Donegal Blonde Ale
4.2% €2.99 (€3.50 for a 500ml bottle)
Brendan O’Reilly and Patrick Gallagher went on the very first craft-brewing course in Ireland, back in 1997, run by Brewpub in the Porterhouse. "There were a dozen or so of us," says O’Reilly. "After that we grabbed the opportunity to do any course available, and made quite a few home brews too of course."
Selling craft beer is not always easy, but it must help if you have your own pub and off-licence. I used to judge Dicey Reilly’s for the Noffla off-licence of the year competition. Based in Ballyshannon, they had an amazing selection of wines, Irish whiskeys and craft beers. "We now have over 500 craft beers, including 100 Irish," says O’Reilly. "We sell everyone else’s as well as our own," he quips. By 2007 it became obvious that interest in beer was growing. "We knew we needed an entry-level craft beer, something we could put on the counter and allow people to slide over from mainstream beers".
Donegal Blonde is 4.2 per cent alcohol so it is certainly sessionable. The problem, if it can be called such, is that Donegal has been too successful. "Since day one we have been fighting with capacity; we increased size, but have never had enough space. We want to be known for making something interesting, but the whole thing has taken off. Some of the other beers we make never make it outside of Dicey’s, and certainly don’t get bottled."
Purists may sniff at Donegal Blonde but it is a lovely beer to drink on a night out; light and refreshing with subtle hops and brioche on the palate, finishing on a cleansing bitter note. Slips down very easily.
Aldi's Exquisite Collection Gavi
12% €7.49
"Posh girl’s Pinot Grigio," one English friend of mine called Gavi. His point was it tastes of very little, and is therefore not unlike the sea of cheap Pinot Grigio on the shelves of every supermarket. But Gavi generally isn’t cheap.
At the risk of annoying Gavi drinkers everywhere, I rank it as one of the most over-priced white wines around. Produced in Piemonte in the northwestern corner of Italy from the Cortese grape, it generally tastes bracing and fresh with crisp waxy green apple fruits. And very little else.
The more expensive Gavi di Gavi comes from within the commune of Gavi itself. I have tasted a few really good examples but they tend to be very expensive, over €20. Otherwise most of the lesser versions, between €10-€18 are fine, but hardly exciting. The Aldi version, which is as good as many of its more expensive competitors, costs a mere €7.49.
