Strangford Lough - New Irish Beer Both In Ireland And In America

Just when I think no one reads this wee beer blog of mine, I'm surprised at receiving an email from a relatively new Irish brewery, Strangford Lough Brewing Company, whose headquarters resides at Killyleagh, County Down. As one might imagine, I was at first a bit skeptical as to whether the offer of free beer from the brewery for the purposes of my simply reviewing was legitimate. Turns out, it was indeed legitimate and a very kind and generous offer.

Strangford Lough Brewing was established in 2004 by two 'marketing and business development professionals' with the aim to become the second most recognized Irish beer in the world. The company distributes the world over but has a special interest in North America. The two beers sent to me, 'St Patrick's Best Ale' and 'Legbiter Ale' are currently available in some 20 states. One somewhat unique business approach the firm has is to seek out licensees who will not only market and distribute their beer but also brew it locally. So, enough of the background, let's get to the beers!


St Patrick's Best Ale

The first of the two samples I tried was 'St Patrick's Best Ale'. The beer pours very clear with a slight amber hue. The aroma, to me, speaks of caramel maltiness with slight notes of lightly toasted colored malt and mostly void of any hop aroma (as I would expect with an Irish ale). At 4.2% ABV this is a enjoyable, easy drinking session ale (OK, maybe just a hair high in ABV for a true session but it certainly drinks likes one). The body is quite light and the flavor is of sweet malt with hints of lightly roasted grain. There is virtually no hop flavor but rather just enough to offset the sweetness of the malt. I have not had the pleasure of trying any of the smaller microbrewery beers from Ireland but I'd have to say this is very much in line with what I would expect. Definitely British in nature and right up my alley.

Legbiter Ale

The second beer is 'Legbiter Ale', named after the Viking King Magnus' sword. More golden in color than St Patrick's Best, 'Legbiter' is also higher in alcohol at 4.8% ABV and more assertively hopped but not overly so. A review from Beer Advocate on the Brewery's website deemed it a hoppy ale and wavered as to whether they believed it was more English or American in influence. From a hoppiness standpoint, there is no doubt it my mind that at least the sample I tried was definitely English in nature. The Brewers' notes on the company's website states that American Cascade and Glacier hops provide a citrus aroma. Personally, I do not detect this and liken the aroma more to sweet maltiness with a very light hint of toasted malt. I'd almost put the aroma more akin to a Bavarian lager such as a Munich Helles or a true Oktoberfestbier (I'll comment on this in a future post as Oktoberfest draws nearer). Don't get me wrong, I'm not likening this beer to a German lager but rather just noting some similarities I detect in the aroma. Legbiter is more full bodied than St Patrick's Best and finishes somewhat dry and definitely more bitter. I can usually detect Cascade flavor right off but here it does not play as dominant a role as it normally does in American or American influenced beers and I applaud the brewer for not going overboard on their use. I have to say though that the malty sweetness and caramel notes still dominate to my palate and makes for a really lovely flavor.

In summary, these are two great new beers from 'over the pond' and both definitely carry a British dominated flavor despite the use of American hops in the case of Legbiter. I look forward to their availability in more states (especially here in Texas) as Irish beers are simply not well represented here in America. I think the current crop of Irish brewers has a lot to offer the world of brewing and Strangford Lough certainly delivers.

My personal thanks to Emma McCarey from Stangford Lough for seeking me out and giving me this fine opportunity to try their beers. You can follow the brewery on Facebook and Twitter.

Yours Aye!
Neil

Distracted but brewing and beer research continues...

Yes, that time of year again for those of us with smaller children - end of school. Why is it seems the last week or so of school is the busiest for the parents but the kids don't really do much of anything to do with school? This is one distraction that has kept me from posting for quite some time.

I've also been quite busy with airing of my most recent appearances on The Brewing Network's "The Jamil Show - Can You Brew It?" as a British brewing correspondent. There have been three programs to date, the first being Black Sheep Brewery's "Riggwelter" dark ale. Had a fabulous time doing a phone interview with Head Brewer Alan Dunn that was then aired on the program. Also really enjoyed my first "live" appearance on the program. Jamil is perhaps the most decorated homebrewer in America and his knowledge of brewing and beer styles is simply quite amazing for someone that does not brew as a profession. I highly encourage you to buy his book, Brewing Classic Styles, whether you are a homebrewer or not.

It is the best book on worldwide beer styles that I've read and, lucky for we homebrewers, is full of award winning recipes. The next two programs were for Fuller's ESB and London Pride. I had no idea how great this assignment would be. Just visiting the historic Fuller's Griffin Brewery in London last fall was exciting enough but sitting in Head Brewer John Keeling's office for well over an hour talking about parti-gyle brewing and Fuller's beers was a privilege and experience that I'm still pinching myself from that it actually did happen. John has been incredibly helpful since the interview as well with follow up questions and I have some great discussion via email with various folks since the shows. My thanks, John! And, thanks so much to Jamil Zainasheff and Justin Crossley at the BrewingNetwork for giving me the opportunity and helpful with technical details, respectively.

Speaking of books on beer styles, for British style beers, there is no better book than Martyn Cornell's "Amber, Gold and Black". Unfortunately, it is not yet available in the US. If you're too impatient to wait, I'd recommend ordering it from my good friend Paul Travis at BeerInnPrint in the UK. And one of Martyn's other books, "Beer The Story of the Pint" is also fabulous.

Also, on the homebrew front, I mentioned during the Riggwelter show that the whole reason why I started homebrewing some 13 years ago was in an effort to clone Caledonian Brewery's "Deuchars IPA". I cannot state how many different batches of this I've tried over the years constantly varying the recipe to try to get closer to the original. I figured other than moving to Scotland (which I would still do in a heartbeat if I could get a worthwhile job there), this is the only way I would get anything similar to this great beer as it is not available in the States. Well, an attentive listener from Glasgow, Geoff Traill, gave me a recipe he came up with. On brewing day after having already started I discovered I didn't have the hop variety I thought I had and I had to substitute. However, as I'm drinking this brew now, it is the closest I've ever come and I predict the next one will be really close. Thanks Geoff! This, my friends, is the beauty of homebrewing. I can't say enough about it as a hobby - and think of the fruits of your labor!

I've also regained momentum on my book on Scottish brewing history. Still a long way to go but I'm rolling again and finding some great historical insights. I'm just finishing up a chapter on monastic brewing in Scotland and ready to start medieval brewing. The best is yet to come.

Yours Aye!
Neil