At a Glance:
Date: 18/08/2020
Breweries in Focus: Trouble Brewing, Rye River Brewing Co
Guest Judge: Frankie Candour- More Daft than Craft.
Guest Tune: I Wanna Be Your Lover- Prince. Injecting a bit of craic like Frankie tends to do, he’s gone with a classic. Find all the guest picks and guest originals on the Brewed Awakening Spotify playlist.
Beers in Focus
| NAME | STYLE | BREWED | STOCKIST |
| The Dropper Neo- mexicanus | APA | Rye River | Craft Central |
| Inter- galactic Yuzu | Sour Fruit Gose | Rye River | Craft Central |
| Love Below | Micro IPA | Trouble Brewing | Craft Central |
| Dark Arts | Porter | Trouble Brewing | Craft Central |
| Ambush | Pale Ale | Trouble Brewing | Craft Central |
| Vietnow | IPA | Trouble Brewing | Craft Central |
| Last Crash | Lager | Trouble Brewing | Craft Central |
| Mandarin Crush | Lager | Trouble Brewing | Craft Central |
Truth or ‘dare
I had a lot of fun with this county. From lovely artwork and collaborations to a range of interesting variations, it was just a whole lot of fun. Due to the pandemic, I couldn’t make it to Kildare Brewing Co’s Lough 13, but I will make the journey when (or if) the world is back to normal.
Trouble on the Rise:
I have been waiting to try Trouble Brewing for quite some time. I often walk past their cans in the offies knowing that I should hold out for Kildare’s Brewed Awakening to try a range of them in one go. Something about their matte finish cans and individual artwork always stood out to me with a minimalist appeal that really works. Only 11 years on the market, Paul O’Connor and the boys have built a top level brand that produce a range of original, wonderful beer.
Rye me a River:
Despite their excellent reputation, knew the name, but I was less familiar with Rye River Brewing Co. I decided to go for the collaborative range to try something extremely here and now. As the review below alludes to, I will definitely be returning for more. This is another brewery with big imagination but also the technical prowess to pull it all off.
Booze Reviews
Love Below- You’d be forgiven for overlooking a session IPA. I know I have many times but love below is a cut above. It’s light but with a proper taste profile and not in an over-compensatory way. Too often Micros and Table beers are either boring or trying too hard to make amends. It’s a sign of a great brewery to produce a beer this low on the ABV scale (2.5%) with this much taste.
The Dropper Neomexicanus- The dropper is one of two collaborative beers currently on show from Rye River. It poured hazy, yet I was met with a surprisingly smooth, caramel-esque body. Collaborating with Yakima Chief Hops in Washington, this batch beer is considerably less annoying than most Irish/American crossovers. A proper beer that I would be quick to buy again.
Last Crash- This beer is passionate about fruit. Seriously. The passion fruit brings a tartness and complexity to the profile, but it’s still as light and easy as you’d expect with a good lager. And this is no ordinary lager.
Ambush- When I hear the words juicy, pale and ale together, I think of summer sipping. Not quite true with this boy. There’s a straw-colour pour with a nice light haze initially with an extremely fruity aroma. Given this, and its notably soft mouthfeel, there’s a surprisingly bitter finish.
Mandarin Lager- This has a less fruity profile than last crash but it remains quite tart. For a man who loves a Terry’s Chocolate orange, I’m not fully sold on the value of orange flavoured/ infused beer. As far as this category goes, this is a superior beer to Brew Dog’s Clockwork Tangerine.
Vietnow- I was particularly excited for this IPA. The can design, the name, and my annoying loyalty to IPA’s combined to create some serious hype. Vietnow pours a deep orange that looks particularly aesthetic against the black tin. However, the heavily hopped IPA has a bitterness that can be a tad overbearing. I’ll revisit this, but there are betters on the list.
Dark Arts- Dark arts by name, this porter is a bit of black magic. It could be a little thicker in consistency, as well all chase the cream of a certain Irish stout. Nonetheless, this is a chocolate, dark, heavy roast that I’d revisit in the winter months.
Intergalactic Yuzu- WOW. This is Rye River’s collaboration with New Zealand’s world renowned Yeastie Boys. Let me assure you; this sour fruited gose is a beast of a boy. Often perceived as mouth puckering, intergalactic yuzu is approachable for the punter who can appreciate a lemonade but still isn’t sold on sour beer. This isn’t sour for the sake of sour. This is sour in a dry, light, refreshing and significantly “moreish” kind of way. Yuzu fruit and lime tones with a salty after-note emulates a margarita in a tin. If you’re not sure on sours yet but feel the variation deserves greater exploration- GET THIS BEER WHILE YOU CAN. You won’t regret it.
The County’s Bounty:
Intergalactic Yuzu. For the simple fact that this individual beer convinced me that a correctly produced sour is worth its salt. If you’re on the fence on the sour train, I strongly encourage you to get it while you can.
Thanks for reading. If you’ve any thoughts on beers past, future or present please let me know your craic in the comment section below.
Sometimes you need a rude awakening, in order to drink in peace.
Slán Abhaile,
Eamon
Brewed Awakening 