Favourite Irish Ale

[belfastbrewer]

Looking for some advice on best Irish Ales out there.  Im currently in Belfast but travel to all corners of Ireland and want to try best ales out there.  Information on where to find such ales would also be helpful

Many Thanks

Conor

[irish_goat]

What kind do you like? Dark, red, pale, stout, wheat?

My favourites would include;

Clotworthy Dobbin (porter)
O'Hara's IPA
Dungarvan Helvick Gold (blonde)
Leann Follain (extra stout)
Metalman Pale Ale (only on draught)

You'll get most of those in any good off license. I think the Vineyard in Belfast might do them. If not, Drinkstore in Dublin city is a great place to visit. 

[christhebrewer]

It's between O'Hara's pale and Metalman for me, with Porterhouse Hophead up there too. Metalman when it's fresh is just wonderfull.

[DEMPSEY]

Galway hooker is my go to beer. Metalman is also one of my likes. For stout I like porterhouse plain as a good standard stout and Leann follain for a high strength stout.

[Eoin]

Porterhouse Celebration. It's an imperial stout,  but it's delicious.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

[Bubbles]

Clotworthy Dobbin (porter)
O'Hara's IPA
Dungarvan Helvick Gold (blonde)
Leann Follain (extra stout)
Metalman Pale Ale (only on draught)

Love all of these. I'd also add the Franciscan Well's Friar Weisse to the list - a nice spicy example of the hefe style.

[irish_goat]

Too much banana in Friar Weisse for me, I prefer clove-ier, à la Schneider Weisse, but it is a good example of the style.

[Bubbles]

To be honest, even though I always enjoy a pint of it, I do find it a bit inconsistent. Sometimes it does get a bit banana-bomb. Most of the time, it's more balanced with those phenolics that I like.

I remember having a pint of Friar at the RDS in 2011 and it was like sucking on clove drops.

[belfastbrewer]

heard alot about Galway hooker, look forward to trying alot of these on Friday, hopefully half pints are an option

I live near the Hilden Festival in Lisburn/Belfast and their Twisted Hop has won a national award

Another northern one I like is InishMAc saint

Im really into light IPAs that have an fruity undertone to it.  Einstock and Little Creatures are two of my current favourites

[irish_goat]

heard alot about Galway hooker, look forward to trying alot of these on Friday, hopefully half pints are an option

Half pints are certainly an option and it's definitely best to stick to them. A lot of the time they'll end up giving you more than a half pint in your glass as well.

[belfastbrewer]

was at the hilden festival last week Irish_Goat and you certainly get about 3/4 of a pint especially if its from the pump it seems, good smart move me thinks

Some beers will be affected by the previous beer, some more than others.  When I do Ale nights I make sure to have water and crackers about to take away the flavours left in the mouth.  I'll be the guy walking about with a bag of Jacobs cream crackers on Friday

[irish_goat]

There are "rinse stations" in the RDS where you can wash your glass out. I usually take a few gulps of water as well to wash my mouth and  stop myself getting too drunk.

[Metattron]

Metalman Pale is my go to.  But if Franciscan Well bring up a keg of Barrelhead I may be stuck for a while.  Where did you get the Einstock btw?

[irish_goat]

Metalman Pale is my go to.  But if Franciscan Well bring up a keg of Barrelhead I may be stuck for a while.  Where did you get the Einstock btw?

Barrelhead is made by Rob who now works for J.W. Sweetman's. It's their house pale ale at the minute.

[Metattron]

Sweeeeet!