I HAVE to admit I'm partial to a bit of surf 'n' turf. A bit because I like beef and seafood, but mostly because I'm excruciatingly indecisive. Tapas is the absolute zenith for anyone who has trouble making a food-related decision.
Beer can be like that sometime too. What style am I in the mood for? If I'm going to have a few, do I have an IPA, followed by a stout and then something weird and Belgian?
The thing is, you could drink a beer a day for a month and still not repeat the same style. The India Pale Ale itself has been spliced into an increasingly dizzing array of sub-sections that they’re now as far away from the original ale which bore that moniker as the sub-continent itself is.
The Discovery series from Blacks of Kinsale showcases a half a dozen takes on the IPA and in one case has combined a couple of styles in the Yellow Sub IPA, which is a bit like an IPA-weissbier hybrid.
I came to that conclusion after drinking that beer but before reading the label so it was no surprise to find that was indeed a hefty amount of wheat in the malt bill. They've also brewed it with orange peel and coriander, which are common enough ingredients in many wheat beers.
But the name of the beer comes from the special hop blend they have used here. The Yellow Sub blend gives it a sweet flavour with stone fruits and a bit of blood orange coming through. Then you get that herbiness of the coriander and the slight banana and spice of the weissbier too. There's a nice level of bitterness and it has an invigorating freshness to it.
I didn't know what I was getting into when I started drinking it, but the fact that it's basically a fusion of two styles appeals to my indecisive nature. I would revisit it if I was in the mood for either a refreshing IPA or tasty weissbier.
ALL there really is between Galway and New England, as the crow flies, is a fair bit of sea and a little bit of Canada so it’s no surprise that the folks at Galway Bay have got in on the 'haze craze'.
Croozer is a session IPA which use Vermont ale yeast and is packed with juicy and piney flavours with a sweet malt backbone. It's just a smidge under 4 per cent so you could tuck a few away before you break into a rendition of Galway Bay.
Right, I'm off to ABV Fest this weekend and will keep you posted on what I'm sipping on Twitter @pmcconville77. Let me know if you're there and what your festive favourites are.
