As when Run DMC shared a stage with Aerosmith or when David Bowie teamed up with Queen, collaborations can be a thing of beauty and wonderment, even to the point where the world seems to stop spinning for just a second. There’s usually a lot of smiling when two great things combine to form one even greater thing. Who doesn’t love that iconic episode of Scooby Doo when Johnny Bravo joined the gang?
The same could be said for brewers in Northern Ireland who have been very busy recently teaming up with each other and ok, admittedly, it’s not quite as momentous as the aforementioned music collaborations but there’s still plenty of impressive end results – albeit in a glass.
This first part of the collaboration round up begins with a draught pour mixing London and Belfast. I didn’t manage to grab any bottles of the great work between Belfast’s Boundary and Bermondsey’s The Kernel but was just as happy with draught at Boundary’s city centre pub The John Hewitt. Well, I say happy but wasn’t overly keen at it being poured so cold. So after waiting what seemed like an eternity for it to warm a little, Single Stout – Ireland 1883 began to mellow into a delightful, roasty, honey sweet stout. 1883 refers to the date of this stout’s recipe if you’re interested.
This was a good deal sweeter than I expected and I enjoyed it greatly but could I sink a few of these of an evening? Probably not – and that’s maybe a good thing with the 6.4% ABV. Still, The Kernel is very much a revered brewery across these islands and kudos to Boundary for hooking up with them to brew this, the second collaboration between the two breweries in two years following last year’s export stout called Untitled Release.
Next comes a New England pale ale, ‘cos we all know that no beer blog review is worth reading these days if there’s not a hazy boi lurking about, eh? This one comes the way of two exceptional Northern Irish breweries over the past number of years, Boundary and Beer Hut from Kilkeel in County Down. Stealing Sunshine From Tomorrow is 4.4% ABV and “with coconut”, according to the can. It’s hopped with Sabro and Motueka so I’m already expecting pineapple, lemon and lime. Let’s see…
The ingredients list includes coconut and the ingredients list doesn’t lie. There’s a welcoming nutty aroma wafting upon pouring and once you put your lips to the glass you’re in no doubt this is a coconut beer. It’s creamy and also bready, like a buttered sweet coconut finger. The citrus element lies very much in the background as the Sabro hops do their thing by enhancing the coconut profile. I love this – but I love Sabro anyway. If you don’t like coconut don’t buy this and then complain, the clue is in the label you muppet. For us coconut freaks, knock yourselves out.
A dramatic change of style next but staying with something I love dearly, Black IPAs. THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH BLACK IPAS ON THE MARKET! I first tried Midnight Sun, a 5.4% ABV BIPA from Our Brewery and Lacada at the Lacada taproom, and enjoyed it so much I bought some to take home.
It’s double layered – first up you get that smooth roastiness from the dark malts but that quickly comes alongside a delicious, punchy bite. Pine cone and lime juice citrus then come to the fore for a while before you start to revert back to the malt and further discover a mellow cocoa softness. Midnight Sun is a wonderful beer and hidden in a land of bland stout and forgettable pale ales, if you want something different and memorable then Black IPA should be your next go-to.
A couple more offerings from Bullhouse to round off the collaboration list – they’ve been busy haven’t they? We’re back to a more familiar style now with a New England IPA brewed with Sphere home brewery of Finland no less! Brewer Miko won an Irish homebrew competition and the prize was a Belfast upscale of the winning entry. Sfääri is 6.5% ABV and hopped with Idaho-7, Citra, Cryo, Galaxy & Nectaron. Now you know.
It’s full of the expected tastes associated with those aforementioned hops. Peach, pineapple and maybe a dab of coconut in there too? A little bite of black pepper hits you at the end but it’s the fluffy tropical fruits that should win you over. As far as local NEIPAs go, this is one of the better ones out there. Who knew Finland had such NEIPA brewing talent?
Finally from Bullhouse and this round up, is this effort also involving Out of Office from Belfast and Vine Street from Kansas, US of A. Two Ships in the Night is labelled as a “light beer” and your guess is as good as mine as to what that might mean if you’re standing in an off licence with this in your hand. Light beer to me gives me mental images of Coors Light, Bud Light and that lower calorie/lower alcohol and to be honest, lower taste profile. Hmmm, is it a lager, is a table beer, is it something else? It is 4.6% ABV so heftier than I expect to be in the table beer category and to be honest, a bit higher than I expect to be in a “light beer” category.
So it came to pass that Two Ships in the Night was bought out of intrigue as much as anything else. Cracked open and poured it certainly looks light – thin, even. It’s brewed with maize so is slightly creamy and has that light cereal flavour you’d expect – add in a wee bit of Rich Tea biscuit base. I’m trying hard to pick out something else of note – maybe a tiny touch of floral character but that’s about it. They say it’s good to try something different but I’m really not sure what this brings to the table.
A mixed bag of styles today and hopefully something in there to make you part with your hard earned cash. It’s encouraging to see our local breweries partnering up with each other and making connections with those from further afield. More collaboration beer reviews on the way soon.
