank, I thought. Watery, pointless crap masquerading as craft beer.

Hooker Stout is delightful, theres a vanilla sweetness and hint of toastyness too, its been on tap in Neachtains in Galway masquerading as 'Bonaparte Stout' for a couple of years, great to see it available in bottles now.

Red Wolf

An File wrote: »

Wicklow Wolf dry hopped India Pale Ale is only gorgeous.

Found it a bit lacking myself. That being said if the price is right I'd probably get a bottle again.

BaZmO*

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

Liquid Mistress has a sherbet thing going on. It's quite nice.

I thought LM and Soundwave were top notch. The best of the four beers I tried from Siren.

listermint

Had trouble brewing pumpkin brew.

Found out I do not like pumpkins. Not for me. Will not purchase again .

Lovely Bloke

Where did you get it and how old was it?

listermint

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

Where did you get it and how old was it?

Drinkstore. No idea.? Was it a special

BaZmO*

listermint wrote: »

Drinkstore. No idea.? Was it a special

Pumpkin Ales normally mean Halloween special.

listermint

BaZmO* wrote: »

Pumpkin Ales normally mean Halloween special.

Yes thought bout that but it was front nd centre on shelf so I thought perhaps this isn't seasonal. No idea must look for bottle

jsa112

Pumpkin beers are always crap to be fair, doesn't matter how old they are

white hag's bog ale is rather weird, a red ale that tastes more like a dubbel

Grayditch

Trouble Brewing Pumpkin Ale was the only Pumpkin beer I've ever liked.

drumswan

Helps if you like pumpkin! I enjoyed this year's

glorified g

Tried Shipyard Pumpkin Ale last year when I was working in a "liquor store" in Boston and it was beautiful. Couldn't believe how much I liked it. Wish I could get it here!

Insect Overlord

Red Wolf wrote: »

Found it a bit lacking myself. That being said if the price is right I'd probably get a bottle again.

I paid €3.99 for the bottle, but only because I hadn't tried it before.

Thought it had a lot more going on than the similar Rocket Ship IPA from Blacks of Kinsale, which I tried last night.

Both quite nice, but Wicklow won out for me this week.

HopsAndJumps

America goes nuts for pumpkins at Halloween, its all marketing. We need food to sell at Halloween so there is pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin doughnuts, pumpkin fecking eye drops.

The breweries jumped on the bandwagon.

I think that pumpkin was that nice they would be available all year round.

the beer revolu

HopsAndJumps wrote: »

America goes nuts for pumpkins at Halloween, its all marketing. We need food to sell at Halloween so there is pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin doughnuts, pumpkin fecking eye drops.

The breweries jumped on the bandwagon.

I think that pumpkin was that nice they would be available all year round.

IT's the pumpkin pie spices in any one I've tried that really give the flavour.
I don't think the pumpkin itself gives a lot of flavour to the beer.

I've never had one that I've liked.

HopsAndJumps

Ipso wrote: »

I never had their Pale Ale, must check it out. When is the owner coming to Dublin?

I hear its around the 12th, more info should be known soon!

snowblind

Lagunitas Little Sumpin Sumpin. Hop flavour almost nonexistent. Miles away from the draught I had in London a year ago. Prime example of the need for freshness IMO.

Mo date on the bottle, unfortunately. I'll try a bottle for comparison when I'm in the states in two weeks :P