The Covid pandemic has brought some irreversible changes to our daily behaviour.
One minor, but increasingly obsessive one has become the daily challenge of Wordle – the circadian puzzle which lays down the gauntlet of guessing a random five-letter word.
Often it is the more routine words which trip you up as the endless possibilities of a certain combination of letters means you quickly run out of tries.
On the flipside, the more obscure words have you scratching your head and silently protesting ‘that’s not a word’. (Don’t even get me started on American spellings).
That puzzlement came over me last week when I discovered a previously unheard of five-letter word not through Wordle, but through beer.
The word was thiol and is not, as you might suspect, a frustrating Scrabble hand but a property of certain hops which can contribute to the taste and aroma of a beer.
The beer in question was Electric Eyes, a pale ale from Dublin-based Third Barrel.
It is fermented with thiol-boosting yeast meaning the yeast helps to pull out the thiol in the hops, which makes for more intense flavours.
As a an indication of the enduring innovation in beer-making, thiol are compounds in hops which are only a fairly recent discovery.
It all makes for an intense beer, with soft fruity flavours flooding the palate.
It pours a bright amber colour with a fluffy white head.
The unique yeast helps to produce fruity esters which lead to intense flavours of pineapple and mango.
There are also notes of lemon sherbet and a sweet, biscuity malt.
A beautifully complex and intense beer, it clocks in at 5.6 per cent, which is a bit higher than a sessionable strength, but this is quite a moreish beer.
Shut Up Juice is a reworking of a Third Barrel favourite.
As the name suggests, it’s a 5 per cent pale ale packed with juice, fruity hop flavours.
It pours a hazy amber colour in the glass and fires off tropical and citrus aromas which follow onto the palate.
For those who lament the demise of Lilt, this can serve as an alcoholic alternative.
There are flavours of pineapple, papaya and citrus, a soft mouthfeel and a medium level bitter finish.
