The Beer Nut: And not a bitter in sight
After a one-year hiatus by the festival, and ten years by me, I was back at The Great British Beer Festival last week, for the Tuesday after...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
DOT Brew has its summer clothes on today, beginning on two recent releases, very much not the sort of heavy barrel-aged dark beers on which the brewer has built its reputation, before reverting to type for the finisher.| The Beer Nut
In the first pair of releases since they returned to contract brewing, Hopfully has sought to placate both sides in the pale ale civil war.| The Beer Nut
Hagstravaganza 11, the seventh of its name, took place at The White Hag brewery recently. As usual, a team of guest brewers from Ireland, the UK and Europe brought a wide selection of beers for us to work through, 200ml at a time.| The Beer Nut
As soon as I heard that Priory Brewing had filled in the gaps in its line-up, I was straight back to the tank bar in Tallaght, to pick up where I left off.| The Beer Nut
I had two problems with this beer before I even took it out of the fridge:| The Beer Nut
After a one-year hiatus by the festival, and ten years by me, I was back at The Great British Beer Festival last week, for the Tuesday after...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
Why is that man photographing his pint?| thebeernut.blogspot.com
Did Sierra Nevada need to add a Peachy Little Thing to its already extensive range of hazy IPAs? No it did not. But, as always, I am obliged to drink and tell you about it. To give it a properly fair shake, I opened it on a warm afternoon, on the assumption that this is a more frivolous and summery kind of beer, although the 7% ABV means it comes with some serious heft. It's mostly opaque and the bright orange of a diluted squash. The peach... substance... is very apparent from the aroma, add...| The Beer Nut
In the plague of closures that seems to be ripping through Irish brewing at the moment, Hopfully's was especially poignant. I've watched the plucky Brazilians from their contract brewing beginnings at Craftworks, through their gypsy phase, the re-commissioning of Brendan Dobbin's first-generation Porterhouse kit, the move to Waterford and the eventual takeover of Metalman's premises down there. I visited late last year, and the 2024 winter specials were especially good. Meanwhile they appeare...| The Beer Nut
Tomorrow, all going well, will see me back at the Great British Beer Festival for the first time in a decade. I am bemused at the thought that I won't be stepping outdoors at any point between arriving at Dublin airport in the morning and leaving it again in the evening. GBBF has moved to the UK's National Exhibition Centre, which is physically connected to Birmingham airport. It'll be my second return trip through that airport this summer, as a few weeks ago, work sent me to Great Malvern in...| The Beer Nut
Today's random exotic picks from the off licence are all by the Helsinki brewery CoolHead. They wear their hearts on their sleeves with an I...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
A flurry of activity from the Whiplash brewery resulted in today's offerings. Having already done a beer for burger chain Bunsen, they're co...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
I don't often get to do cross-brewery sets of lager reviews, but I have one today, with new lagers from two of Ireland's most reputable producers.| The Beer Nut
It's Whiplash again. A note of appreciation, first of all, for their tendency to release new beers in groups rather than trickling them out ...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
The contemporary beer scene has made me quite sceptical when it comes to the words "West Coast" on a label. So many of them turn out to be hazy in contravention of the laws of decency that I'm buying them almost as much to be cross about them as to enjoy drinking them. So it was a very pleasant surprise to find that Strata x Nelson Sauvin West Coast IPA from Latvian brewery Ārpus was not only clear, but pilsner-pale too, an appearance I associate most with Ballast Point Sculpin from the go...| The Beer Nut
I don't have a proper entry for The Session this month. David Jesudason is hosting, with the perfectly legitimate topic of pub food. Unfortunately, it's not something I have much interest in or knowledge of. I suspect that it's because pubs and food have much less of a connection in Ireland. We have the gastropubs and the carveries, of course: ideas which were imported from the neighbouring island but don't have any organic history here. Authentic Irish pub food is the toastie and the bag of...| The Beer Nut
I hadn't planned on being back in Open Gate quite so soon , but the offer of a new imperial stout was enough to tempt me in. And I found out...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
The summer beer release schedule has been in overdrive lately. Today's round-up is just from the busy brewers of Dublin and its periphery. ...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
It's a miracle! Though perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that a brewery called Priory, with a comprehensively Catholic theme running across...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
Being at home on the June Bank Holiday Sunday meant being an involuntary audience member at the Forbidden Fruit music festival, taking place...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
Beer made with a proportion of waste bread in the grist isn't new. Babylone IPA from Brussels Beer Project was the first to come my way, bac...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
No, the dire wolf is not back from extinction. Being able to critically examine the claims in the publicity material from a biosciences comp...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
Why is that man photographing his pint?| thebeernut.blogspot.com
I'm not unfamiliar with Dutch beer and brewing, but had never heard of Rotterdam's Stadshaven Brouwerij, until I found six of its beers in t...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
I've almost reached the point where I don't bother looking for flights home from Brussels now. There are better options from Schiphol and, o...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
With the judging done after day one of the 2023 Brussels Beer Challenge , a visit to a local brewery was scheduled. I've had a handful of be...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
Continuing from yesterday , my run-down of the beers I drank at the Belgian Beer Weekend festival in Brussels last month. Early on, I spotte...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
Why is that man photographing his pint?| thebeernut.blogspot.com
I didn't get to do a whole lot of discretionary pub crawling on my most recent visit to Bristol, mostly going where events took me. Luckily ...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
Why is that man photographing his pint?| thebeernut.blogspot.com
Is it just me or are there a lot more colourful fruit beers around this season? We had one on Wednesday and today I have two more. This time the theme is red.| The Beer Nut
"Coconut Breeze" is an ominous name for a beer, sounding like a euphemism dreamt up by the marketing department of a chemical company for their latest additive or scent. Lough Gill is inviting us to don our Hawaiian shirts, cast our cares aside and join them in summer time. This is, in their words, a "coconut and pineapple fruited pastry sour". Let's unpack that, shall we?| The Beer Nut
In the interests of balance for what follows, I did buy one IPA from the range of Dois Corvos beers which arrived in Dublin from Lisbon recently. There were numerous options but I picked Funchal Drift, the New England-style one made with Citra and Motueka. That sounded interesting, though the unappetising pale yellowish green emulsion it poured as, less so. A worrying kick of vanilla and plasterboard manifests in the aroma, alongside an assertive lime bitterness. Hello Citra. From the foretas...| The Beer Nut
What was I thinking? Was I thinking? Look, they were in my eyeline, in the supermarket, labelled as BEER despite all other appearances. So that I could stop wondering whether they should be included on the blog or not, I bought them both, God forgive me, and here they are.| The Beer Nut
The randomness is part of what I enjoy about the churn of British cask beer at The Silver Penny, the Wetherspoon on Dublin's Abbey Street and current unlikely champion of decent ale. On a recent visit, however, there was a pattern: two new ticks, both with a colour in the name.| The Beer Nut
The pace may have slowed, but enough beer featuring the DOT Brew name is being turned out to get it the occasional dedicated blog post. Here's the latest, with five new ones which landed over the past few months.| The Beer Nut
I missed the most recent beer launch event by O Brother at UnderDog, but fortunately the taps were still extensively taken over when I calle...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
Why is that man photographing his pint?| thebeernut.blogspot.com
Why is that man photographing his pint?| thebeernut.blogspot.com
It's been a busy summer of beery events, one which has brought me out of my usual haunts in the capital on several occasions. The first tri...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
Why is that man photographing his pint?| thebeernut.blogspot.com
International Stout Day rolled around again in early November and, as usual, Diageo pulled out the stops to celebrate in style at their Open...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
Why is that man photographing his pint?| thebeernut.blogspot.com
Word on the street was that the small-batch beer line-up at Open Gate Brewery had changed somewhat since my last visit, so back I went, earl...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
I'm taking a punt, and a liberty, with this month's Session topic. Boak & Bailey are hosting and have asked about "the best beer you can dr...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
Two new beers from Wide Street today, and something of a departure. The brewery specialises in wild fermentation, barrel-ageing and blending...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
The thing that stopped me from doing something sensible with my Toer de Geuze weekend, like getting the train to Boon and staying there, was...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
The final ever iteration of The Session happens today , and I'm seeing it out the way I'd like to be remembered: scooping furiously. The occ...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
L-R: Wit, Saison, Dubbel, Tripel, Lambic & Stout Well this was a surprise. Though maybe it shouldn't have been. Both Diageo and John Mar...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
Hagstravaganza sits like a neutron star in Irish beer discourse this summer, bending all conversations towards it, both before and after th...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
Beer blogging's big brother Alan is attempting to revive The Session, a cross-platform themed event last seen in these parts in 2018 . His ...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
On Monday I mentioned drinking at Asterix, a beer bar and restaurant in central São Paulo. While the draft selection is modest, the stock o...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
It's hard to beat a bit of sunshine and warmth in the midst of the winter gloom. Last month's New Year jaunt certainly provided that, with a...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
As chairman of Beoir , I get first call on where the AGM should be. This year, the place that had been niggling my need-to-visit sense, was ...| thebeernut.blogspot.com
