At the end of last year we decided it was time to make some changes to our beer range. We’ve been producing three core beers for a few years now – Blond Kolsch-style, Mourne Mist Pilsner and East Coast IPA, along with cask conditioned Mourne Gold.
We’ve always wanted to brew as broad a range of beer styles as we can, but we were finding it harder and harder to schedule in the time to brew the beers we wanted to. So we’ve decided to give Blond, East Coast and Gold a bit of a rest for now. This means we’ll no longer be supplying Sainsbury’s in Northern Ireland with bottles. We’re really grateful to Claire and the team for their support over the last three years.
Given that pubs will remain closed for the foreseeable future it also looks like the last pint of Gold has sadly been pulled in The Crown. Andy, Mick and the entire team have really pushed our beer over the last couple of years and we’ve been so proud to have our cask beer pouring in this fabulous landmark bar. A huge “thank you” to everyone at The Crown and we can’t wait to return for a pint or two when they reopen.
Cologne
So it’s all change, then? Well, not really. The first of three new beers this week takes a lot of influence from Blond. Barnstorm is a Kolsch-style beer (alcohol 5% vol.), inspired by the great brewing tradition of Cologne, Germany, where a handful of brewers in the city centre produce a wonderful pale and foamy style of beer using ingredients typical of lager beers, but then fermented with an ale yeast. This gives the style a lot more character than your average lager with a full and sweet-malty mouthfeel, fresh grassy hop character and banana aromas from the special German yeast strain. A light and easy sessionable beer.
Clove rock
For our next beer we stay on the continent and hop across the border to Belgium. If you’ve been to Belgium you’ll know that it can sometimes be a problem finding a tasty beer at a sensible alcohol strength, especially when the infamous Trappist ales are so deceptively strong. We’ve produced a Belgian-style blonde beer, Tyro, at a respectable 4.5%abv. Fermented with a Belgian strain of yeast, it shares a lot of the characteristics of its’ stronger cousins – full bodied with low bitterness, a breeze of spicy hop aroma and a distinctive “clove rock” flavour from the yeast. Complex yet quaffable.
Cascades
Our third and final new beer, North Wall, is a 5.1%abv West Coast US-style pale ale. Light in colour, this brew was fermented with a clean US yeast to bring the aroma and flavour of the hops to the fore. We used classic American Cascade, Chinook and Columbus hop varieties in this brew bringing grapefruit, pine and resinous hop flavours to the beer, along with an assertive bitterness. If you enjoyed the hoppiness of our East Coast IPA, you should definitely give this one a try.
These beers tasted great straight from the tank so we decided not to filter them before bottling. If you prefer a bright, clear glass of beer you can store the bottles upright in the fridge and pour carefully to leave any natural sediment in the bottle.
All these beers have been bottled in the last couple of days and are available now on our website for safe, chilled home delivery. We’ll also be delivering to the usual off sales in the coming days.
