The choice runs from deceptively light and sessionable black lagers to dark cherry sours and syrupy imperial stouts made for sipping, writes our wine expert
What springs to mind if I say ‘dark Irish beer’? If you’re from Cork, it’ll be one of two local loves (team Murphy’s for a sweeter stout, team Beamish for bitter notes). If you’re from almost anywhere else, it could be a global brand that needs no naming, but whose dark malt aromas waft out over Dublin city from its James’s Gate hub like an invisible cloak of smells-like-home comfort. For fans of dark beers, however, the choice is far more varied than you might credit, and worth exploration. It runs from deceptively light and sessionable black lagers to dark cherry sours to syrupy barrel-aged imperial stouts made for sipping.
Imperial stout was brewed historically to withstand travelling to Russia’s 19th-century Imperial Court. Its high alcohol (up to 12pc ABV) acted as a preservative, as did a generous hand with the hops. The style has made a comeback this century, with American brewers getting creative, often pushing the alcohol or hop levels even further, or layering the flavour intensity by barrel-ageing (BA) or with added ingredients like chocolate.
Black lagers dial down on fruity complexity and hone in on the crisp, hoppy bitterness that make lagers so refreshing
Black lagers dial down on fruity complexity and hone in on the crisp, hoppy bitterness that make lagers so refreshing. Lagers are brewed slowly with a special yeast evolved from a Patagonian strain that can withstand colder fermentation temperatures. These conditions rein in those fruity esters that characterise ale-style beers (including stouts). The OG black lager is German schwarzbier (‘black beer’) but it is popular Stateside too, as is black IPA.
Today’s beer of the week is Galway Bay Brewery’s much-anticipated ‘Two Hundred Fathoms’ Barrel Aged Imperial Stout. Released for its 10th anniversary, it’s actually the beer’s eighth edition as the last two were given extended ageing of 18 months in Teeling Whiskey barrels. As Ireland’s highest rated beer on UnTappd (the global go-to app for rating craft beers) it has a big fanbase throughout 13 export markets and so stocks are limited. If you miss it at your local craft beer retailer, it will be poured on draught on November 28 at Salthouse (Galway), Mother Macs (Limerick), Bierhaus (Cork), Tapped and Black Sheep (both Dublin), Northern Lights and Boundary Brewing Taproom (both Belfast).
Other black beers worth a spin include Kinnegar’s intriguing cola-sour ‘Dark Cherry Sour’ (5.4pc); and Wicklow Wolf’s ‘Bread Forty Wolf’, a singular Cinnamon Swirl Pastry Stout (6pc) in collaboration with Bread 41 bakery to celebrate their shared B Corp-certified status, the latest achievement in the brewery’s impressive sustainability record.
Beers of the week
Galway Bay Brewery ‘Two Hundred Fathoms’ 2024, 11.2pc, €12.99 (500ml)
An imperial stout barrel-aged in Teeling Whiskey barrels for 18-plus months, this manages both delicacy and intensity with very fine carbonation and lacey texture counterbalancing big black liquorice notes, dark fruity richness (dried cherry, prunes, figs) and spicy whiskey aromas; it drinks syrupy with dark caramel flavours yet with a piquancy like black liquorice in sherbet. Think grown-up espresso martini, serve lightly chilled and pair with dried biltong meat, dark chocolate or salty cheeses. Selected independents (limited stock)
Wicklow Wolf ‘Call of Juicy: Black Hops’ Black IPA, 6.5pc, €4 (440ml)
Endangered Species series No50, this moreish coffee-brown beer drinks like a very smooth, creamy IPA with oats and wheat building body on the barley base, plenty of juicy hops (peach, passionfruit, mandarin plus fresh cut grass) and just a hint of roasted speciality malts. Selected independents, thecru.ie, craftcentral.ie
Kinnegar ‘Black Rabbit’ Black Lager, 4.5pc, €3.30 (440ml)
Fermented as a lager with yeasty aromas to prove it, yet with stout’s bitter malts and cocoa sweetness; full-bodied and soft textured with fine, almost creamy carbonation, yet with lager’s crisp, clean hoppy finish. Unmissable for open-minded stout fans. Selected independents, thecru.ie, craftcentral.ie, kinnegarbrewing.ie
Lough Gill Ogham, 14.8pc, €6.65 (330ml)
This ‘Double Chocolate Imperial Barrel Aged Stout with Cholaca & Cocoa Nibs’ (chocolate as liquid and solids) balances spicy heat and syrupy texture with warm whiskey notes from Boann Distillery barrels. Think Irish coffee meets chocolate-stout milk shake. PX sherry fans might like to try Lough Gill Tara instead. Selected independents, craftcentral.ie, loughgillbrewery.com
Wicklow Wolf ‘Apex Oatmeal Stout’, 6.5pc, €3-3.60 (440ml)
This full-bodied, robust oatmeal stout has half the IBU (hoppy bitterness) of Guinness, and goes heavy on the specialty malts to layered and lovely effect, running from mocha malt to dark chocolate to freshly roast coffee to Brazil-nut shell finish. Or try the Four Bean Apex for a ramped up, BA version. Supervalu, O’Brien’s, selected independents, wicklowwolf.com
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