LIKE many, I was reared according to the insightful, yet sometimes baffling sayings of my mother. One such maxim was the one used to chastise someone for looking miserable by pointing out that ‘you have a face on you like a Lurgan spade’.
It wasn’t until years later that I found out the true meaning of the phrase from a native of the Co Armagh town. The story goes that the people who were employed to dig the ground for the new park in the town were called Lurgan spades and often presented the world a downbeat visage due to the backbreaking work and the fact that they were not always well paid or paid on time.
Years later, a fledgling brewery in the town has taken ownership of the derogatory moniker and used it in their name Spade:Town.
I picked up a couple of bottles in the DrinkLink in Newry – a 4.1 per cent German style pilsner and a 4.5 per cent west coast IPA.
The pilsner lacked the sparkle and crispness you would expect. In the blurb on their website they implore sceptical drinkers to “Set down the macro. Grab one of these instead. We promise you'll like it.”
The thing about brewing a lager for the craft market is that you need to elevate above the tasteless macro stuff. Sadly, this didn’t quite pull it off. It’s low on carbonation to the point of being flat, which to my mind doesn’t really help as a nice bit of fizz will help disseminate any flavours around the inside of the mouth.
Hoping to lean on a nice malty backbone, I was a bit disappointed as that crisp, biscuity malt you get from a pilsner just wasn’t there. This is a fair effort at a tricky style, but a bit of work still to be done to convert the ‘stack ‘em high, sell ‘em cheap’ beer shoppers.
If the lager didn’t hit the spot, though, the west coast IPA was well on the money. It pours a cloudy, light amber colour and fires off aromas of grapefruit which follow in on the first gulp. It’s got a lovely dose of citrus, a little bit of sweet, biscuity malt and a sharp, piney finish.
I tried it with some Saturday night fajitas. I like my salsa hot and this was a great accompaniment, those piney notes slicing through the spice and delivering a nice refreshing hit.
