After many years of pairing every alcoholic
beverage with at least two cigarettes, early last year I finally managed to get
off the smokes. Following more than a decade of thinking that beer tasted like
sweet carbonated cigarettes, I discovered the world of craft beer. I approached
it with cynicism and scepticism, initially half-convinced that these unusually
named beers were just re-labelled bottles of their half price equivalents. Then
I remember tasting a bottle of O’Hara’s ‘Leann Follain’ extra stout and
everything changed… I was almost giddy with excitement that a beer could taste
that good. There was no turning back.
Carlow
Brewing company (also known as O’Hara’s Brewery) are one of the first wave
of breweries in the Irish craft beer revolution. They opened in 1996 when just
a handful of other notable breweries (such as Franciscan Well &
Porterhouse) were around to pioneer the notion of tasty Irish beer*. O’Hara’s are one of the best stocked craft
beers around and it’s rare enough these days that you’d go to a pub that
wouldn’t at least have a few bottles of O’Hara’s Irish Pale Ale in the fridge.
So I was delighted when French Foodie in
Dublin and I were invited along to an event in 57 The Headline where brewers and owners from O’Hara’s and American craft
brewery Starr Hill were giving a panel talk,
hosted by @irishbeersnob.
Starr Hill were on a collaboration tour or
Europe and had stopped off for a few days in Ireland to brew up a once off beer
with O’Hara’s. It was a fascinating talk, with the guys from Starr Hill talking
about the American craft beer scene. They are well ahead of Ireland in terms of
market penetration stating craft makes up around 11% of the US beer market (The
most recent figure I heard here was 1.5%).
The discussion then turned to the beer that
they had collaborated on. They choose a to go cross styles by mixing a
traditional Irish red ale with a hefty amount of the American Hop blend
Falconers Flight to produce a red IPA. If this beer were a person, he’d be an
all American quarterback, white teeth and southern drawl, but with a red Irish
beard and freckles.
The result is a very drinkable and flavoursome
beer. Coming out of the bottle it’s a clear copper colour, smelling citrusy at
first along with biscuit and caramel. The hops are present but not overpowering
and compliment the solid red ale underneath. The head disappears pretty quickly
and after a few moments there’s very little carbonation but it doesn’t feel
flat. The brewers both agreed that they wanted something easy drinking that you
could enjoy a few of, so went for a relatively low alcohol content for the
style, coming in at 4.8%.
I’ve had a few bottles over the last 3
weeks, from Baggot Street Wines and McHugh’s in Artane. It was also delicious
on draft when I had a pint last week in P. Mac’s. The only problem with this
beer is that it’s running out fast. If you haven’t already, get out and pick up
a bottle cos when it’s gone, its gone!
*For more info on the history of Irish
Craft beer, pick up a copy of the encyclopedic Sláinte by Caroline Hennessy and
Kristin Jensen.
Disclaimer: French Foodie in Dublin and I
were invited to the event in 57 The Headline. Like herself, I would never write
about events or products in return for invitations or free stuff. All opinions
above, whether right or wrong, are all mine.
