26 February, 2010

10ltr and 20ltr Headless Dog



Just delivered this afternoon.......freshly filled this morning, 10litre and 20litre - (piggin and polypin) kegs of Headless Dog.

Piggin (10ltr) €49.90

Polypin (20ltr) €90.00

Reusable kegs and much more financially viable than 20 pints in the local.

Available today from Deveney's of Dundrum.... Ruthxx

24 February, 2010

H. Norton Special, March '10



Hook Norton Brewery Special...... 25% off

Haymaker - now €2.50 bt. (while stocks last)

Twelve Days - now €2.50 bt. (while stocks last)

Ruthxx

23 February, 2010

Speakeasy White Lightning



I'm pretty fond of the white beers, in fact they generally take up approximately 50% of my top 10's. My preference would be Belgians but I love the American take on the traditional white beers.

The Speakeasy brewery from San Francisco have done a particularly good job on White Lightning. They managed to keep it light enough on the mouth to easily consume a 6 pack without it being too boring to warrant €2.70 a bottle.

The nose is pretty unusual in comparison to the other American brewery whites. I get basil and orange peel, although they claim it's coriander. The palate is fat, creamy but not stodgy, soft, slightly sweet with citrus fruits and herbaceous flavours.

This is really good, a beer to end a Saturday night, after a cheeseburger and teamed with a Marlboro light before hitting the nest.

Stock it and will definitely be drinking it,

Ruthxx

An Brain blásta



This is a long overdue post. This was bottled 3 days before The Beer Festival and was available to taste on the night. I, unfortunately abstained from drinking or tasting at the festival so I took it back to Nutgrove as homework.

This is the 3rd Bottled Brew from the Porterhouse Brewing Company, Dublin (Subsequently number 4 is now available).

At 7%, this is an strong Irish ale. An Brain blásta meaning the ''Tasty drop'' is a pretty accurate name for this massively flavoured savoury beer.

The colour is a deep amber, red with a slightly brown hue. The nose is pretty complex, really savoury malt and rye notes with hints of caramel, biscuit and fruit - I think cherry, not to sound too pedantic.

The Palate is, as the name goes, really tasty. This is definitely a beer for food, savoury almost meaty mouth, toast, ryvita crackers with some subtle summer fruits on the finish and a slightly burnt caramel flavour.

If I'm being honest, this is way too much for me. There was no flavour that I really disliked and a bottle I could handle with some smoked cheese or cured meat but after a long days work I don't think I'd be reaching for this as my ''sleeper''. Good job by the Porterhouse Boys but maybe too much of a mans ale for me!!!!!!!!
Interesting and a ''tasty drop''
Ruthxx

March 2010 Beer Tasting


Thursday March 4th is our first Beer Club Meeting since the Festival.
As you can see from the Line-up on your left, I've decided to run with the theme of ''No Theme''.
Just a mix of new gear and a couple of Favourite's from the Deveney's Beer Festival.
For all those hardened club members it's the usual drill.
Venue: Deveney's of Dundrum
Time: 6.30pm - 8pm
For all you new attendees, It's a very informal Tasting where we drink Beer and chat.
So, hope to see you all here, Ruthxx

17 February, 2010

Fraoch 20th Anniversary


Fraoch 20th Anniversary Ale by The Williams Brothers is their celebration of 20years of successful brewing. This is a limited edition ale of which they produced 7,500 bottles. Deveney's of Dundrum have 5 - left. I've sold a few and sacrificed one for this post. It's a heather ale matured in single malt whisky cask. These Whisky casks, like most Single Scottish Malts and more recently Irish Whiskey, were previously Sherry cask, originating from Jerez in Spain. The particular cask used to lager this Ale stored a single malt Speyside Whisky. Speyside tends to be a very aromatic style of Whisky and sits somewhere between the softness of a Highland and the saltiness of an Islay.


Fraoch 20th pours a dark golden colour with a thin white head. The nose is really complex displaying typical Sherry characteristics - nutty, dry white wine with some caramel and yeasty notes. The palate has loads of layers. Dried fruit - raisin, honey, slightly peaty and a nuttiness that's really pleasant against a semi-sweet backdrop. This is 11% and only available in a 750ml so it's pretty important to remember on consumption that its the same volume and close to the alcohol content of a bottle of wine.


Available in Deveney's Dundrum until stock's last @ €12.90


Bacon sandwich, smoked cheese, stuffed pork or just a side of ham.... They'd all work pretty well, Ruthxx

08 February, 2010

Headless Dog, Beer Festival winner

Headless Dog by The College Green Brewery, won the favourite beer at 'Deveney's of Dundrum, The Beer Festival'.
This is a pretty amazing achievement. Not only was there 110 Bottled beers from all over the world to choose from, these guys are a relatively new Brewery and most importantly they're Irish!!!!
We were very lucky to have Head brewer Owen Scullion present at the Beer Festival to promote The Headless Dog, Molly's Chocolate Stout and The Belfast Blond and this obviously paid dividends to the result!!!
The Headless Dog is an amber ale brewed with North American Cascade and Munich Malt.
The nose is both fruity and floral - loads of banana, fresh dough, violets and citrus fruit. The palate is violets, fresh strawberries with a biscuit finish.
The quirky name relates to a mural on the brew house wall of a headless Labrador??? That, I can't answer but this is a really easy drinking beer. For those of you who have tried Tradewinds by Cairngorm Brewery and liked it, this is for you.
Congratulations Hilden Brewery and Thanks again Owen,
Ruthxx

Red Branch, Hard Cherry Cider.



Red Branch, Hard Cherry Cider arrived in, in a mixed case of Honey and Apple and Peach flavoured 500ml swing top bottles.
Red Branch are an award winning Cider producer from Sunnyvale, California. Pretty heavily carbonated, which both myself and my Saturday night dress experienced first hand.
This is definitely not girly cider. The alcohol content comes in just .1% below 7%. The nose is fresh raspberry, citrus and slightly sherbety. After the initial 'I just swallowed a Soda Stream' - my highly carbonated mouth and nose subsided- slightly uncomfortable!!. It gave way to flavours of fresh cherries, raspberries and grapefruit. Surprisingly tart with very little residual sugar evident on the finish. This is not Fruit cider as we know it. Kopparberg and Rekorderlig fans - maybe not your bag!!
Available in Deveney's of Dundrum.
Ruthxx

06 February, 2010

Top 20 Beers of the Festival


Tuesday, Last, 240 ticketbearing beer enthusiasts showed up at The Bull and Castle, Christchurch, for the launch of Ireland's first Independent Bottled Beer festival. 'Deveney's of Dundrum, The Beer Festival' was even more successful than I'd imagined and although I'd suffered a couple of migranes and serious stress attacks throughout the organisation process. It was 100% worth it!!!!!!!!!!!
110 Bottled beers from all corners of the world including a great range of our own Irish brews, which I'm always keen to see and taste - more importantly!!!
The Rate your favourite beer area was a collage of coloured post-it's enabling me to put together your top 20 brews of 'Deveney's of Dundrum, The Beer Festival', so here goes..........
1) Headless Dog
2) Bitter & Twisted
3) Aspall's Organic Cyder
4) Unertl
5) Svytury's Baltas
6) Aecht Rauchbier
7) Vedett White
8) Porter House Hophead
9) Aspall's 1er Cru Cyder
10) Estrella Inedit
11) Korenwolf
12) Ola Dubh 12yr
13) La Chouffe
14) Tradewinds
15) Clotworthy Dobbin
16) Pinkus Special
17) Young's Double Chocolate Stout
18) Chapeau Kriek Lambic
19) River Horse Hop-a-lot-amus
20) Maredsous Triple
Just want to take this opportunity to thank-you all for showing such interest in this blog, my monthly club and subsequently The Beer Festival.
Special thanks to my beer importers and also to Henry Chevalier from Aspall's Cyder, Owen from Hilden Brewery and Floris and Guillem from Estrella who all took the trip to Dublin to be here for the big night.
Loads of thanks to my gorgeous Beer girls - my lovely sister Clare, Louise, Anna, Karin, Sue, Karen, Kerrie, Lorraine, Christina and Ciara-Ann.
The Bull and Castle- My favourite pub in Dublin!!. Dave, Geoff, Cathal, Joe and Michael, Thanks for all your help and hard work. It was a great night as a result....
I'll be posting up on the full synopsis this weekend.
Loads of Love
Ruthxx

01 February, 2010

The Festival Kick-off


Just tying up some loose ends and then we're good to go for tomorrow night.
Need to stress that it's a 6.30pm start.
This is also a ticket only event..... Unfortunately no ticket, no entry. Those of you without will have to wait for part 2, which as it transpires might not be too long!!!!
Looking forward to seeing you all there at 6.30pm!!!!!!!!!!!
Slightly nervous and very excited,
Ruthxx