Connemara Cascade, Independent Brewing Company.
5.2%
I am not sure Kevin O’Hara is talking to me. When we met at the Alltech Craft
Brews Fair last week, I told him his label was boring. What looked like a tree turned out to be maerl, a coral-like seaweed found at nearby Trá an Dóilín. Independent Brewing is based in Carraroe in the Connemara Gaeltacht, a mile from the beach. Kevin set up the business two years ago. ‘I came from a science and then home brewing background, and then I did a couple of courses to get me up to speed professionally’. The beers are widely available around Galway and in Dublin and they are exporting across Europe, mainly to Italy.
Independent Brewing do the usual range of craft beers, a stout, a red ale, a gold ale and an IPA, along with seasonal brews that have included a whiskey stout, and two barrel-aged barley wines. At the stand, I tasted his latest brew, Connemara Cascade made from the classic American hop of that name, and melba, a new Australian hop. ‘The melba brings a bit of fruitiness and is not as strong as the cascade,’ says Kevin. ‘Certainly the cascade is certainly more dominantin this one.’ The Connemara Cascade, released in October, has plenty of grapefruit, citrus and even pine, countered nicely by a smooth malty base. Nice beer.
Andreza Reserva 2013, Douro, Portugal
If you ever take the Ryanair flight to Porto for a long weekend, be sure to take a trip up the Douro valley. Car is probably the easiest means of transport but if you have time, train or boat will add atmosphere. The Douro is a steep valley with breathtaking landscapes and ancient vineyard terraces dug into the slopes. These vineyards are mainly used to make Port, the drink unfairly blamed for causing our worst hangovers. These days producers are increasingly making very good table wine, such as the Andreza Reserva above. Made from local grape varieties (Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa and Tinta Roriz) this is a very well-priced wine that will go down perfectly with red or white meat dishes. Spicy dark fruits with good acidity, some vanilla oak and a good dry lightly tannic finish.
€13.99 from Wines on the Green, Red Island Skerries, Blackrock Cellars, McCabes, Martins Fairview.
