I beat my 4:15am alarm by fifteen minutes and can hardly contain the excitement of my first trip to Northern Ireland, let alone getting back behind the paddle to brew our next collab. Making my way through the sleepy old world of Shrewsbury, I reflect on how the next collab idea came about.

Chris Morris, of Modest Beer, had dropped me an email at the end of January to see what plans we had for St. Patrick’s Day (at that point, we didn’t have many…). I was stoked to hear from Chris, as Ash had kindly shared the Modest box he had for photography and, well, If you haven’t tried Modest Beer before, you’re in for a treat.

Chris is a one-man-band operation, brewing some of the finest hazy beers around. What I like about their box (which features 9 cans and tasting notes), is that ABV tends to stay around 4-6%. You do get some that will sneak over or below, but that sessionable range is my sweet-spot at the moment, and the flavours Chris is able to pack in to his beer is outstanding.

We jumped on a call together and what started as being a box featuring a couple of NI breweries soon turned into a bigger collaboration, featuring 6 breweries from the Island of Ireland, 11 cans, including an exclusive collab DIPA chucked in for good measure. We reached out to all the breweries who were happy to be involved and a date was set for the collab brew.

Having now made it safely across the water, I’m stood outside Belfast airport waiting for my ride from the Bullhouse team. It was my first-time meeting both Mark and Gary and I was particularly excited to meet Mark as I know he’s been a subscriber of ours for some time.

We drove about an hour Northwest and got to where Modest Beer is located, high above Randalstown in Country Antrim, with beautiful views overlooking Lough Neagh. Sam from Lacada, and Michael from Our Brewery were awaiting our arrival with Chris. It was bloody cold, but we were fortunate for a clear day to be able to see the views.

One of the best views of the day though was of Chris’s brew kit. It is a small set up, but unlike any other kit I’ve seen before. It’s manufactured by Brewiks and all tanks are sat on casters so he can move them around as he pleases. It’s pretty-state-of-the-art but also has fair amount of getting your hands dirty (I left the digging of the mash out to Gary and Sam).

The Beer
This one-off Brewser exclusive collab beer is a creamy and soft DIPA packed full of Motueka and Citra, bringing punchy tropical fruit flavours, sweet lime and orange.
ABV: 7.6%
Hot Side Hops: Idaho 7, Mosaic
Dry Hop: Citra, Citra Cryo, Motueka

With the hard work done (by everyone else), we made a beeline for Belfast to visit the Bullhouse East taproom. We were honoured to also be joined by the one and only Neil Delargy (REFTSC5EFKMWY – IYKYK). If you’re heading to Belfast, this taproom is a must-visit. Everything from your craft bar heaven: the three-piece foldable beer tables, 20 taps of draught to choose from, a beer fridge stocked with all sorts of delicious beery goodness and of course, pizza! We were well looked after by our hosts and would like to thank all the staff for a great night.

You’ll hear it a lot from everyone in the industry, ‘one of the best things about craft beer is the community and the people that work in this industry.’ Northern Ireland is no exception, in fact it’s hard to find a stronger community of craft beer lovers anywhere.

The restrictions and licensing laws of NI make it extremely difficult for these independent breweries to get their beers out and therefore promote craft beer to a wider audience. Outside of the 2-3 taprooms in Belfast, I understand that a mere 20 keg lines are free for local breweries, out of 1,100 pubs. Big beer and drinks companies own all of the lines and therefore only their products are allowed to pour, that’s what keeps this craft beer community so tight and passionate about their beer, you have to work hard to make it, and drink it.

We’ve brought together the best breweries from the Island of Ireland for this special box. This is your chance to sample some of their most-loved beers, try something new and support these fantastic teams – all in celebration of St Patricks Day.

So put down that pint of Guinness and pick up Lacada’s Shamrock Pinnacle whilst you thank the brew gods for independent brewing and the joy of discovering something new.

Sláinte! 

Something different for me this month and a box of cider!

I’ve gone for the Intro to Little Pomona box, and as a bonus for all of February, if you lock in any Little Pomona box you’ll get a voucher for a free tour, tasting and cheese matching at their cidery, which you can use between April and September. 

These four 750ml bottles are all really different and fascinating for a flavour nerd like me. I had a quick sip in my opening video, but I needed much more time to really taste my way through them, and I was rewarded by some of the most complex and wonderful drinks I’ve tasted in a long time. 

Hard Rain Hot Pink 2022 is only 3.4% but you’d never guess that from the taste. It’s an impressive, impactful ciderkin (that’s a weak cider) blended with blackcurrant cordial made local to the cidery, and matured with Simcoe hops. There’s all the tangy apples, tart blackcurrant, the pungent hops, a nice refreshing fizz and a light acidity. This is nothing like a cider and black you may have drunk growing up!

The Table Perry (7% ABV) is the first drink I’ve ever been told to use a sieve when pouring it out, and that’s because of the ‘perry diamonds.’ This is just natural tannins which clump after bottling, and while they’re fine to drink, you can just use a little sieve or tea strainer to remove them. And that’s a good idea because it leaves you with a much crisper perry. This has a lovely pear flavour, juicy fruit but also light tannins and dryness, with some tropical fruitiness, all of which reminded me of a beautiful pet nat sparking wine. This is one of the best drinks I’ve had recently. 

Balls Bittersweet 2021 (7.9%ABV ) is named after an unusual Herefordshire apple, and this cider is aged in third-use oak barrels. It’s really dry, tannic, has some light smokiness, even a creaminess, and a really nice fizz. Every sip gave me something different to think about and enjoy, and let me taste an apple I’d never even heard of before. Lovely!

Still Life with Quince 2020 (7.1%) is an apple and quince wine and it’s really aromatic with the apple and the quince, plus a really tropical quality and something creamy, like funky papaya or even some blue cheesiness (in a good way!). It’s a still cider and another one that’s remarkably complex. It’s reminiscent of old lambic.

This is a brilliant box for anyone interested in cider and perry, and for drinkers who love sour beers, sparkling wines and natural wines. I think you’ll be really impressed with this box.

I know Glasgow’s Overtone Brewing Co. for the excellent hoppy beers that they’ve been brewing since 2018, so it was a nice surprise to see a selection box of styles in this one – a Lager, Hopfenweisse, Oatmeal Stout, fruited Gose, and some Pales and IPAs. Here are six that stood out for me.

Place of Light. A 5% hazy Pale Ale with Mosaic, Ekuanot Cryo, Simcoe and El Dorado hops. The foam on this was sticky with hops – I love it! It’s the sort of beer that you know is very good from the first sip, but don’t realise just how good it is until you finish it and immediately want more. It’s got a beautiful soft mouthfeel (like most of the beers in this box). The hops give tropical fruit, peaches and apricot, and there’s fruity yeast esters as well. Superb!

Hopfensee. This is a Hopfenweisse, a German-style Weissbier that’s hopped like an IPA. The Simcoe, Eureka and Citra hops dominate the aroma, with juicy stone fruits, then the Weissbier comes later with its distinctive spicy and fruity yeast. The wheat beer base and the Weissbier yeast transform the hops and gives us some new aromas we wouldn’t find in an IPA with the same hop additions. 

Northern Hemisphere. With Ekuanot, Mosaic and Simcoe, this DDH IPA is exactly the sort of beer I hoped and expected to get in this box. Thick, hazy and juicy, there’s orange, peach and tropical fruit, fruit candy yeast esters (they’ve got a pretty estery yeast at Overtone – I like it!), and a grip of bitterness at the end. 

Gold ‘n’ Gose. A Gose with golden berry, prickly pear and passion fruit. Some people might want this more fruity, or more sweet, or more sour, but it was just right for me: it has an elegance which gives it a great balance without ever being too intense in any direction. The tangy tropical fruit comes through more as you drink it. 

Pizzicato. A Premium Lager brewed with Saaz Lupomax – I’ve never had Saaz in this intensified hop form before, and the aroma is wonderful. I love Saaz hops, and this is the most pure version of the hop aroma I’ve experienced. Wow! I feel like the balance is out overall: too sweet (or not bitter enough), a bit to hazy for crispness, and lacking carbonation. It’s close to being great, but not quite. 

Porridge on the Road. This Oatmeal Stout is one of the best dark beers I’ve drunk all year. The foam is a delicious dark brown colour, and the aroma is a treat of heavily roasted malts, fruity dark chocolate, chocolate truffles, and espresso, which carries through into the flavour. There’s big roastiness first, then the body is so soft and silky smooth. It’s a magic trick of intense flavour first, then softness at the end. Exceptional!

Overtone have really impressed me with this box, as they usually tend to do! If you’d like to give them a try, head over to their profile and get them lined up!