Favourite Irish Ale

[belfastbrewer]

Was impressed by Galway Hooker but White Gypsy and Kinsale ale were my favourites

The pump with the fresh hops in it was something else, a future xmas present to myself me thinks

Good meetign you irish_goat, send me any details on the Derry meetups as might drive up for the craic

[Hop Bomb]

There was some pretty bad beers at the RDS. Some good ones but nothing amazing. Some of these brewers should start going to home brew meetings so they can get schooled on flaws & off flavours.
Is it any wonder that some Irish micros are produce sub standard beer, charge a premium & get away with it.

And O HARAS "session DIPA" ? Has the black IPA oxymoron just opened the door to stupid styles that make no sense? Its not even worthy of a single IPA tag. People are stupid & will actually buy anything.

Hopefully all this growth & interest in the sector will produce some gold & weed out the useless sh!tes that should never have bothered.

Too much coffee. Rant over 

[irish_goat]

And O HARAS "session DIPA" ? Has the black IPA oxymoron just opened the door to stupid styles that make no sense? Its not even worthy of a single IPA tag. People are stupid & will actually buy anything.

That was Dungarvan's. I think what they intented was all the bitterness of a DIPA at session strength. How would you sell it?

[Hop Bomb]

It was a DIPA from O Haras I had. Im getting the session thing mixed up from the Dungarvan stand. I just thought it funny that on one side of the room you had a DIPA from O Haras which isnt hoppy at all even by (my own) single IPA standards, & then you have Sierra across the room with an actual DIPA. I know Im being pedantic & both breweries are worlds apart but if you look to the US scene for styles to mimic at least do some research on the recipes & hop loads. Dont just use the style name for your beer so people will buy it & end up like me being disappointed.

I dont want to seem all negative, I did have some good beers (that moonbeam on cask you poured me was beautiful).

[LordEoin]

My favourite Irish Ales at the moment have to be Black's Kinsale Pale Ale and Metalman Pale Ale.
The two of them give me beer-wood!

[mr hoppy]

+1 to Kinsale, definitely the hoppiest Irish brew around, in a good way.

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

Was back in Galway for a wedding and got to sample the taps at the Salt House.

Started with Metalman Pale, everything being said about that here is true, great well hopped pale.

Trouble Brewing had an Oatmeal Stout on that I liked, and their IPA was malt forward, reminding me a lot of west coast IPAs. Both great beers. The had a spread of the Galway Bay Brewery beers that I liked, but my palate was a bit wiped at that stage.

Special mention to the Whitewater Hoppelhammer IPA, which was on CASK, though I suspect it was a cask hand pump, but a keg feed.

Later in the week, picked up some special stuff in an offy.
Got to try White Gypsy American Pale (at IPA strength). Excellent beer. If I had more time in the week, I would have picked up the Dopplebock too.

8 Points Sunburnt irish red was really good too, and I liked it more than the O Haras Red that I sampled at the same time.

[irish_goat]

Special mention to the Whitewater Hoppelhammer IPA, which was on CASK, though I suspect it was a cask hand pump, but a keg feed.

Eh?

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

@irish_goat

They had the hoppelhammer on an english style cask hand pull.

When it was pulled, it was pulled in an odd way - the lever did not seem to inject air from the pulling action. I suspect it was kegged, or there was some odd setup going on.

[Eoin]

@irish_goat

They had the hoppelhammer on an english style cask hand pull.

When it was pulled, it was pulled in an odd way - the lever did not seem to inject air from the pulling action. I suspect it was kegged, or there was some odd setup going on.

So not pumped like a cask would be? Filling a pint with hand pump can take two pulls.

Sent using a complex system of semaphore and ninjas.

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

Eoin/Il Tubo

It took 2-3 hand pumps to fill the glass but they were slowly pumped. The server may not be used to them (distinct possibility - its the first cask pump I have seen in Ireland). It may also be one of the first pulls of the cask (it was early and quiet in there).

I am also used to the tang of a bad cask thats been on over 3 days in a quiet boozer midweek. Casked ale is a lovely thing when its done right, but it is a bit of a risk in an Irish pub. However the Salt House is one of the real go to places if you want proper beer in Galway (4 IPAs on tap), so maybe they can clear it in the evenings.

I must actually get in touch with them about it. Was well happy to spend the afternoon there.

[Jonnycheech]

O'Hara's IPA is my number 1 but I really enjoyed the Kinsale Pale Ale at the RDS; looking forward to trying this when it gets to Dublin.

[Eoin]

Funny you should say the tang of a bad cask that's been on a few days. The locals would normally say that's when it's hitting it's stride. Double it to 6 days and it's well on the way out.

Sent using a complex system of semaphore and ninjas.

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

Funny you should say the tang of a bad cask that's been on a few days. The locals would normally say that's when it's hitting it's stride. Double it to 6 days and it's well on the way out.

I think your locals are not my locals!