An Authentic Irish Red Ale

While waiting for our traditional St. Patrick's Day meal of corned beef and cabbage to cook, we decided to open a bottle of an authentic Irish Red Ale; the Dungarvan Copper Coast Red Ale I had recently received.

Dungarvan beers are unfiltered and bottle conditioned, as God intended, and that was readily apparent in the bottle. There was a copious yeast remnant both at the bottom and around the rim of the bottle. I poured the beer into a couple of St. Patrick's Day glasses from the previous day's Blue & Gray Brewery festivities. The beer pours with a thin head over a cloudy, dark copper base. A moderately strong aroma of yeasty malt was quick to arise. The flavors of caramel and biscuit, and lightly toasted malts make up the taste. A bit of bitter hops comes in the finish. This is a very well-balanced Red Ale, and I lamented my supply was limited to the one bottle.

We broke out a chunk of Kerrygold Aged Cheddar to enjoy with the beer. The sharpness of the cheese paired very well with the toasted and bitter flavors of the beer. Alas, my glass was emptied much to soon. Even though I was watching the snow fall outside, I was transported back to that warm afternoon in Ireland when I was first introduced to Dungarvan Irish Red Ale.

Dungarvan Black Rock Irish Stout

Sitting around anticipating the approaching winter storm, and waiting for the very slow decision to cancel school, the time seemed right for a glass of a good stout. I retrieved the bottle of Dungarvan Black Rock Irish Stout I had received from a coworker a few months ago. We were introduced to the beers of Dungarvan Brewery during our Ireland pilgrimage and I was excited to be able to try another beer from this relatively new Irish craft brewery.

Black Rock Stout pours pitch black with a creamy, thick beige head. The head persists and also leaves behind a coating on the sides of the glass. The aroma of coffee and roasted malt come with a touch smoke. The flavor brings to mind coffee, roasted malt and cocoa. There's a hint of sweetness and black licorice in the background. The finish is dry with the taste of roasted coffee lingering behind. A thick and creamy mouthfeel completes the picture.

As much as I was looking forward to this beer, I enjoyed Dungarvan Black Rock Irish Stout even more than I expected. Currently, Dungarvan beer is available in Ireland, and is also exported Italy. I hope someday the brewery's bottle-conditioned beers will be imported into the U.S. Meanwhile, I'm going to have to convince my Irish coworker to pack an extra suitcase on his next trip to the States.

It's odd to think, less than four months ago I was sitting in an Irish pub enjoying some Dungarvan beers. Drinking this bottle of Irish Stout brings back fond memories. I look forward to cracking open the others.

My Reputation Precedes Me

Monday was one of those dreaded "drive to DC and sit in meetings" days. The company was hosting a conference and we had employees from around the world in town, some of whom came bearing gifts. One of our managers who lives in London brought me two bottles from Belgium's Brasserie Du Bocq; Waterloo Double 8 Dark and Waterloo Tripel 7 Blond. From another employee in Ireland came three beers by the Dungarvan Brewing Company; Copper Coast Red Ale, Helvick Gold Blonde Ale and Black Rock Irish Stout. Coincidently, the first two of these I got to try in Ireland recently. I'm looking forward to getting another taste of them, and of course trying all the other beers as well.

In another awesome surprise, one of the system administrators from our Colorado office brought along one of the new stainless steel growlers from Oskar Blues, as well as a cap from the brewery. Unfortunately those two gifts got locked in a room while I was in a meeting, so a coworker will be delivering those treats later this week.

All these great beer gifts were certainly a fine consolation for being in meetings all day. I guess it's good to be the guy who divvies up company resources among business units. Well, I don't mind a little bribe every now and then. 

Courtney's Pub, Killarney, Ireland

While strolling through Killarney one midday, we passed by Courtney's Pub. In contrast to most of the pubs we passed by that afternoon, it sounded like quite a crowd was enjoying themselves inside. We decided to stop in and check it out. We made our way to the very back of the pub before finding open seats at the bar.

Unlike many pubs in Ireland, Courtney's boasted a large selection of Irish, and other, craft beers. I decided to take the opportunity to try another Irish brewery. We selected two beers from the Dungarvan Brewing Company in Waterford, Ireland. I ordered Copper Coast Red Ale while Colleen opted for Helvick Gold Blonde Ale.

The Red Ale had a caramel and roasted flavor and a lingering bitterness in the finish. The Helvick Gold was a very nice blond ale. The aroma note bready yeast and honey notes. The flavor had citrus notes combined with a mild sweet caramel base, with a drying finish. Colleen didn't finish her 500ml bottle so I enjoyed finishing this one off.

There were other Irish craft beers in Courtney's cooler that I would have liked to try out as well. But alas, our time was limited. So many pubs, so many beers, so little time.