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BEER:A beer contest reveals how micro-breweries are producing drinks with lots of character

I WAS RECENTLY INVITED to judge a beer competition. I was a little unsure because my experience of tasting beer, as opposed to knocking back a few pints, is fairly limited. It turns out it’s not very different to wine.

The competition was the 7th Irish Beer and Whiskey Festival at the Porterhouse in Temple Bar, Dublin. My fellow judges were seasoned tasters, both members of the Irish Craft Brewer association, and definitely people who knew their Cascade from their Fuggles. One, a woman, had worked as a brewer with Guinness, the other was a die-hard beer anorak.

In total, we tasted 29 beers from seven Irish micro-breweries. I learned several things. First, the Irish brewing industry produces some very fine beers, including some with real character. Second, in all cases the bottle versions tasted quite different, and often far better, than the draught versions. This was not just my personal opinion; my fellow judges concurred.

Session beers can fare badly in tastings such as these. Beers with more intense flavours do well, although you won’t necessarily want to drink these all night. But there were certainly some very complex, interesting beers and not all of them high in alcohol either. I will certainly seek some of them out again in the future.

The winners are listed below. In addition to these, I really enjoyed plenty of other beers. In the ale section, my favourites were the Galway Hooker IPA, Hilden Ale and O’Hara’s IPA. Apparently IPA, or Indian Pale Ale, is enjoying great success in this country at the moment and, tasting them, you can see why. They have a wonderful fresh citrus note combined with a lively, hoppy character. Among the speciality beers, the Chocolate Truffle Stout was excellent as was the Hop Head. Both of these are from the Porterhouse Brewing Co. Among the bottled beers, I marginally preferred Wrasslers 4X to the eventual winner, Oyster Stout.

Despite a burgeoning interest in quality beers, life is not easy for micro-breweries. The cost of bottling beer means that many of the beers I tasted were only available on draught. A large chunk of bottled sales are going to imported beers.

Yet the dominance of the large breweries in the on-trade means that it is very difficult for the small breweries to supply more than a handful of pubs. These breweries need and deserve our support. The Irish Craft Brewer website (irishcraftbrewer.com) has a useful nationwide listing of pubs that stock Irish micro-brews.

One criticism I would have of the bottled beers from Irish micro-breweries is their sameness. Most seem to make a fairly similar range of good, but not always terribly exciting, beers; a red ale, a lager, a stout and possibly a wheat beer. The range certainly seems more interesting in draught form. You cannot blame them for trying to appeal to a wide audience, but the experience abroad, in the US and the UK, would suggest that small quantities of interesting beers are the way to get publicity.

The winners at the 7th Irish Beer and Whiskey Festival were:

Best Ale: Copperhead, Whitewater Brewery, Kilkeel, Co Down; whitewaterbrewing.co.uk

Best Lager:Amber lager, White Gypsy Brewery, Templemore, Co Tipperary; whitegypsy.ie

Best Stout:Wrasslers 4X, Porterhouse Brewing Co, Co Dublin; porterhoursebrewco.com

Best Speciality Beer:Three Kings Celebration, Franciscan Wells Brewery, Co Cork; franciscanwellbrewery.com

Best Bottled Beer:Oyster Stout, Porterhouse Brewing Co, Co Dublin; porterhousebrewco.com

BOTTLES OF THE WEEK

Porterhouse Oyster Stout (in bottle), 5.2%, €2.29 per 330ml bottle.A different animal, but of equal excellence, to the draught version. Medium-bodied, with light coffee and chocolate flavours and a nice smooth, dry finish. A stout with a bit of character but very nicely balanced, and worthy of its award. Stockists: Deveney's, Dundrum; Holland's, Bray; Martin's, Fairview, Dublin 3; Redmond's, Ranelagh, Dublin 6; Drink Store, Manor Street, Dublin 9.

Porterhouse Wrasslers 4X (in bottle), 5.7%, €2.29 per 330ml bottle. This is beer with real attitude; big, powerful stout with masses of rich dark-roasted malt, coffee, dry hops and a flavour that goes on and on. A beer in a proud Irish tradition. Perfect with a big fry, or bacon and cabbage. Stockists: Deveney's, Dundrum, Dublin 15; Holland's, Bray; Martin's, Fairview, Dublin 3; Redmond's, Ranelagh, Dublin 6; Drink Store, Manor Street, Dublin 9.

Belfast Ale, Whitewater Brewery, Kilkeel, Co Down, 4.5%, €3.79 per 500ml bottle.I featured the wonderful Clotworthy Dobbin a few months back, and Whitewater also won a prize for its full-flavoured but mouth-watering Copperhead. Sadly it is not available in a bottle, but the Belfast Ale, with its fresh hoppy flavours and lightly bitter finish, is well worth a try. Stockists: Widely available in the North, and from specialist beer shops in the Republic.

Headless Dog Ale, College Green Brewery, Belfast, 4.2%, €2.99 per 500ml bottle.This was voted the most popular beer at the Deveney's of Dundrum Beer Festival in February, and I can see why. Lovely and light but flavoursome beer, refreshing with a pleasing fruitiness. This is from the Hilden brewery, based between Belfast and Lisburn. It has an interesting range of bottled beers. Stockists: Widely available in Northern Ireland, and from specialist stores in the Republic.

ON THE GRAPEVINE

The Wicklow Arms off-licence in Delgany, Co Wicklow, will hold two wine events next weekend. The first is a wine fair on Friday in the parish hall. Tickets are €12 or two for €20, in aid of Delgany Primary School. The following day there will be a fine wine tasting lunch, with six courses, each matched with up to three different Australian wines. Tickets are €60. Book with Denis Byrne, denisbyrne7@gmail.com or tel: 01-2871616.

Terroirs in Donnybrook, Dublin 4, has winemaker Élian da Ros coming Ireland to host a five-course wine dinner in Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud next Friday. Tickets, €175, from Françoise Gilley: francoise@terroirs.ie or tel: 01-6671311.