Topic Archives: Irish Dry Stouts
A day drinking stout: Wild Heaven Smiling Eyes
Wild Heaven Smiling Eyes, a dry Irish stout debuts Friday at both brewery locations.
This lower alcohol beer is brewed with black and chocolate malts, for a pronounced roasted flavor.
A super-abridged Dry Irish Stout history.
The Irish Stout started in London over 300 years ago. Then, it was called a porter, specifically a London Porter, not a stout. The base malt was a dry, acrid, low-grade brown malt that gave the beer a “smoaky tang” flavor, as described by writers at the time. The malt was placed on a metal floor and a fire was lit underneath it to roast it. The smoke would pass through it grain, and the metal would heat up and char the grain. The resulting roasts were inconsistent at best.
The London Porter popularity spread to Ireland where for years, stayed pretty much the same until 1817. That’s when a man named Daniel Wheeler invented a malt roaster that would make bitter, dark roasts without a weird “smoaky tang” as the flavor was previously described. The malt was roasted in a metal drum, away from near direct contact to the flame. (Similar to coffee roasting.) The malts could be roasted darker and more consistently.
Wheeler created “Black Patent” malt in his new kiln, still widely used today. Irish brewers adopted the use of Black Patent and darker malts, while English brewers continued with brown malt in the following years. The Irish Stout officially/unofficially born.
Interestingly, before stout became a beer style, “stout” was more of a beer descriptor. Stout basically meant “strong” to drinkers in British pubs in the 1700’s.
In the instance of the Dry Irish Stout, the name is a bit contradictory – as they weren’t strong at all, most hovering around 4% alcohol by volume.
Wild Heaven’s Smiling Eyes keeps the style tradition alive ahead of Saint Patrick’s Day, minus the black patent malt, yet still dry and roasty. Available starting March 10th in 16-ounce cans and draft for a limited time.
Style: Dry Irish Stout
Availability: 16oz Cans, Draft. Limited Release
Debut: 3/11/22
4% ABV
A bourbon barrel-aged Guinness will release in the U.S. soon
A barrel-aged Guinness is coming to the United States – a collaboration with Bulleit Bourbon, both owned by Diageo.
The brewery took Guinness Stout brewed in Dublin and aged in Bulleit Bourbon barrels at the new Maryland facility.
Guinness Stout Aged in Bulleit Bourbon Barrels is the official name of this upcoming release. Full details have not been shared by the brewery or their PR team.
This barrel-aged edition of Guinness will be available in 11.2-ounce bottles.
Style: Irish Dry Stout (Barrel Aged. Bourbon.)
Availability:
Debut: TBA
?? ABV
Image: Guinness
Batdorf & Bronson coffee makes an appearance in Monday Night Whirling Dervish
Monday Night Whirling Dervish is the newest seasonal release by the Atlanta, Georgia based brewery.
A dry Irish stout serves as the canvas for the Batdorf & Bronson coffee roasted especially for this release. Monday Night’s creative brewer Josh Johnson had cold winter nights in mind with designing this recipe. “We packed a lot of roasty and toasty flavor into this beer. It’s an everyday drinker on cold winter nights – or anytime you need a little coffee kick,” he says.
Ren Doughty with Batdorf & Bronson roasted the coffee beans darker in order to bring out notes of chocolate, molasses, toasted almond and orange zest. The resulting stout that will help you forget the almost single digit temperatures so many people are drinking through this winter.
This isn’t the first time the brewery has worked with Batdorf & Bronson. Bed Head (a coffee IPA), as well as award-winning milk stout Tears of My Enemies, make use of the talents of the local roaster.
Monday Night Whirling Dervish will be available in 12-ounce cans and draft starting January 20th.
Style: Irish Stout (w/ Coffee.)
Availability: 12oz Cans, Draft. Seasonal Release.
Debut: 1/20/18
4.9% ABV
Take 16 Brewing Stormy Jack
Take 16 Brewing Stormy Jack
Lonerider Adding Nitro Bottle “Weaver Trail”
Everyone’s favorite outlaw brewery Lonerider (Raleigh, NC) is looking to release a nitro stout bottle this year. Left Hand Brewing made a craft beer splash with the release of Nitro Milk Stout bottles at 2011’s Great American Beer Festival.
Weaver Trail is an irish style dry stout, absolutely meant to be poured into a glass.
Weaver Trail is a nitro beer. Turnt he bottle completely upside down and pour to the bottom of the glass to expose the natural cascading bubbles and frothy head that everyone loves in an Irish Stout. Nitrogen bubbles will not rise over your glass like a normally carbonated beer. Don’t be afraid! Be an Outlaw!
Style: Irish Stout (Nitro)
Availability: 22oz bottles
Arrival: TBA
5% ABV, 30 IBUS
New Launch – Porterhouse Brewing!
Not every brewery that comes to Georgia enters like a lion. Some quitely hit the shelves, hoping to intrigue the future drinker. Porterhouse Brewing out of Dublin, Ireland did just that. Recently hit Atlanta shelves with attractive packaging, very unique caps, waiting to be taken home.
Porterhouse Brewing’s Bio –
The Porterhouse team will stop at nothing to maintain and improve the quality of their beers. There is quite a lot involved in this. Apart from all the technical stuff (in which they are aided by the legendary Brendan Dobbin who, when not brewing, grows bananas in West Cork) they comb the planet in search of ideas.
The toll that this takes on the profit margin of the business and on their long-suffering livers doesn’t bear thinking about.
Unlike other breweries The Porterhouse believes that you can’t make silk purses out of sow’s ears or, for that matter, a Lexus GS400 from a Lada Riva 1600. We could go on forever with such analogies. Let’s just say that nobody in their right minds would try to make beer from…oh…rice, for example. Now would they?
At The Porterhouse raw material are paramount. Fresh hops are air-freighted at vast expense from the US, New Zealand, Germany and the Czech Republic. Closer to home, Kentish Goldings and Fuggles are selected with care more usually associated with choosing a marriage partner. Perhaps even more.
Ireland produces the finest pale malt on the face of the earth which is handy as it’s very close by, so to speak. (By the way, it’s raw Irish barley that adds that extra dimension to The Porterhouse stouts). England’s best maltster and roaster supplies special malts. (An Brainblasta contains no fewer than five malts to give it that caramel complexity. Add to that three distinct hops and you can see how this Extra Special Bitter Ale can convince you that you’re in the heart of England – but rest assured, it’s Guaranteed Irish!)
You may be very excited to know that The Porterhouse uses a traditional true top fermentation Bi strain Yorkshire stone squar yeast or, alternatively, your eyes may start to glaze over at this point. It’s highly flocculent and comes from the Old Romsey brewery in Kent by way of the East Riding Brewery. Are you still there? Nearly finished. The lager strain is a Saccharomyces uvarum and it, too, is pretty darn flocculent. It gives great natural clarity, reducing the need for filtration. Weiss yeast is used for wheat beer and this explains the banana scent. It has nothing to do with Brendan Dobbin’s greenhouse.
Direct-fired coppers are expensive but essential if you want the best results. Apart from anything else they minimise any sulphurous elements and…oh hell!… this could get very anoraky. On a more down-to-earth note, you wouldn’t believe the work involved in the manual cleaning. But it’s worth it.
The Porterhouse beers, you see, are made by people, not by machines. The team wouldn’t recognise automation if it bit them. These beers are formulated by people, brewed by people, tested by people. What you do with them is up to you but we suggest drinking it.
Beers currently here for your drinking pleasure –
Wrasslers – Irish Dry Stout, 4.8% ABV. Hops include Galena, Nugget, East Kent, Goldings. Malts – Pale, Crystal, Wheat, Flaked Barley.
Oyster Stout – Irish Dry Stout, 4.8% ABV. Brewed with fresh oysters. Hops – East Kent, Galena, Nugget. Malts – Pale, Black, Flaked Barley. Similar to Wrasslers.
Porterhouse Red – Irish Red Ale, 4.4% ABV. Hops – Galena, Nugget, East Kent. Malts – Chocolate, Pale, Crystal, Wheat. This red ale is malty, but balanced. Easy drinking red ale.
I mentioned the caps are unique. They are pull tab tops. Pick up a bottle and see what I’m talking about. I think the only other beer I’ve seen with this type of cap is Baltika’s Cooler Lager.
Availability – These 3 offering are year round by Porterhouse. Offering in single 12oz pull tab bottles.
