When Brewers and Off Licences collide

When Brewers and Off Licences collide


Who What Wheat Where is the result of a collaboration brew between O Brother Brewing and O Briens  off license. This is a limited release american wheat IPA that is dry hopped with Ahtanum, Centennial, Cascade, Columbus, Simcoe and Chinook. The guys in O Briens kindly sent us two bottles to sample. The name was decided by a twitter and Facebook competition, sadly my entry ‘Bob’ didn’t win.

Being a massive fan of O brother I was excited to try this. On opening of the first bottle I noticed some yeast sediment. I poured the beer gently into a glass. I’ll admit I didn’t find it visually appealing. As it’s a wheat beer I was expecting the usual cloudiness but this was quite murky. The aroma was rather mild and on taste I found it quiet astringent and left a strange after taste. There was also a big yeasty bite to it that I didn’t enjoy.


Thinking this was unusual for this brewery I popped open the second bottle. The aroma was much more hop forward and pleasant. After expecting it to taste as the first bottle did I was pleasantly surprised it didn’t. The citrus flavours left a slightly bitter aftertaste. A lot more appealing this time. There’s quite a dry finish to it making you want to go back for more. 

This is available exclusively in O Briens stores and on line. So get a bottle and try it for yourself. 

Sláinte Mrs Beersnob 




 
 
 
 
 

A session with St Patrick

As St Patrick’s day is drawing ever closer I thought now would be as good a time as any to try Jack Cody’s Hail Glorious St Patrick Extra Stout. I’m already a big fan of their amber ale Smiggy! I was delighted when they recently sent me a couple of bottles and a branded glass in exchange for some thoughts on this new stout recipe. It was originally launched in 2015 which I didn’t actually get to try. This version is brewed with Madagascan vanilla pods, special roast beans and oatmeal.

As I popped open the bottle and poured the beer, I was instantly hit with the beautiful aroma of roasted malts, coffee and dark chocolate. There is a very faint hint of vanilla. It pours a lovely rich dark colour with the creamy head. On taste its lightly carbonated with lovely coffee notes. Feels quite thin with a nice sweetness to the finish. All in all for an extra stout weighing in at 6.3% abv its enjoyable to drink. They won a silver medal at the Killarney beerfest in 2015 and more recently, a Bronze at the 2016 Dublin craft beer cup held at the Alltech Brews & Food festival. Its easy to see why. I’m currently enjoying this with some homemade freshly baked bread and blue cheese! This is a limited edition and is currently available nationwide in O’Briens and very good value at €2.55

Well the hunt for Max has finally ended thanks to the good folk in O’Briens in Navan. I’m a big fan of this brewery and when I saw it was available on draft I knew I had to have it. Max is the latest brew from O Brother Brewing based in Co. Wicklow. It’s a “Rockin Session Ale” at 4.4 % abv. I just love the label. They’re branding has to be one of my favourites.  On the nose its piney with citrus hops. It pours a nice golden colour with a decent white head. On taste its light and fruity with a good dry bitter finish. It would go perfectly well with a nice chicken curry or a spicy stir fry! A very enjoyable beer that I’ll look forward to having more of  in the summer. Very much worth the wait! Its available nationwide in O’Briens at €3.70 for a 500ml bottle.