“South Dublin Brewers” June Meet at The Dark Horse, Blackrock

Lovely beer and mighty craic in The Dark Horse last Monday night for the South Dublin Brewers June meet. There were a few brewers looking for ways to improve their beers. Beerfly offered a very tasty stout which he felt was a little light-bodied and slightly over-bittered. Shanna was looking for feedback on his lime-flavoured kit wheat beer which led to a discussion on the challenges of brewing with hefeweizen yeasts. JohnC warned us in advance that he was bringing an off beer and was looking for feedback on the cause of the off-flavour. The aroma gave it away and the verdict was unanimous: aceto-bacter. This bacteria is the same organism that produces vinegar.

Rossa brought along two interesting beers. The first was a session pale ale hopped with “Wai-iti”, a NZ hop varietal unfamiliar to most of us present. Only clocking in at 4% ABV, it still had lots of body and flavour. Rossa’s black IPA was a great example of the style; a nice blend of American hops and subtle roasted flavours. Brewtus offered a delicious porter which he based on Young’s London Porter and a fruity ESB. Bubbles left his Imperial IPA until last so as not to overwhelm the palates. Described by Rossa as “hop juice”, it was an intensely flavoured beer, hopped with no less than 6 American varieties.

There was upset and confusion on everyone’s faces as Bubbles placed two cans of Heineken on the table. However, the confusion turned to amusement as a cafetiére containing Cascade hops was produced. The Cascade hops were duly steeped in the lager for about ten minutes before everyone had a taste. There was a promising American hop aroma from the glass but sadly, the flavour didn’t match the aroma at all. The hops, apart from completely knocking out all of the carbonation, imparted a strong vegetal flavour and little of the familiar citrus flavours we know and love. A noble experiment, but not one to repeat. It was suggested that better results might be obtained from pellet hops as they would give up their flavour more quickly. Cabbage beer, it’s the future…

All in all, a great night. Commercial beers sampled on the night were varied and many, as always. However, I did note that Galway Bay’s Voyager IPA, Metalman Pale Ale and Trouble’s Dark Arts were most prominent. There was plenty of chat about competitions, out-dated BJCP guidelines, session beers and brewing English ales. Brewtus showed us photos of his recent trip to Belgium which included a trip to the Cantillon brewery. There’s definitely an article for the website in there!

The next South Dublin meet is on Wednesday 24th July at 7:30pm. Visit the South Dublin Brewers forum for details. See you there!

– Bubbles